United Church of God, an International Association

Council of Elders Videoconference Report

Milford, Ohio

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Chairman Robin Webber called the meeting to order at 4:08 p.m. Eastern, and the meeting was opened with prayer. Eleven Council of Elders (Council) members were present. Mark Mickelson was not able to be present.

Review of Logo for United Church of God—Victor Kubik

President Kubik welcomed everyone and explained that the purpose of his presentation was to show the Council the latest design of the proposed United Church of God and Beyond Today logos. This is a follow up to the meeting in May in which general consensus led to the further development of one of the designs. He discussed the many meetings held with the LPK firm about the logo design. The discussions included what could not be used such as religious symbols and any depiction of God.

Clint Porter, Beyond Today (BT) visual designer and video producer, was introduced to give a presentation on what logos are and what they are not. Then three representatives from LPK were introduced to give their explanation of the design they have been working on.

The Council was then asked for input. Their questions and comments about the logo were discussed for over an hour.

Mr. Kubik reminded everyone of the need for an updated Church and BT logo and mentioned the credentials of the world-renowned LPK firm. The administration has prayed and fasted about this process, and they are now asking the Council to reach a decision. A resolution was read and discussed. The discussion continued for about another hour and a half.

Due to the length of discussion and considerable input expressed about the proposed logo, Mr. Webber recommended not taking this matter to ballot, which is the normal outcome of a proposed resolution on the table, but to continue research and development at this time. The “sense of the Council” was to agree with Mr. Webber’s comment.

Peter Eddington, Media and Communications Services operation manager, requested that each council member write and send their comments about the logo so that the administration can have a basis to work from in going forward.

Mr. Kubik thanked the Council for their input and commented that the administration will review their comments and present them to LPK for further revision. He also stated that he and the administration’s desire is to continue working with the Council on this matter and all issues and fully appreciates the Council’s oversight role and looks forward to complying with its input and directives.

Formal Approval of 2015-2016 Committees and Chairmen—Robin Webber

Robin Webber presented the committees, and after a brief discussion the following was presented:

Doctrine Committee: John Elliott (chairman), Scott Ashley, Bill Bradford, Mark Mickelson, and Don Ward.

Doctrinal Advisory Committee: Larry Walker (chairman), Bob Gardenhire, Jon Garnant, Ken Graham and Don Hooser.

Prophecy Advisory Committee: Ken Martin (chairman), Rick Beam, David Mills, Tom Robinson and Herb Teitgen.

Education Committee: Aaron Dean (chairman), Scott Ashley, Rainer Salomaa, Rex Sexton and Tony Wasilkoff.

Ethics Committee: Mario Seiglie (chairman), Robert Dick, John Elliott, Mark Mickelson and Tony Wasilkoff.

Media and Communications Committee: Rex Sexton (chairman), Scott Ashley, Mario Seiglie, Don Ward and Tony Wasilkoff.

Roles and Rules Committee: Rainer Salomaa (chairman), Aaron Dean and Robert Dick.

Strategic Planning and Finance Committee: Bill Bradford (chairman), Robert Dick, Mark Mickelson and Don Ward.

Executive Committee: Robin Webber (chairman), Scott Ashley, Aaron Dean and Don Ward.

The quorum of the Council passed these committees and their chairmen unanimously.

Review of Recent Trip—Larry Darden

General (legal) counsel Larry Darden gave a short update on his recent trip to Southern Africa (Zambia and Malawi).

In Zambia, where there will be three Feast sites this year, options for where the Church will meet for the Lusaka site were evaluated, with a definite decision yet to be made. Improved property nearer to Lusaka was visited as a possible venue for local Sabbath services.

In Malawi, Mr. Darden (accompanied by Derrick Pringle, a Zambian elder, along with our only elder in Malawi, Gracious Mpilangwe) inspected the progress of improvements being erected on Church properties in Blantyre and Lilongwe. The Blantyre improvements, which are to include a meeting hall, are planned to begin after a brick wall has been completed (three sides nearly done already). The uncompleted west wall facing the street is to be more open, but gated.

In Lilongwe the Church’s existing meeting hall is protected by a wall and gate, with the construction of modern restrooms and an office and two other rooms nearing completion (hopefully by the end of June).

As we do have electric lighting, we were able to use that meeting hall for a Church board meeting on Sabbath evening, June 6. At that meeting, international advisor and the senior pastor for Malawi, Aaron Dean, was added as a trustee and appointed chairman of the board of trustees of UCG-Malawi. Three other board members were also added to replace others who had gone off the board or who recently decided to resign (for health reasons). Proposed amendments to the current constitution for UCG-Malawi to tighten asset protection and to simplify governance were distributed for review and possible approval by the board in the coming months.

The Council adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

-end-

Council Reporter

Shawn Cortelyou

© 2015 United Church of God, an International Association