United Church of God, an International Association
Council of Elders Meeting Report

Tuesday, March 9, 1999 — Cincinnati, Ohio

Continuing the momentum of the very successful general conference, and with the rare opportunity to have in attendance representatives from all of the international regions, the Council of Elders spent its first day of meetings focusing almost entirely on honing the Rules of Association.

International representatives
discussing Rules of Association

The task of examining the Rules of Association was laborious, but very profitable. This document, which is required by the Constitution, is critical to "speaking the same thing"—organizing and coordinating the work of the church in a widely diverse international arena—and these talks worked through a variety of issues such as:

• the general organizational structure of the church
• the purpose and geographic scope of the Rules of Association
• defining church membership
• administration of local congregations
• doctrine and dissemination of teachings
• qualifications for membership in the UCGIA
• establishing legal structures
• use of the name "United Church of God, an International Association"
• collection of funds, assets and financial subsidies
• local church buildings
• ministerial transfers
• local corporations in the US
• establishment of national councils
• coordination of resources
• ordination of elders
• conflict resolution and discipline
• position of the Home Office and management team

By the end of the day their work was nearly complete and Council members seemed to be very pleased with the progress, having agreement in substance with every international area. The only step remaining before ratification is to send this version to the congregations and elders in the US. Over the last couple of years, as the various drafts of the Rules have been reviewed, most areas of concern seem to have been satisfactorily answered. However, if concerns about particular issues in the Rules of Association still exist, Council members will communicate with those church areas to seek understanding and reach mutual accord.

Ed Macareg from the Philippines
speaks out in Rules of
Association disscussion

International representatives present at the meeting were Edmond Macaraeg (Philippines), Reg Wright and Bruce Dean (Australia), Mario Seiglie (Chile), Larry Roybal (Mexico), Kingsley Mather (Caribbean), Paul Kieffer and Alfred Riehle (Germany), Carmelo Anastasi and Angelo DiVita (Italy), Gerhard Marx (United Kingdom), Bob Berendt (Canada), and Andre Van Belkum (South Africa). The newly appointed Council members—John Jewell and Richard Thompson—also attended, although their participatory roles will begin at the next Council meeting.

In other business, Joel Meeker gave a short report on the status of the 1999 Feast film, and informed the Council about some of the ideas proposed by the Youth Education Committee for developing service projects for young adults.

- Clyde Kilough

© 1999 United Church of God, an International Association