United Church of God, an International Association

Council of Elders Meeting Report

Tuesday, Nov. 10, 1998 - Cincinnati, Ohio

A combined gathering of the Council of Elders and US Regional Pastors highlighted the Tuesday-afternoon, Nov. 10, beginning of the current round of Council meetings at the Home Office in Cincinnati. The Regional Pastors held separate meetings from Sunday through Tuesday morning.

In his welcoming address, Chairman Bob Dick told the group, "We are literally moving into a time where the Council works better together, concurrently it produces more, and the general peaceableness of the Church of God-as demonstrated by the Feast reports this year-allows us to put our time to work on things that are forward-looking and constructive."

The last Council meeting (in August), "was a watershed in its own right," Mr. Dick said. "We produced more in less time, in terms of actual product, than any meeting so far." This November 10-18 meeting is also a landmark conference in that, "this is the very first Council meeting where the agenda and time requested is less than the time allotted."

To give the Regional Pastors (RPs) a perspective of the Council's on-going development, Mr. Dick referred to an essay, given to the Council early in its existence, on the myths and realities of non-profit boards. Karl Mathiason, who had served on 35 such boards in his working career, wrote in the 1996 July/August issue of Board Member, "A board's behavior reflects where the organization is in terms of its age and growth. At one extreme a young board is usually small, its work is often ambiguous and thus frustrating in its lack of clarity and frequently unrewarding...."

"Those of us who have served on the Council have understood every single solitary word of what he said," Mr. Dick told the RPs. "That's why I said we are at a transition point, and I think that the timing of the RPs and Council being here is really most fruitful. You are staff and staff doesn't end at the walls of the office."

Mr. Dick addressed the concept of how the Council is increasingly able to use the talents in the Church. "One of my frustrations as Chairman is that I know there is far more out there in terms of ideas, thoughts and abilities than we have been able to tap, and part of that is due to the very description that I just gave you of a youthful board. The more that board matures, and the more clarity sets in, the more the focus will center on getting good work from good people more detached from the center of the Council."

"Mr. Mathiason said one more thing, and I want to couple the two together, so that you as RPs will understand the dynamics that we have been working with. I've put this comment from Mr. Mathiason in New Beginnings previously, but it is worth repeating."

He wrote, "It's a myth that a board makes policy and the staff carries the policy out. If boards 'make policy,' they do it very badly unless the staff has been involved in the process from the beginning. Staff should be expected to initiate policy development, present it to the board, and listen-really listen-to the board, revise or withdraw the policies in response, and go back to the drawing board. The staff must take responsibility for proposing, delving into the board's mind, and shepherding the policy-making process to final approval. If the board makes its own policy without staff involvement, the organization inevitably will have two policies: one-the board's-which the board believes the staff is carrying out, and the other-the staff's-which the staff is actually carrying out."

After his introductory statements, Mr. Dick moved into the business portion on the meeting, starting with several of the RPs giving status reports for ongoing projects.

Hymnal Project

Ken Giese gave a brief overview of the history and future plans for the Church's hymnal. The current "paperback hymnal," printed just before the 1997 Feast of Tabernacles, is slated for another reprint, which will alleviate the shortage we now experience. Financial restraints necessitated pulling back on plans for a permanent hardbound version. Such a hymnal would cost approximately $70,000 for 12,000 copies, not including copyright fees. Piano accompaniment tapes for the current hymns were recently sent to all church areas, and a CD version will be produced very soon.

Young Adult Program

Larry Greider brought the Council up to date on the Youth Education Committee's efforts for the young adults in the Church. ("Young adult" is roughly defined as the 18 to "30-something" age bracket). He first showed the Council a quick version of this year's presentation for young adults at US Feast sites.

A major, long-term concern for the Church is: "What are we going to do for leaders in the next era of God's Church?" Mr. Greider noted, "We haven't yet made a formal presentation for the young people, inviting them into the work of the Church."

He reviewed the summer camp development in the United Church of God, emphasizing the frequent inquiry of campers as to what is their place in the Church. "We have a wonderful pool of young people whose hearts are really in the work of God," Mr. Greider said. "It all came to mind for me attending the Heritage camp. We had a staff meeting going into the wee hours of the morning and one young man stood up and said, 'You guys are all getting old [we didn't think it showed so bad!]. We are going to be the next leaders. You have to prepare us!' It was stunning that they were so vocal about it."

He gave the Council the results of surveys conducted at the last two Feasts, which strongly indicate the young people "want to be taught about the Bible, they want to learn about the truth of God, they want to be prepared for leadership positions."

Over 500 attended the 1998 Feast presentation, and 320 turned in the surveys. Every single one desired the Church to provide regional seminars that revolve not so much around entertainment but rather "the nuts and bolts of leadership training."

On the local level, the survey showed they wanted to be taught how to lead songs, give sermonettes, teach Sabbath Schools, be on the prayer list, be able to serve more in the congregation in practical areas such as working the sound systems. Their list of subjects of interest (in order of importance) were: marriage, family, baptism, women's issues, connecting with others, family Bible study, how to deal with false doctrine, dealing with new people in the church, communication skills, prophecy, doctrines, more Biblical knowledge in general, moral issues, values, priorities. They want more instruction in divorce and remarriage, interracial marriage, dating outside the Church, preparation for marriage and mate-selection, fornication and virginity, dating members in "sister-churches," and single parenting.

"We did hit a nerve, and we hit it big time," said Mr. Greider, summarizing the response to the Feast presentation and the surveys. "All I can say is let's not forget God's children. They are out there and they want to be a part."

Sabbath School and Feast youth instruction projects

The Church has implemented, or is working on, three specific education programs for children. Jim and Judy Servidio reviewed these activities and their recommendations for the Education Committee.

One is the Festival Activity Booklet, which originated in the Seattle, Washington congregation. These have expanded from the US in the last couple of years to the Spanish-speaking areas, Germany, England, Philippines, and Canada. The young adults in Minneapolis, Minnesota also developed the teen booklet for this year's Feast.

The second area is youth classes at the Feast, which Mrs. Servidio began in 1995. Based on Herbert W. Armstrong's explanation of the four elements of the Kingdom of God-a king (Jesus Christ), laws, people and environment-this program for pre-teens has been used at seven US sites and two Canadian sites in both 1997 and 1998. The program, which is optional participation, this year involved 650 children and many adults.

In the developmental stage is the Sabbath school program. Producing this educational curriculum has deliberately been slow, Mr. Servidio explained, for several reasons. "Early in the development of United, emphasis was being placed on collaboration and tapping into the talents, experiences and input of the membership," he said. "Many felt that, in the past, individuals in responsible positions often unilaterally determined programs and endeavors without much input from those who would be the recipients. There were individual programs already underway, and many did not want them simply replaced and declared null and void. Thus, the development of any Sabbath School program began rather cautiously."

The Servidios first categorized all the programs they were aware of and published the information in May 1997 to assist those church areas looking for ideas. They later contacted over 100 members who expressed interest in working in the pre-teen area of education, garnered their input and formed a committee to put together a proposed curriculum for a standard UCG Sabbath School program. "When creating the curriculum the committee reviewed all the Sabbath School programs sent to us in order to learn the commonality of what was being taught. This became a strong determining factor in the structure of the curriculum," Mr. Servidio said.

"We are very thankful to the many people involved, who gave many hours night after night of their own time. We can feel this is really from the United Church of God, not from just a few individuals."

Each Council member received a copy of the 34-page proposal for review and consideration for approval.

State of the US Churches and Ministry

Richard Pinelli, director of Ministerial Services, then reported to Council an detailed synopsis of the "State of the Church" reports given by the RPs in their earlier meetings. The following points, which were divided into four categories, do not represent everything mentioned in the RP reports, but only summarizes the issues raised by at least two or more RPs in their presentations.

Positive Developments in the Church

• The Good News waiting program has been a very positive development.
• Our publications (Good News, booklets, Bible Study Course, World News & Prophecy, and United News) are well received.
• The youth programs (summer camps, local and regional youth programs) are strongly supported and positive.
• The Feast of Tabernacles this past year seemed to be a turning point for the Church. Feedback indicates it was a peaceful, inspiring and encouraging Feast. We came away from the Feast in peace and even though it has been a stressful year we are hoping it is a sign of a trend to come.

Morale of the Membership

• The membership is much more at peace and the general morale has improved.
• The members are more supportive of the ministry and leadership.
• The members were very encouraged by this year's Feast of Tabernacles, especially in the areas of peace and being spiritually fed. (The Home Office received a tremendous number of letters from members positively commenting on the Feast. It received only a couple of complaints this year as opposed to about 50 last year).
• Some members are uncertain about the future of the church, where it is going.
• Some members seem "tired," weary and somewhat apathetic (this reflects in lack of response, slackness in attendance, etc.).

Morale of the Ministry

• Overall morale seems to be improving.
• The ministry is generally stable (a few have health problems, and the average age is 54 and rising).
• Elders are hopeful of future developments within the Church and optimistic that events will keep heading in a positive direction.
• However, there are mixed feelings in the ministry (some are anxious and insecure about the future, with worries revolving around aging and finances in particular).

Primary Questions and Concerns

• Half-salary ministry issues (ministers want more explanation about the rationale behind the decisions, and those put on half-salary need more encouragement).
• There is desire for contact with other Sabbath-keeping fellowships.
• How will the Rules of Association affect or limit our potential association with others?
• Concern over dealing with troubled church areas and questions of how situations will be handled in future.
• The Y2K problem (The "Year 2000 Problem" concerns forecasted difficulties with computer systems at the turn of the millennium, and is causing growing concern among members).
• Many desire to have periodic videotaped sermons from Chairman and President.
• How can the RPs be of greater assistance to the Council?
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Mr. Dick ended the session again expressing optimism that as the Council continues the streamlining trend it will increasingly utilize the talent pool in the ministry and membership. "A lot of good ideas by good people have essentially ended up on a shelf in an envelope for no other reason that we didn't have the time to stop and incorporate them into the flow of the business. I think we are transitioning into a phase now where that has the ability to change."

The day ended with a one-hour executive session for the Council.

Regional Pastor conference recap

In the previous two-and-a-half days, the RP's covered a lot of material in its conference. Sunday's meeting included a tour of the Home Office, addresses and question-answer sessions by Mr. Pinelli, President Les McCullough and Treasurer Tom Kirkpatrick, and the regional reports.

On Monday they deliberated over Feast and Sabbath services issues, second- and third-tithe administration, use of ministers' time and duties pastoring, concerns regarding those on half-salary, ministerial expense proposals, regional pocket conferences, job descriptions, employee performance-reviews and yearly reports.

The Tuesday morning agenda dealt with maximizing the coordination and work between the Council and RPs, rebuilding morale and creating the best working environment at all facets of the Church, special projects and a general question-answer session.

- Clyde Kilough

© 1998 United Church of God, an International Association