The Council of Elders met Feb. 23 to 28 in San Diego, California, to review and finalize the 2007-2008 Operation Plan and budget to be presented to the General Conference of Elders for approval at the annual meeting in May.

In his opening remarks Feb. 23, Chairman Robert Dick reviewed the positive income trend. He pointed out that from 1998 until two years ago the Church experienced an income growth rate in the 2 to 4 percent range. Over the past two years the income has tracked in the 7 percent range.

He commented that United's original priority of providing pastors for every congregation created a certain amount of overhead expense. Over time the fixed expenses became a smaller portion of the whole, allowing the Church to move money into other areas such as public proclamation. The proposed budget is an example of this change, with a projected addition of $1.6 million to the media budget.

Mr. Dick introduced Church president Clyde Kilough, who updated the Council on efforts at the home office since the last meetings.

President's Report

Mr. Kilough commented that overall, there is steady progress toward accomplishing goals set in the current Operation Plan. He expressed confidence that by the end of the fiscal year, goals will be met or exceeded in each area. He then gave the Council a more detailed report on the areas of Ministerial Services, Media and Communication Services and Finance and Administration.

Ministerial Services

On behalf of Jim Franks, Ministerial Services operation manager, Mr. Kilough reported that:

• A plan has been implemented to coordinate responses to questions that require a doctrinal response that come to the Church through Web sites and regular mail, which will assure that consistent answers are provided.

• A conference for U.S. and Canadian Feast of Tabernacles coordinators was held in Dallas in early February. Topics that were discussed included site planning, housing registration processes, transfer policies, special music, speaking schedules, seminars, youth activities and brochure development.

• In January the final two-day regional conferences were held for full-time U.S. pastors on the subject of identifying and training new leaders.

• The first two weeks of a six-week ministerial development program were completed in January. The purpose of the program is to assure that each man hired into the full-time ministry receives the optimal level of training. The first session was attended by the 11 elders hired in the United States in the last three years and four pastors from international areas. Mr. Kilough commented that this training program is valuable because it provides the opportunity for consistent and intensive training in a way the Church has never done before.

• In June, Mr. Kilough, Richard Pinelli and Lyle Welty will travel to Chile to provide a ministerial development seminar for all the elders in South America.

• The 2007 Ambassador Bible Center academic program started on Jan. 7 with a class of 54. The class is described as excited and very responsive. The administration continues to focus on character development, emphasizing to the students that ABC is of little value unless it changes the way they live. A new elective speech class and a class called Foundations of Faith have been added to the curriculum. The Foundations class is being recorded and will be made available to congregations on CD. This will complete the class recording project, making all core classes available to Church members.

• A new online magazine will soon be launched to replace Anchor. The as-yet-unnamed e-magazine will cover all areas of focused education.

Media and Communications Services

Mr. Kilough then moved on to an overview of statistics provided by Peter Eddington, Media and Communications Services operation manager, that indicate growth and progress in our effort to preach the gospel.

The Good News print run for the March/April 2007 issue will be 435,000. Although the number of magazines printed each issue has not increased significantly, the goal has been to reduce the number of newsstand and waiting room issues and increase the number of actual subscribers. There are currently over 323,000 U.S. subscribers on file. It is anticipated that the circulation will rise to nearly 500,000 as a result of increased advertising this spring.

World News and Prophecy circulation is nearing 45,000 and may reach 60,000 by the end of the current fiscal year (June 30).

Mr. Kilough reported that three fourths of Vertical Thought readers are now outside the Church. From approximately 5,000 visitors to the Vertical Thought Web site per month in January 2006, the number increased to approximately 17,000 per month in December. Also, over the past two months approximately 1,200 new people have subscribed to Vertical News—a monthly e-mail. Most of this increase is due to advertising on Google and Yahoo. In conjunction with this advertising, Vertical Thought is also receiving a surge in subscriptions.

Media personnel met Jan. 24 and 25 at the home office to assess the media efforts of the Church in order to improve their effectiveness. Discussions highlighted the need for publications to be written from the heart, to be compelling and to emphasize the need to turn to repentance.

Recently Beyond Today presenters have been taping two- to three-minute program commentaries that are being placed on Web sites such as YouTube and recently on several UCG Web sites. There has been some discussion of working toward expanding that effort to a daily video commentary.

In April an advertisement for The Good News and The Middle East in Bible Prophecy will appear in Reader's Digest (U.S. circulation, 10.5 million). In April and May an ad will also appear in Parents and American Baby (4.5 million readers) offering The Good News and Marriage and Family: The Missing Dimension.

For more of the media updates, see "Media News at a Glance," page 5 this issue and page 7 last issue.

Visit With Pinnacle

Prior to the Council meetings, Mr. Kilough and Treasurer Tom Kirkpatrick traveled to Irvine, California, to meet with representatives of Pinnacle Claims Management, which administers the Church's employee group health insurance.

In comparison to other group insurance programs they administer, Pinnacle representatives described United's health plan as balanced and middle-of-the-road, with a very good package for retirees.

Planning Documents for 2007-2008

Mr. Kilough said that this year's Strategic Plan was not changed from last year. The Council plans a process to extensively edit and modify the Strategic Plan, starting in the May meetings, so that a new plan will be completed in time to be used in the planning process next year.

The General Conference of Elders will receive a copy of the Strategic Plan, Operation Plan and budget with the call-and-notice packet for the 2007 Annual Meeting of the General Conference of Elders, which is scheduled to be mailed on March 14, 2007.

In summarizing income trends and detailing the proposed budget for the next fiscal year, Dr. Kirkpatrick emphasized that all credit for the Church's financial circumstance goes to God for His blessing. Income continues to be strong, and expenses are under control.

Dr. Kirkpatrick reviewed some numbers that indicate the Church's income trend. The fiscal year 2005-2006 ended with a total increase in unrestricted income of 7.8 percent over the previous year. This was early evidence of a breakout from a well-defined narrow band of income growth. For the nine fiscal years ending June 30, 2006, the compound growth rate was 3.5 percent.

Further evidence is indicated by income over the last two years. For the last two consecutive 365-day periods ending Feb. 16, the growth rate was 7.65 percent per year. For the 365-day period ending on that date, the growth rate is 9.2 percent. And for the current fiscal year through Feb. 16, the growth rate is 10.9 percent.

Based on the income trend, the proposed budget for fiscal year 2007-2008 is $25 million, compared to the original budget for the current fiscal year of $21.3 million. The single biggest increase in the budget is the addition of $1.6 million for public proclamation.

The budget also includes increased international subsidies, mostly to compensate for the continuing weakness of the U.S. dollar, and for the hiring of as many as five ministerial trainees and an expansion of the ministerial development program. There is also a significant increase in funding to support the Youth Corps program. Support will continue for the hymnal project, ABC Continuing Education seminars and a women's education program.

Media and Communications Services anticipates a Good News print run of approximately 750,000 by the end of fiscal year 2007-2008. Some of the money allocated to Media and Communications Services is not specifically budgeted at this time. Rather than lock into a simple extension of present media programs, decisions will be finalized as Larry Salyer settles into his position as the newly appointed operation manager, effective in the summer of 2007.

Council Nomination Process

Bill Eddington introduced a suggestion to change the nomination process. Mr. Eddington proposed that, rather than asking for their name to be removed from the nomination list, elders should have an opportunity to indicate that they are willing to be nominated. This approach, he said, would reduce the size of the nomination list and assure that those whose names are on it are willing to be nominated and elected to the Council. This change in the process could be accomplished by a change to the documentation that goes out at the first stage of the nomination process.

Feb. 28 Mr. Eddington presented the Council with a detailed description of the process and a resolution to place the proposal before the General Conference of Elders for their consideration at the annual meeting. Eleven Council members voted in favor of the resolution; Joel Meeker voted against. The details of the proposed new process will be included in the call-and-notice packet for the annual meeting.

2007 Feast Video Update

The sermon video this year will focus on Europe. The theme of the message will be based on the prophecy in Daniel 2:44 of Jesus establishing the eternal Kingdom of God. The message will survey what is presently occurring in Europe and what is prophesied to take place. It will also highlight the lives of Church members in Europe.

Peter Eddington is planning a trip to Europe in June to shoot video of the region and to interview brethren.

Local Congregation Web Site and Webcasting Guidelines

Peter Eddington suggested edits to the Church's "Web Site Policy," which was originally written in March 1999. After Council discussion, Mr. Kilough introduced a resolution to accept the policy as edited, which was approved unanimously.

Mr. Eddington also suggested edits to the "Local Congregation Webcasting Guidelines." Feb. 26 he presented an edited version, which includes statements about on-demand audio and video of sermons and expands the policy to include national offices. Clyde Kilough offered a resolution to adopt the policy, which the Council unanimously approved.

GCE Planning

On Feb. 25, Mr. Dick walked the Council through the proposed schedule for the business and fellowship activities for the upcoming annual meeting of the General Conference of Elders May 6. The Council also discussed the speakers for the Sabbath service on May 5 and reviewed the topics and presenters for the seminars to be presented on May 7.

The Q&A format for the president and operation managers will be revised, providing an opportunity for all elders to participate (even if they will not be attending).

Good News Subtitle

The subtitle for The Good News is "A Magazine of Understanding." At the recent managing editors conference there was discussion of changing the subtitle. Mr. Kilough pointed out the dilemma that, though the magazine is titled Good News, the witness and warning message of the gospel sometimes includes "bad news." A different subtitle can help clarify the seeming discrepancy.

The editors offered several suggestions for the Council to consider, including:

• The Good News —Hope Beyond Today's Troubled World.

• The Good News—Hope Beyond Today's World.

• The Good News—Beyond Today's Troubled World.

Using the phrase beyond today ties the magazine to our television program.

After discussion Feb. 25 and 28, Larry Salyer commented that it would be better to take more time to make this decision. Mr. Kilough agreed that, while a change does need to be made, it is not urgent that it be done at this meeting. He tabled the topic until the next Council meetings.

The Council also spent time in closed session hearing details of a proposal to prepare for the future needs of the Church. The proposal was unanimously approved and is being sent to the GCE for approval. It will also be presented in UCG congregations March 17.

The Council unanimously approved the Strategic Plan, Operation Plan and budget to be sent on to the General Conference of Elders. Complete Council reports are available at www.ucg.org/about/council/updates.htm. UN