News at a Glance

• Bob Dick Continues as Chairman
• New Elders Added
• Official GCE Ballot Results Released
• 366 Attend GCE
• Amendment Schedule Set
• New Committees Chosen for Review of Doctrinal Papers
• Council Committee Being Divided
• Ad Hoc Committee to Discuss Elder's Forum Formed
• Acapulco Feast Update
• Feast in Scotland in 2008 Update
• Phoenix East to Host July 21-22 Women's Weekend
• 256-Page Hardback Hymnal Presented to Council
• Calendar of Events
• What's New on the Web?

Bob Dick Continues as Chairman

The Council's last item of business May 10 was the bylaw-mandated election of chairman. Since Bob Dick had served for two years as chairman, the Council was required to either select a new chairman or renew the chairman's term. On its first ballot, Mr. Dick was chosen by the Council to continue as chairman.

—Don Henson

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New Elders Added

On May 9, the Council of Elders approved the credentialing of William (Bill) Kubon as an elder. He and his wife, Veronica (Ronnie), serve in the Orlando, Florida, congregation.

On May 19, Michael Erickson was ordained an elder. He and his wife, Angela, serve in the Prince George, British Columbia, congregation.

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Official GCE Ballot Results Released

The official ballot counts from the accounting firm of Clark, Schaefer, Hackett & Co. arrived May 17.

After a careful recount of all ballots, there were a couple of minor changes in the count for two of the issues. There were 305 votes in favor of the Operations Plan as opposed to 307 as originally reported. Also, there were 319 votes in favor of the revised nominating process as opposed to the 321 originally reported. All ballot issues required a 50 percent majority vote to pass, and all issues passed. Here is a summary of the counts for the ballot issues.

Of the 465 General Conference of Elders members who were eligible to cast ballots, 400 chose to ballot. Of those ballots, 201 were absentee ballots. GCE members carefully adhered to the guidelines and no ballots were invalidated.

Issue: Yes/No/Abstain
Strategic Plan: 318/75/7
Operations Plan: 305/85/10
Budget: 281/111/8
Nominating Process: 319/66/15
Home Office Relocation: 202/195/3

—David M. Johnson

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366 Attend GCE

This year 213 elders and 153 elders' wives attended the General Conference of Elders annual meeting. This is one more elder than attended in 2006, while four fewer wives attended, for a decrease of three people overall (less than 1 percent).

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Amendment Schedule Set

On May 10, David Johnson, UCGIA secretary, presented the Council of Elders with the required schedule for the processing of proposed amendments to the Church constitution and bylaws that would be balloted on at the 2008 GCE meeting. The schedule was unanimously approved by the Council.

The first date, Aug. 13, is the deadline for any proposed amendment to be submitted to the Amendment Committee.

After a number of intermediate deadlines for Ministerial Services, amendment authors, the Amendment Committee, the Council of Elders and the GCE, any proposed amendments would be sent to congregations from Feb. 5 to March 6, 2008. Any member of a congregation may submit a "Statement of Concern" to the Amendment Committee about a proposed amendment by March 6.

Amendments will be balloted on at the GCE annual meeting May 18, 2008.

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New Committees Chosen for Review of Doctrinal Papers

In order to fulfill a Council resolution from December 2006, two committees have been formed within Ministerial Services to address questions and papers from the ministry and membership in the areas of doctrine and prophecy.

The two committees will be the Doctrine Advisory Committee and the Prophecy Advisory Committee.

Because of the number of ministers who expressed an interest in serving on these committees, a two-tier system was adopted to allow everyone who expressed an interest to serve.

Here are the approved lists as adopted by the Doctrine Committee in February:

Doctrine Advisory Committee (voting members of committee): Richard Thompson (chairman), Randy D'Alessandro, Kevin Epps, Bruce Gore, Ken Graham, Doug Johnson and Tom Kirkpatrick

Doctrine Advisory Committee (reviewers and writers): Wil Berg, Mike Blackwell, James Capo, John Elliott, Bob Fahey, Vernon Hargrove, Dave Johnson, Mark Mickelson, Steve Moody, Jim Servidio, Vince Szymkowiak, Larry Walker and Don Waterhouse.

Prophecy Advisory Committee (voting members of committee): David Register (chairman), Scott Ashley, Roger Foster, Ken Martin, Darris McNeely, Larry Neff and Melvin Rhodes.

Prophecy Advisory Committee (reviewers and writers): Wil Berg, Tom Kirkpatrick and Herb Teitgen.

The procedures for submitting a doctrinal paper or prophetic paper to the Church were sent to the elders, who were asked to share this information with members who may have a desire to submit such papers.

Ministerial Services would like to thank both Kevin Epps and Darris McNeely for their service as the previous chairmen of the two advisory committees.

— Excerpted from March 29, 2007, Ministerial Services Newsletter and Journal.

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Council Committee Being Divided

At the May 10 Council meeting, Joel Meeker, chairman of the Ethics, Roles and Rules Committee, reported on the progress toward the restructuring of that committee. Mr. Meeker presented the Council with a proposal to divide the current committee into two committees, "Ethics" and "Roles and Rules," providing a list of the responsibilities that would fall to each. The Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution to create the two new committees.

—Don Henson

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Ad Hoc Committee to Discuss Elder's Forum Formed

Council Chairman Robert Dick asked Victor Kubik to chair an ad hoc Council committee to address Elder's Forum issues. (Elder's Forum is an e-mail forum for sharing ideas among the elders who sign up to receive messages.) Mr. Kubik requested that Richard Thompson, Larry Salyer and Bill Eddington join him on the committee.

The Council committee will appoint and work with a GCE advisory committee to create a questionnaire to survey the members of the GCE. From this survey's results, these two bodies will be asked to make recommendations to the Council regarding the Elder's Forum. It is hoped the committee will be able to provide the Council with a report and suggested actions by the August meetings.

The Council unanimously passed a resolution forming the ad hoc committee.

—Don Henson

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Acapulco Feast Update

Acapulco, Mexico, Feast coordinator Larry Roybal provided some additional information for those who are planning to attend in Acapulco.

Registration: If your plans to attend the Feast in Acapulco are fairly firm, please fill out the registration form on our Web page www.unidamex.org.mx. This form is for administration purposes only. We need to know how many people are planning to attend so that we can make plans to serve you better. If you can serve in any capacity, please also let us know.

Opening night message: The opening night message will be at 8 p.m. at the hall across the street from the Club del Sol Hotel. All services will be held there, not at the hall at the Plaza Hotel. This hall is located in the upper floor of the Plaza Bahía, just to the left of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Dress: Dress for men is elegant informal; no need to bring any suits or ties. The typical dress is an open neck, short-or long-sleeve Hawaiian or safari-type shirt. In Mexico they are called guayaberas. Dress pants and nice short-sleeve dress shirts are fine. If in doubt, a white shirt (short sleeve or long) with dress pants and dress shoes for services will be fine.

For women, a nice elegant informal dress code will be fine. Dress pants or coordinated casual suits are also fine. Small children can also wear nice informal clothes: boys, no tie, open shirt; girls, cool dresses or slacks. Please, no jeans, tennis shoes, T-shirts or shorts for services.

Offerings: This year we will have to pay for our hall. An offering for this purpose is suggested and would be very much appreciated.

Things to bring: This year Clyde Kilough and Leon Walker will be guest speakers, and some services will be in English. You will need to bring your own portable FM radio (with headphones and extra batteries) in order to receive the translation signal. You can get a portable FM radio for less than $20. Sunblock is a must. Please also bring a hymnal.

—Larry Roybal

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Feast in Scotland in 2008 Update

The Stirling, Scotland, Feast Web site is now available to register your interest in attending the Feast in Scotland in 2008. Our apologies for the delay. Please go to www.ucg.org.uk/feast2008 to register your interest or e-mail feast2008@ucg.org.uk with"Stirling 2008" in the subject line. Thank you!

—Peter Hawkins

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Phoenix East to Host July 21-22 Women's Weekend

The Phoenix East, Arizona, congregation will host a women's weekend July 21 and 22 with the theme "The Gift of Godly Friendship" (1 Peter 4:8-10). The keynote speaker will be Dee Kilough with guest speakers from around the Southwest Region. Plans are for a weekend filled with seminars, activities, music, food, fun and plenty of opportunity for fellowship.

This year's women's weekend will be held at the beautiful Embassy Suites Hotel at I-17 and Greenway Road in North Phoenix. A combined Arizona church service will be held at 1 p.m. in the ballroom of the Embassy Suites Hotel with guest speaker Clyde Kilough.

For more information, visit the Phoenix Web site at www.ucgphoenix.org/women/index.php or call Carolyn Sims at (480) 671-0541. The deadline for hotel registration is June 25.

—Merrie Elliott

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256-Page Hardback Hymnal Presented to Council

On May 8, Steve Myers, chairman of the task force that is working to prepare a new Church hymnal, gave the Council of Elders an update on the status of the project. Mr. Myers commented that the task force established criteria for evaluating the current hymnal and suggested additions. The review criteria include seeking God's inspiration in selecting hymns to praise Him and edify His people, text (including doctrinal accuracy), musical quality, musical accuracy and suitability.

Mr. Myers commented that the task force had taken care to not include hymns that would be offensive to members, but pointed out that musical tastes and preferences are quite subjective, and members have had their own experiences with particular hymns.

Changes and corrections were made to a few hymns in the current hymnal to make them more acceptable. The task force has considered some 400 suggested additions to the hymnal and reviewed more than 200 original compositions from members.

The task force recommends publishing a 256-page hymnal that will include 194 hymns, 68 of which will be new. The proposed selection includes 20 additional hymns composed by Dwight Armstrong and 21 written by past or present Church members.
The next major step in development of the hymnal is a doctrinal review, under the direction of Leon Walker, chairman of the Council's Doctrine Committee. The production and distribution schedule will be based on the completion of the review.

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Calendar of Events

June 1-8: Leadership training in Chile.

June 12-22: Jim Franks visits Asia.

June 18-July 3: Peter Eddington and Clay Thornton tape in Germany, France and Italy for Feast video.

June 28-July 1: Bluegrass Family Fun Weekend, Sally Buffalo Park near Cadiz, Ohio, www.ucgnet.org/wheeling/bluegrass.

July 15-17: Northeast Region ministerial conference, Richmond, Virginia, area.

July 21-22: Women's Weekend, "The Gift of Godly Friendship," Phoenix East, Arizona, www.ucgphoenix.org/women/index.php.

July 21: Flint, Michigan, 40th Anniversary (see article, May issue, page 24).

July 21: Creation, Early Man and Noah's Ark seminars by Arnold Mendez Sr., Pensacola, Florida, harold_rhodes@ucg.org.

July 28: Ann Arbor, Michigan, 40th Anniversary (see article, May issue, page 24).

Aug. 5-8: Council of Elders meeting.

Aug. 10-12: Young adults' weekend, Williams Bay, Wisconsin, contact gary_black@ucg.org.

Aug. 12: ABC graduation.

Aug. 19-21: Southeast Region ministerial conference, Atlanta, Georgia, area.

Aug. 20-24: ABC Continuing Education seminars at the home office.

Sept. 2: Houston Music Festival (see article, February, page 16).

Nov. 11-13: Northwest Region ministerial conference, Portland, Oregon, area.

Dec. 11-13: Council of Elders meeting.

Feb. 29-March 5, 2008: Council meeting.

May 18-19: GCE annual meeting.

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What's New on the Web?

Council of Elders Reports

Read past Council meeting reports at www.ucg.org/about/council/updates.htm.

Web Site Updates

Want to find out what new items have been posted at the ucg.org Web site? Then visit the Web site Updates Web page at www.ucg.org/about/news/ to view the new items for the past few weeks.

Sermon Transcripts

Would you rather read a sermon than hear a sermon? If so, then check out the various sermon transcripts available at www.ucg.org/sermons/transcripts.htm.

UCG Commentary.

"Human Nature Complicates Environmental Restoration"

"The Far-Reaching Effects of al-Qaeda on Europe and America"

www.ucg.org/commentary/

Featured Link

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