Council of Elders Meeting in Cincinnati Ohio
United Church of God, an International Association
Council of Elders Meeting Report
Friday, August 14, 1998 - Cincinnati, Ohio
The Council of Elders fine-tuned the strategic plan, heard updates on the international areas, filled certain Feast needs and addressed a number of personnel issues today, the third day in its current round of face-to-face meetings.
Strategic Planning
Roy Holladay, chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee, asked the Council to review the 1999-2000 Strategic Plan and recommend adjustments before it goes on to the various operations managers for planning next year's budget, and the General Conference of Elders for final approval. It made several alterations, not in substance, but in restructuring the "Strategic Issues" section of document for a more logical emphasis of priorities and clarifying terminology that was too generalized. These edits should make it more "user friendly," said Mr. Holladay.
International Reports: the United Kingdom
Council chairman Bob Dick recently returned from a three-week trip to the United Kingdom, Europe and South Africa, and followed up his written reports with a verbal update to the Council.
He first stopped in the U.K., where 100 to 125 members have maintained their commitment to UCGIA. Bible studies and Sabbath services were held in Bricket Wood, Gloucester and Preston, and meetings were held with national council members in Preston and London.
In the UK there is a prevailing sense of betrayal and hurt over recent events. Members expressed that over a long period of time information had been given to them selectively, and both written and spoken material (sermon tapes, reports from the home office and Council, etc.) had been withheld, downplayed, or negatively presented. They are just now getting certain information that was previously openly available to the church in other areas of the world.
Although reduced in numbers, the remaining membership plans to push forward in an even greater way than they had so far done with even greater numbers. Distribution of the Good News and recently printed booklets has continued. Even more exciting is the fact that they plan to place an ad in a regional edition of Reader's Digest, something was has not been formerly done in the U.K. Upon request of the new U.K. provisional council, the home office provided the artwork for the ads which the U.K. members will pay for out of funds provide by the U.K. membership. They are also planning to produce a church newsletter to maintain the bonds between the congregations and scattered members.
Several times in discussion the Council affirmed its commitment to care for the faithful members there and to do its best to provide for any needs that arise.
South Africa
Mr. Dick also made a visit to the five churches in South Africa. From Cape Town north through Durban all the church groups are warmly supportive of UCG. The only South African exception was Johannesburg, where pastor John Bartholomew recently resigned. The South African national council is currently working on the necessary steps to care for loyal members in Johannesburg.
France, Switzerland and French-speaking Africa
"The members in France are solidly with UCG, with the exception of one deacon and his wife in the Paris area," reported Joel Meeker, who coordinates the French-speaking area of the international work. The challenge in France is that the members are widely scattered. About 15 meet in the Paris area, 12-15 in Bordeaux, and 10 in Martinique (a French department). About 100 English-speaking brethren will join them at the Feast in France this year.
He also announced that nearly all of the 30 people who attended UCG in French Switzerland, including pastor Bernard Andrist, have opted to leave. One difficulty this presents is that a healthy Swiss economic base produced a strong income for the work there, and now Mr. Meeker has to find new options for printing the French publications.
He was unable to give a recent update the French-speaking parts of Africa, although he said he was "cautiously optimistic" that the three elders and approximately 200 members in Rwanda, Cameroon, Gabon, Benin and Togo would remain unified.
Estonia
Victor Kubik reported that the fledgling group in Estonia has a couple of people progressing toward baptism, that a Feast (for about 35 people) will be held there for the second consecutive year and that it is an area of the world providing an avenue for the development of Russian literature.
Filling international Feast-site requirements
Because of several ministerial resignations and some who have gone on half-salary now being unable to transfer, one impending need in several international areas is for ministerial help at the Feast of Tabernacles. The Council approved Oakland, California, pastor Bill Bradford attending to help with duties in the United Kingdom. Mr. Bradford volunteered to pay his own way to attend, thus negating any extra administrative expense. The Council also decided to send Chicago, Illinois, pastor Bob Fahey, who lived in South Africa for eight years, to that area to help at the Feast. Leon Walker will attend in New Zealand at his own expense and visit the Tongan brethren as well. He is also exploring the possibility of stopping by South Africa as well. Some other international needs were discussed but not finalized, so additional manpower decisions may yet be determined.
The Council concluded the day in executive session dealing with various Ministerial Services personnel issues such as ordination and credentialing requests.
- Clyde Kilough
