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

Sunday/Monday March 18-19, 2001

Cincinnati, Ohio

The Council of Elders spent Sunday in executive session. Monday, they followed up with planning for the May 2001 General Conference of Elders, and task force reports from Matthew Fenchel and Greg Sargent. The Council also heard a presentation by Fru-Con Construction Corporation and KBA Architects personnel regarding the home office facility construction, a Media Committee update, and a discussion of the GCE election process by Gary Antion and Gerald Seelig.  

Sunday

Among the executive session agenda items on Sunday was a confirmation ballot for the president.

At the time of his selection as the president of the United Church of God, at the General Conference of Elders meeting in Louisville, Kentucky in March 1998, Leslie L. McCullough discussed with the Council of Elders his intention to serve for three years as president of the Church. Following the expiration of that term in March 2001, he and the Council were to jointly decide on a future course of action.

The Council of Elders reconfirmed Mr. McCullough as the president of the United Church of God, an International Association. Mr. McCullough indicated his desire to serve as president until the General Conference of Elders in May 2002. The Council then passed a resolution to that effect, confirming him as president of UCG until the General Conference of Elders in May 2002, when his term will expire.

Planning for General Conference of Elders

Chairman Roy Holladay took the floor to lead deliberation on GCE planning. The Council had previously chosen a basic theme for this yearâs gathering, revolving around a sense of urgency in doing the work of the Church.  

The keynote address at this yearâs annual meeting will be delivered by Council member Richard Thompson, addressing the urgency in fulfilling the commission Jesus Christ delivered to His servants. Gary Antion and Don Ward will give split sermons on the Sabbath. Operation reports, officersâ reports, international presentations, and balloting on proposed measures and for Council members will fill segments of the time available. Elders Victor Kubik, Darris McNeely, Robin Webber, Bill Bradford, Clyde Kilough and Don Ward will present plenary sessions on facets of the Conference theme. Opportunities for after dinner seminars will be presented Saturday and Sunday evenings. The presidentâs and chairman's messages will conclude activities on Monday afternoon, May 7. 

Task Force Report ö Official Relationships 

Matthew Fenchel brought a provisional manner of approving official relationships with other religious organizations to the Council. In January 2001 the Council had appointed a task force, chaired by Mr. Fenchel, to develop a plan in this area, noting recent contacts made with other fellowships.

ãThe task force took the position that our goal is to enable relationships, not block them,ä stated Mr. Fenchel. To that end, the proposed provisional plan allows the Council great flexibility in what is proposed as a relationship. It listed four categories of ãofficial relationshipsä:

á         Sponsorship. Humanitarian projects or educational programs might fall under this heading.

á         Organizational projects. These might involve areas such as joint publication of literature, joint efforts to produce radio and/or TV programs, joint proclamation efforts using the Internet, joint humanitarian projects, or joint educational programs.

á         Congregational integration. This would involve UCG and another organization working together in areas involving members and congregations, such as seminars or youth camps, Sabbath or Holy Day services, open invitations for members to attend services with the other organization, or regular exchanges of ministers speaking in each otherâs organization.

á         Merger. This would involve an agreement to combine under one organization and/or identity. Examples might be having one organization wishing to dissolve its structure and have its members join the other organization, or both wishing to dissolve and form a new structure, or combining programs and structures within a single organization, or another organization wishing to reorganize as an entity within the United Church of God. 

Because the ramifications and complexities of a merger differ from and exceed the scope of the issues addressed in this process, Mr. Fenchel put forward the task force suggestion that a separate process for all mergers be developed. The task force had originally proposed not having mergers addressed in the scope of their work. However, legal counsel Larry Darden advised that mergers should be discussed in such a document, because a merger is the most complex form of an official relationship. Council consensus agreed with Mr. Darden. Leon Walker stated that a merger process would involve amendments to the governing documents of the Church, and Mr. Fenchel agreed, based on the work already done.

  Council discussion followed. Mr. Fenchel pointed out that if an individual minister wished to speak in a service of another fellowship at present, he would approach Ministerial Services with his request, which would be handled based on policy already adopted by the Council. Mr. Holladay stated that he was not comfortable using that process, established to deal with individual situations and requests, to handle wider-ranging relationships. Council agreed. Mr. Antion stressed concerns about a wider impact on the General Conference. Visitor John Elliott, speaking as a member of the General Conference of Elders, asked that there be a way to inform the ministry as a whole on the issues involved, so they can make a wise decision on this proposal.

Mr. Fenchel asked for Council input and edits to the draft document for a provisional manner of approving official relationships with other religious organizations. The Council unanimously approved the document jointly ãhammered out.ä It will now be presented to the General Conference for its approval. Mr. Fenchel and the task force will next address issues involved in amending the Churchâs governing documents to deal with a proposed merger, as well as the development of a merger process, as requested by the Council.

Home Office Facility  

In the afternoon session, Mr. McCullough introduced Tom Daubken, Director of Business Development with Fru-Con Construction Corporation, his associate Paul Bolster, project manager for the proposed building, and Mark Bredemeier, an associate principal with the architectural firm of KBA Architects, Inc. 

Mr. Daubken introduced the topic, and stressed that Fru-Con has been familiar from early in the process with the Churchâs budget for the building, and has worked to bring estimates in at cost. He introduced Mr. Bredemeier to explain where the proposed project stands from the architectâs viewpoint.

Mr. Bredemeier distributed the latest architectâs drawings for the proposed building. He explained the basic layout of the edifice and answered questions from the Council members and visitors about the construction from his vantage point. In general terms, warehouse space is nearly 7,500 square feet, first floor office space is over 8,700 square feet (including the space for the ABC program). The second floor calls for approximately 9,200 square feet of office space, including the radio studio.

Mr. Taubken and Mr. Bolster joined Mr. Bredemeier in answering some of the questions that were asked, including:

á         Is there room for future expansion? (Yes, the building could be extended to allow for more space.)

á         What will be the ceiling height for the ABC area? (Goal is ten feet, since itâs a larger area. But as it will be under the second floor offices, it canât be more than that.)

á         Could a second floor level be added in the warehouse area? (Yes, but it would be difficult. The advantage as it is proposed is the ãstackingä possible for literature, allowing more space than a simple one-floor design.)

á         Will there be entrances and exits from the ABC lecture hall? (Yes.)

á         Is the roof flat in the design? (No. The building codes require a ¹ inch slope for each running foot, which will allow for adequate drainage. This slope will be in the steel construction, not the insulation.)

á         How soon could construction begin, and how soon could the Church take possession, if approval is given? (The necessary permits and further plans should allow for groundbreaking by early June, and possession by mid-December.)

Mr. Taubken and Mr. Bolster noted that Fru-Con likes to have as much ongoing participation from the client as possible during the construction process (through a designated representative). Price estimates are not expected to vary much from what the Church has already been given (and distributed to its ministry), with the largest determining factor being the site itself.

The Council thanked all three men for their time and effort through the whole process, and for taking the time to make this presentation directly to the Council. After they retired from the meeting, the Council discussed its next course of action.

ãActionä would be the operative word. The Council of Elders resolved to authorize the president and/or treasurer to negotiate and sign the construction contract with Fru-Con Construction Corporation to build its home office facility on the land being purchased at Technecenter Drive and Eastman Drive in Milford, Ohio. The decision was unanimous.

Task Force Report ö Member Assistance

Greg Sargent presented an analysis of our member assistance situation, and some suggestions for future approaches.

He reminded the Council of its 1996 resolution regarding membersâ contributions to the assistance fund. As stated at that time, the Church acknowledges that government taxation in areas biblically identifiable as assistance to the needy amount to more than what God requires of His people through the third tithe administration first given to ancient Israel.

As Mr. Sargent said: ãThird tithe ö where did it go? Uncle Sam took it. We must find it.ä The Church has less income in this area than it uses for member assistance. Through the central administration of assistance funds (through the home office), a little more than $200,000 of member assistance is given from the operating fund, in addition to using the $469,000 in assistance donations received for this purpose. Additional shortfalls are experienced in local church accounts that administer assistance.

There are, of course, legal guidelines to consider. A charitable purpose must be established for the donation. Aspects of member education and ministerial education are involved.

Mr. Sargent suggested three action steps:

á         Educating the ministry to effectively use Church assistance fund monies and government resources to which our members have contributed for the purpose of helping the needy.

á         Educating present third tithe recipients in helping themselves.

á         Educating the United Church of God membership in wise financial planning in order to avoid problems and enhance the work of Godâs Church.

Mr. Kubik asked if Mr. Sargent envisioned using the resources of the membership in this approach. The answer was an emphatic yes. Local contact personnel can be established regionally throughout the country, and in conjunction with home office staff and field ministers, develop their own communication network to help each other in helping the brethren. The key is that it will free up Church funds to assist in areas where government programs canât help. 

Miscellaneous 

Mr. Kubik updated the Council on the January 18-19 meeting of the Media/Evangelism Oversight Committee. Its purposes:

á         To facilitate home office and Council working more closely together.

á         To coordinate the various media efforts of the Church.

á         To extend the process from conceptual to welcoming new people into the Church.

á         Involve operations from Editorial to Ministerial Services.

Mr. Kubik cited 1 Corinthians:3:5-18, pointing out that God gives the increase, but we must plant and water. The operational analogy follows the harvest concept, with the elements of seed, sower, field, implements, growing season, and harvest.  

During executive session, as required by the Churchâs governing documents for all officers within three years of appointment or reconfirmation, Council reconfirmed Tom Kirkpatrick as Treasurer.

In the final item of business, Mr. Antion and Mr. Seelig, Council secretary, discussed the election process to be used in selecting members of the Council of Elders in May at the General Conference of Elders. A question arose regarding whether the Council interpreted the bylaws to mean that the selection of ãat least threeä elders from the international areas could be interpreted to mean ãthreeä (Bylaws 8.3.1).

The representation of three members (current ratio) on the Council actually ãoverrepresentsä (based on numbers of elders serving internationally as compared to serving in the United States) the proportion of elders in the United Church of God who serve in international areas. The General Conference, which has the authority to interpret the Constitution, overwhelmingly approved the current nomination process by a ballot of 312 to 19. The Council, with the authority to interpret the Bylaws, has set up an election process based on its understanding and interpretation of those Bylaws. That process will choose three elders from the United States and one international elder to replace those whose terms expire this year.  

-Doug Johnson

© 2001 United Church of God, an International Association