Council of Elders Meeting in Tyler, Texas
United Church of God, an International Association
Council of Elders Meeting Report
Wednesday, December 6, Tyler, Texas
The Council of Elders began the last round of meetings for the year 2000 today in Tyler, Texas, by hearing operational reports from the president, treasurer, and manager of Ministerial Services. They then plunged into updates on the task force meetings with the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship (CGCF), followed by deliberations on a policy for administering the Churchâs teaching on divorce and remarriage.
Administration Reports
Chairman Roy Holladay called the meetings to order at 8:30 a.m., welcoming the Council and visitors, including the president of CGCF, Larry Salyer, to east Texas and the current round of Council meetings. Upon being informed of a critical health situation for Gerald McLaughlin, long-time elder in Dayton, OH, Mr. Holladay asked Richard Thompson to lead the Council in a special prayer for Godâs intervention. Mr. McLaughlin has suffered an aneurysm in his carotid artery, followed by a series of strokes, and the prognosis for recovery is poor.
Les McCullough speaking with Teddi and Dave Treybig
visiting from West Texas
Mr. Holladay asked all the Council members to give a short synopsis of their Feast of Tabernacles travels and experiences, which were uniformly positive.
Minutes for the last set of face-to-face meetings in Cincinnati in September and a November 9 teleconference were approved, and a few miscellaneous items of ãold businessä cleared up.
President Les McCullough made his report to the Council, beginning with an update on the Ambassador Bible Center. Fifty-seven applications for the 2001 academic year have been received, 47 accepted, with four more expected to be approved shortly. Ages of those accepted this year range from 19 to 72, with most under the age of 35. A few internationals may be able to be accepted this year, in cases where the difficulty of obtaining a student visa can be overcome. One such case involves the son of one of the Philippine elders, who may be able to come on a religious workerâs visa to help with the Philippine mail operation in Cincinnati while attending the ABC part-time.
Two new full-time employees are at work in the Home Office ö Alec Surratt in the Mailing department, and Paul Wasilkoff in Computer Services (Mr. Wasilkoff has actually been employed since the early August finish of the 2000 ABC academic year).
All in all, from the presidentâs viewpoint, Mr. McCullough stressed that 2000 has been ãa very encouraging yearä in the work of the Church.
Treasurer Tom Kirkpatrick gave the Council detailed monetary figures in his presentation that added up to his estimate that, based on present trends (in Church income and national economic health), the Church should finish the fiscal year on June 30, 2001, with a modest excess of income over budgeted expenses, to the tune of just over 3% of the $15.7 million budget. Church reserves remain steady at just over four million dollars, and it is possible that the growing rate at which new coworkers and donors are being added (35 new coworkers and 94 new donors in November alone, as an example) could further positively affect the income. The one potentially significant ãunknownä Mr. Kirkpatrick reported to the Council in September, employee health care costs (due to a necessary change in health plan administrators earlier in the year) has held steady, slightly under budget to this point in the fiscal year.
Ministerial Services operations manager Richard Pinelli spoke next. Council had requested information from him on the number of ãnew contactsä made with the United Church of God since its inception in 1995. As nearly as it is possible to estimate the figures for the United States, Mr. Pinelli reported that number at 760. There is no record of how many of those people have come on to regular attendance or baptism.
Feast reports, echoing the personal experiences of the Council members, were encouraging and positive this year. The overall impression conveyed to Ministerial Services is best described as ãthe Feast produced a feeling of peace,ä according to Mr. Pinelli. Attendance at Feast sites was higher than pre-Feast registration, reflecting visitors from other Church of God fellowships, who were most certainly welcome. Attendance in the United States was over 11,600, with attendance around the world coming in at just under 17,000, as reported in the United News. Messages, according to reports, were generally solid and spiritually nourishing.
Mr. Pinelli than addressed continuing progress on the three-year plan presented to the president as an outgrowth of the report by the Committee on Ministerial Workload and Remuneration (which completed its work approximately one year ago). The first year proposals are progressing well, with some areas still to be resolved, such as the open pastorate in Montana (currently handled by Mark Mickelson on an interim basis), developing a ministerial candidate identification program (only on local levels at this point), and continuing development of local leadership programs. Some areas are being incorporated in conjunction with the next round of regional conferences, such as developing a program to provide help and encouragement for the wives of the ministry (surveying input on this topic will begin soon). Ministerial review and assessment is well underway, with a separate presentation by Doug Horchak and Steve McNeely scheduled for Thursday, December 7.
Lastly, Mr. Pinelli addressed the need to consider upgrading our current hymnal for church services. It was intended only for temporary duty, and has gone long past that already! He and several Council members made suggestions for a committee to begin work on the idea soon.
CGCF/UCG Task Force Report
CGCF task force chairman George Meeker and CGCF elder Frank McCrady, Jr. and Mrs. McCrady joined the group for the afternoon session, which headed immediately into discussion and updates on the most recent meeting of the two fellowshipsâ task forces in Sacramento, CA, on November 19 and 20, 2000.
Mr. Holladay, as chairman of the United Church of God task force, gave an overview of the results of the meetings. As he characterized it, ãmost of our meeting revolved around taking what we had discussed the first time, going back, and making some very practical recommendations on where do we go from here.ä The task forces advise that ãeveryone, both individually and collectively, give priority attention to the biblical instructions regarding peace making, conflict resolution, and forgiveness and endeavoring to dwell together in unity.ä They also further advised that both fellowships ãprepare videotape sermons for their respective congregations, coordinated in general content and timing, that will further cover various elements of these subjects.ä Another step recommended is to ãco-produce information packets for the ministry and membership of both groups containing detailed explanations of each groupâs doctrinal beliefs and their answers to the doctrinal questions that have been submitted, as well as descriptions of their respective forms of governance, administration and policies.ä
On a personal level, developing ministerial communication and rapport is seen by the task forces as a high priority. Representatives of both task forces stated that they genuinely felt that rapport building among themselves as a result of their meetings, and wanted to see it spread. Dennis Luker stated, ãJust on a personal note· the friendship and rapport that we developed on the task force, I think, was excellent. We enjoyed being together, and the more time we talked and the more time we spent together, the closer I felt to them. It was obvious that weâre brothers in the same faith and the same church. It was a delightful experience. I just hope that the process will continue in the same way. I think there are still some issues that need to be discussed and resolved in the doctrinal area, and weâll need to get those at some point. Apart from those doctrinal issues, I think the great challenge is really going to be to do what it takes to heal hurts, rumors, and reconcile. Itâs going to take a lot of work in those areas. Itâs a very positive process, and Iâm excited about it.ä
Larry Salyer from Church of God,
a Christian Fellowship (CGCF)
addresses the UCG Council
of Elders
Mr. Meeker added, ãI would agree with what Denny is saying. I even mentioned this during the last task force meeting we had. I think we had established [such] a rapport among ourselves, that I donât know if you could improve on it, really· I actually feel as comfortable with you [Roy Holladay] and Denny and Clyde [Kilough] as I do with anybody in our own [CGCF] ministry. My observation is that when youâre looking at somebody, and talking with somebody, that itâs hard to continue any kind of resentment·I think weâve pretty well established that sense of rapport. The problem now is to get that throughout both groups ö all the way throughout.ä
Mr. Holladay then asked Mr. Salyer to speak to the Council, outlining the challenges as he sees them. Those challenges deal strongly with peoplesâ perceptions, which are ãreality to them.ä Some of the members of CGCF hold certain perceptions about the United Church of God, and no doubt vice versa. Mr. Salyer stressed his support for the work and conclusions of the task forces, but pointed out his concern that the work of reconciliation must begin with the respective ministries first, before we ask the brethren of both fellowships to move forward. The ministry must lead in the effort.
Mr. Salyer brought some questions forward for consideration:
á What concerns does the UCG have about the CGCF, especially the ministry?
á Is the UCG willing to address certain questions of ministerial ethics that are sore spots with CGCF members (dating, in many cases, back to respective exits from the Worldwide Church of God)?
á Is the ãgood old boy networkä in the UCG [in dealing with concerns about the ministry]?
á Has the UCG started the process of educating its ministry to the possibility that there may be old hurts brought up from CGCF that they must deal with?
As he stated, Mr. Salyer feels that most doctrinal issues, with a few possible exceptions, have been resolved. He sees three areas to address as we move forward:
á Clarification on particular doctrines (nature of God, for example)
á Explanations of UCGâs standards for ministerial qualifications and/or credentialing
á Past hurts and offenses.
After further discussion and give and take, all agreed that it would be helpful to expand the discussions between the two organizations beyond the task force level. The Council and those present from the CGCF agreed to explore the possibility of a meeting of the CGCFâs Executive Council and the UCGâs Council of Elders. Mr. McCullough stated, ãIâm all for it. I think itâs a natural next step.ä Other Council members echoed the sentiment. Victor Kubik expressed his desire to be able to move forward before the next scheduled meeting of the task forces (May, 2001), so as not to lose the momentum being generated. Aaron Dean asked that the General Conference of Elders be asked for input and response to the idea, as did Gary Antion. As Mr. Antion expressed it, the GCEâs input is vital, so that ãwe [the Council] may more fully bring a report of this progress in May at our General Conference of Elders.ä Mr. Holladay pointed out that this is precisely what was done before the task forces even met, and would certainly be carried out at this stage of progress too.
Divorce and Remarriage
Jim Franks moderated discussion of the last item of business for the day. As chairman of the advisory subcommittee on doctrine, he led the Council through a draft policy on administration of the Churchâs teaching on the issue of divorce and remarriage.
The importance of the subject is evident from the statement in Hebrews:13:17 that the ministry carries a responsibility as ãthose who watch for your souls.ä Coupled with the statement in 1 Corinthians:6:9-10 that no adulterer will be allowed to enter the Kingdom of God, it is surely a sobering responsibility that must be borne, so as not to abdicate ministerial and Church responsibility toward Godâs precious brethren. The proposed policy advocates four stages: understanding the marriage covenant, involvement by the members (in question), involvement by the Church, and the consequences of actions taken. As envisioned, the Church, through the local pastor, the regional pastor, and the divorce and remarriage committee (presently Roger West, Vernon Hargrove, and Greg Sargent) could arrive at one of three conclusions in each individual case: the member in question is free to remarry by biblical standards, is not free to remarry by biblical standards, or the Church does not feel the information is conclusive enough for it to make a judgment. In that last case, the members would be further advised by the ministry of the seriousness of the situation, and their responsibility before God for the consequences of their decision in the matter. It is not overstating the issue to stress that a personâs eternal life may well be at stake, given the warning in 1 Corinthians 6.
Discussion centered around what action the Church should take if its decision was disregarded, including suspension and disfellowshipment. Suggestions were made for rewording parts of the policy, and Mr. Franks was asked to bring an edited version forward later in the meetings for final approval.
-Doug Johnson
