Council of Elders Meeting in Tyler, Texas
United Church of God, an International Association
Council of Elders Meeting Report
Sunday, December 10, Tyler, Texas
Sundayâs session of the Council of Elders meetings opened with a discussion of the process of doctrinal review. Media and Communications operation manager Peter Eddington then updated the Council on current programs. Finally, Victor Kubik, chairman of the Media and Communications Committee of the Council, presented material on Church assistance around the world, and led deliberation on an integrated media/evangelism oversight plan.
Doctrinal Review
Leon Walker, chairman of the Doctrine Committee, asked the Council for input on the procedure for doctrinal review. The Council fine-tuned the process with slight wording changes, and the quorum then present (Don Ward absent) unanimously approved the process as amended.
Media Operations
Mr. Eddington presented his report, accompanied by handouts dealing with the "facts and figures" through the month of November:
Latest print run for the Good News was 309,566 ö the highest ever
Through the end of November, the home office had received 240,001 pieces of mail for the year 2000, an increase of 106% over 1999
Internet literature request responses for the year stand at 11,821 (71% increase over last year)
Responses to subscriber development letters were 14 % (June) and 16% (August), with the last figure being represented by over 18,300 requests for the booklet "Heaven and Hell: What Does the Bible Really Teach?"
A total of 2.4 million promotional packages of various sorts will have gone out in the seven months from July 2000 through January 2001, advertising the Good News and various booklets
Telephone responses to the Good News radio program now total 497, with the recently added station in Dallas (KRLD) having generated 46 calls in just four weekends of airtime
Readerâs Digest responses (to the ad place in the June issue) now total 25,351
Seven new booklets are currently awaiting publication within the next few months
The coworker file now stands at 979, with an additional 2,466 people considered "donors"
Recent efforts on the World Wide Web at GoTo.com, using keywords to direct people to an ad for the Good News magazine, have proven very effective.
Mr. Eddington also asked the Council to review his proposal for a Church seal, incorporating many elements of the already-approved Church logo. The seal would be suitable for use on lecterns in local church areas. Council requested one minor design change and unanimously (all 12 members) approved the design as amended. One last item, the running of a proposed 60-second TV ad for the Good News, rounded out Mr. Eddingtonâs portion of the meeting.
LifeNets
Mr. Kubik used a PowerPoint presentation to visually update the Council on numerous ways in which the United Church of God strives to help its own needy members around the world. As he stressed, this is the goal of "LifeNets" ö a separately organized effort to provide humanitarian aid in many parts of the globe. His estimate is that approximately 80% of all the aid supplied under this service umbrella directly benefits members of the Church, enabling them to both serve others around them more effectively and raise their own standards of living.
The mission statement for LifeNets reads: "LifeNets is a non-profit organization that offers practical assistance for promoting the well being and self sufficiency of needy people throughout the world." By not being "faith-based" (directly connected to the United Church of God), the ability to stretch the relief dollars is greatly enhanced, and more good is accomplished, not just for members of the Church, but for many in their communities as well.
Areas of the world that have been recipients of aid include (in no particular order) the Philippines, Zambia, Guatemala, Malawi, and Ukraine. Possible areas for future assistance include China, Peru, and Jordan.
For further information on details of the projects, check out LifeNets on the World Wide Web at www.lifenets.org.
Integrated Media/Evangelism Oversight Plan
In the final session of the day, Mr. Kubik discussed putting together a process that would integrate the resources of Godâs work to more effectively preach the gospel to the world and achieve better results.
Are we happy with the results of our media efforts over the first five and a half years? While numbers donât tell the whole story of what God is doing, what responsibility do we bear in "making disciples?"
While we can look comfortably at whatâs on the "thermometer" in the United Church of God, we need to also find out whatâs happening in the "boiler room." What are the prospects of UCGâs future one, two, five, ten years from now? What is the demographic of our membership? How is it changing? How many new people are we engaging? How many are staying with us?
Discussion turned to the proposed Evangelism Oversight Plan that directs us toward more successfully presenting the message of the gospel. It uses the resources we already have and rearranges them into a team that works together to direct the mission of the Church.
A suggested team would include all members of the Media and Communications Committee, the president, the chairman of the Council of Elders, the Media and Communications operation manager, the chairman of the Council Education Committee, the Ministerial Services operation manager, and the managing editor of the Good News. Others could be added as needed. A quarterly meeting of the team, beginning in January 2001, was proposed.
Several Council members commented on aspects of the idea as presented. Roy Holladay stated that he felt this could give sharper focus to both the strategic plan and the operation plan. Don Ward asked that, in this context, the Council consider that average church attendance is holding steady at best. Yet, as he pointed out, we of all people need to realize the times we live in. "We had better read the handwriting on the wall. We are living in perilous times. [Israeli Prime Minister] Barak has just resigned in the Middle East. They will not have [a prime minister] for sixty days. We donât know who the next president of the U.S. will be. The stock market is in terrible flux. We donât know exactly how the economy is going to go in the new year, under a new administration. And at the same time, we are just barely holding even· I like this [plan], but in addition, along with this, we really need to focus on what we can do to milk, water, and everything we can, in bringing all these respondees in· I see this as one step toward focusing on what we need to do in the future."
John Jewell agreed. "Europe is in ferment. There are so many factors existing in the world today that· we do live in the most dangerous time in manâs history. Weâve got to be very conscious of that in all of our publications, in everything weâre doing. Iâm not sure that we are quite so conscious of that, as we should be."
Mr. Kubik responded by saying that this is a reason to coordinate efforts even more closely. "Thatâs what has driven me to make this report," he pointed out.
Mr. Eddington welcomed the approach, from an operational viewpoint. He noted that most of our efforts at present flow from the Good News. Generally speaking, the booklets flow from the Good News. The radio program flows from the booklets.
President Les McCullough commented "My impression is, we need to get the Council to decide, and to agree, on what the purpose of the Church is. I know we have a mission statement. But what does the Council think the purpose of the Good News is? What is our· intent, our aim?· It seems to me weâd be better off if that were all nailed down solidly at the upper level and then passed on down through the lower level·as a Council, it doesnât seem to me that weâre as focused, and as precise, and as intent on Îwhat is the purpose [of some of the things we do]?â We have some very broad general statements that weâve made, but we havenât narrowed our statements down to say Îthis is what we mean!â ÎPreach the gospel to all the world.â What do we mean by that? How do we want to go about it?" He recalled that part of our goal historically was to preach the gospel as a witness. That was included as part of the goal, and was understood clearly.
Richard Thompson stated that he understood the proposal for a January 2001 meeting by such a new oversight committee was intended to do just that ö narrow the focus and bring a report to the Council at its next meetings, in March 2001. "Then those who are aware of certain things could narrow the focus and bring it to the Council very definitively· I think one reason weâre not as focused is because the world isnât focused. The world is all over the place· We have to provide something very specific, definitive, unique, that can strike people in the place they really need help; but perhaps theyâre so jaded and self-satisfied they think they need nothing." He went on to stress that this problem isnât unique to us ö itâs a factor of the world we live in. "Weâve got our work cut out for us," Mr. Thompson continued. "Sometimes I think itâs going to take nothing less than a world crisis for people to listen to what weâve got to say!"
Burk McNair pointed out that it needs to start with the ministry. "What we need is· to stir ourselves up, and stir other people up, and donât be afraid weâre going to offend somebody if we speak the truth. We will offend people if we speak the truth·Someone said something about the coming GCE meetings and what we should cover. I would suggest strongly that we cover one thing, and that is the necessity and importance for our ministers· being enthusiastic about whatâs going on in the Church and relaying that to the Church. If they want to see the Church grow and progress, they need to understand the gentle approach that is also straightforward. You [the elders] play a vital part, and what you do can determine whether we have difficulties down the road later· all of us have a major part."
Mr. Thompson and Mr. Jewell agreed that the "buck stops here" ö with the ministry as pacesetters in enthusiasm for the message we have for the world and the congregations.
The meeting concluded on that sobering but energetic note.
-Doug Johnson
