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

Tuesday, November 17, 1998 — Cincinnati, Ohio

At the end of its 10-hour day of meetings on Tuesday, Council members had negotiated an extraordinary number of diverse matters. What follows is the chronological account of the items filling the eighth day of this conference.

Roy Holladay with the Fenchel's

Adjusting the Council-international areas working relationship

First on the to-do list came passage (11-0, one member absent at the ballot) of this resolution to help solve the concerns Leon Walker raised yesterday:

"Whereas the Council wishes to have a closer relationship with the international areas and assist them more effectively in matters of concern to those areas and

"Whereas the Council includes three members from the international areas

"It is hereby resolved that the three members of the Council from the international areas will play a special role in advising and assisting the international areas in matters of concern to them. Their specific duties will be drawn up by the Roles and Responsibilities Committee and approved by the Council. The Council will select one of the three representatives to lead the group in its relationships with the international areas."

Letterhead choices

President Les McCullough displayed several samples of letterhead and asked Council members to ind icate their preference so one can be selected as soon as possible.

Pros and cons of restarting an electronic forum for the GCE

Victor Kubik presented the results his study on whether and how the Elders Forum should be reinstated. "Our reason for stopping the Forum was to save money," he said, but added that another concern was "the negative exchanges between people coming from various factions." He felt it is now an appropriate time to consider restarting the program, but he emphasized the need to evaluate additional methods for setting it up. For example, he offered three avenues—cc:Mail, Internet e-mail and Web site forums—and listed the advantages/disadvantages of each.

Mr. Kubik concluded his presentation by urging the Council to reinstate some method of electronic forum communication, especially since it could potentially be done without cost to the Church. "It is true that the history of the EF is not all positive," he said. "However, since we want a Church where the opportunity for openness and spiritual growth is encouraged...we should not let the few negative uses of the EF cloud the many benefits that such a vehicle produced and can produce."

The method of implementing the program was the lesser concern of the Council when the floor opened for discussion. Of greater importance were concerns about its relative need and value, monitoring content, and handling controversial subjects. Members examined for some time the pros and cons of all sides of these issues. Bob Dick probably best summarized the general tenor of both angles. "I see 400 men out there who have the capacity biblically, if they will use it, to allow ‘iron to sharpen iron.’ I also see I Corinthians 15:33, which says, ‘Evil communication corrupts good manners’ and I see a forum that can do either one. To me, a professional forum allows me to learn from somebody else that knows more than I do about a topic from his experience and makes me a richer and more capable individual. Tirades and combat do nothing but destroy me."

The upshot of the matter was to ask Mr. Kubik to explicitly define the purpose and scope of Council suggestions, communicate this to the General Conference of Elders, and find out from the ministry if it really wants to have an electronic forum re-established.

Relationship with the press

Gary Antion led discussion about dealing with the media, which began with The Journal but migrated to the press in general. It resulted in the Council assigning the Communications Committee to oversee the implementation of its decision that:

Written informational press releases are appropriate from a designated media contact at the home office. This person, yet to be named, would act as the liaison for anyone from the press seeking factual clarification or information.

The Church will not become involved in contributing editorial-type articles or controversial releases to outside publications.

The membership should understand that the Church’s release of information to the press does not endorse or give particular credence to any publication or its contents.

Outside attendees at the GCE meeting

The Council moved on to the perennial controversial question about who from outside the General Conference of Elders is allowed to attend its Annual Meeting. It agreed in principle on a manner of approving and accommodating guests, but a policy is pending the final editing of a proposed resolution.

Duties defined

Dennis Luker brought back to the table the revised version of the Council of Elders Job Description. The six-page document details 11 areas of responsibility:

The document is near completion, with only a few more edits needed.

Doctrinal Review Process adopted

As the Church’s publications and tape programs have proliferated, the Doctrine Committee’s prescribed task of reviewing everything has overwhelmed it with work. The following is a current listing of all these products, along with the managing editor responsible for content:

Doctrine Committee Chairman Jim Franks offered a solution for spreading the load in the form of the following "Doctrinal Review Process," which the Council unanimously adopted. The main difference between this and the current procedure is that it incorporates ministerial help at a level that relieves the Doctrine Committee from being the final decision-maker on every single article, and safeguards doctrinal integrity.

  In the hours of  meetings

Whereas preservation of the truth is paramount to the mission of the Church, it is therefore necessary to ensure that all material produced by the Church is doctrinally sound. To accomplish this goal, a consistent form of review is absolutely necessary.

It is hereby resolved that the following steps be adopted as the formal review process for all material of a doctrinal nature produced by the United Church of God, an International Association:

The individual responsible for the content of each publication, education, or tape program is requested to submit the names of at least three reviewers (the number is not limited to three) to the Doctrine Committee of the Council of Elders. These reviewers must be ministers with appropriate background in Church doctrine.

In addition to the names of the reviewers, the internal review process must allow for an appeal. The author should be able to appeal a decision made about his material. In addition, the reviewers and the managing editor should also have a right of appeal. All appeals are referred to the Doctrine Committee for a decision.

An article, booklet, or tape must receive unanimous agreement from the reviewers for doctrinal content prior to any distribution. Exceptions to this must be approved by the Doctrine Committee of the Council.

The reviewers’ names and the internal process of review must be submitted to the Doctrine Committee by January 1, 1999. Upon approval of the names, all material that contains doctrine must conform to this process. Once approved, a reviewer continues until replaced or he resigns from this responsibility. A replacement must be approved by the Doctrine Committee.

Steps for Doctrinal Review:

Step One

Article, tape, or paper is submitted to the Church for distribution. If it contains doctrinal material, then it must be reviewed by a process which has been developed by the individuals responsible for content. This process requires the use of at least three ministers with appropriate background in Church doctrine as reviewers.

Step Two

If all parties agree that the doctrinal material is in conformity with Church doctrine, the article or tape may be distributed.

If there isn’t unanimous agreement among the reviewers, then the material must be submitted to the Doctrine Committee for a resolution to the problem if there is a desire to publish the article.

Step Three

An author may appeal to the Doctrine Committee if his article is rejected because of doctrinal concerns. Matters of style and writing will be judged by those responsible for the publications. Their decision in matters of style and writing will be final.

Others involved in the process—reviewers, managing editors, etc.—may also appeal a decision regarding a submission that has been denied. All appeals are made to the Doctrine Committee of the Council.

Summary:

The Doctrine Committee of the Council of Elders will no longer review routine articles and tapes. The committee will review material that is considered questionable. It will also hear any appeals. The Doctrine Committee will provide regular reports to the Council on its activities. Any case which cannot be resolved by a unanimous ballot of the committee must be referred to the full Council for a final decision. The Doctrine Committee requests a courtesy copy of all printed material that contains doctrine at least one week prior to publication.

Standards for submitting doctrinal papers

Because doctrinal papers are submitted in all manner of shape and form, making some of them hard to work with, the Council also unanimously adopted the following "Guidelines for the Submissions of Doctrinal Papers:"

The United Church of God welcomes the submission of doctrinal paper from the ministry and the membership. There are two acceptable methods for submitting material—by electronic means and by mail.

Whereas the United Church of God is interested in the submission of doctrinal papers,

It is hereby resolved that all submissions of such papers must conform to the following guidelines:

The paper must contain a clear title or summary of subject.

It is highly recommended that papers be sent electronically in either Word or WordPerfect format. All electronic submissions may be sent to the Doctrine Committee within the Church’s e-mail program. This can be done over the Internet or within the system by those who are on e-mail.

Those sent by mail should be addressed to the Home Office to the attention of the Doctrine Committee. These must be typed and double-spaced. Handwritten cannot be accepted.

The name, address, and phone number of the person making the submission are required. No anonymous papers will be considered.

There are no guarantees that any submitted paper will be published or accepted doctrinally by UCG. We will always attempt to acknowledge any paper that is properly submitted, time permitting.

The document should conform to generally accepted research standards, which would include complete source data on any quotes or other information used in preparing the paper. This may be done through footnotes, quotes, and/or a bibliography.

It must be understood that the study and review of doctrine is an ongoing process that requires careful and thorough study over a reasonable period of time. Each accepted paper will be placed on a priority list established by the Doctrine Committee.

Children called study paper

Mr. Franks presented the second edition of a doctrinal study paper titled, "Are Children in the Church Called Now?" The Council reviewed and gave assent without resolution to this 13-page document prepared by the Youth Education team along with Bill Jacobs, Dave Treybig and Paul Leucke. The team hopes to send out the paper to the ministry in December and use the subject as the foundation for developing a bible study outline, video and/or parenting seminar in the coming year.

Jury Duty

Although the Council previously issued a statement offering legal support for exemption from jury duty, the Church has lacked a biblical statement that would further assist members in taking a position on the subject. The Council adopted (11 for, one abstain) the explanatory document submitted by the Doctrine Committee, and it will be sent out as soon as possible.

Personnel matters

To round out the long day, the Council spent the last two hours in executive session dealing with ministerial ordinations, credentialings and expulsions.

- Clyde Kilough

© 1998 United Church of God, an International Association