We just completed our second conference for the 2019-2020 series of regional ministerial conferences. Elders from the Northeast region met near Youngstown, Ohio, from this past Sunday evening through Tuesday afternoon. We had 71 attendees representing 40 households, and it was wonderful for me to meet some elders and wives who I had never met before. It was very helpful to be reacquainted and to spend some quality time with the ministry in the Northeast. As I mentioned at the Annual Meeting of the GCE in May, one of my personal goals is to get to know the pastors, elders and wives much better. The time spent at the conference certainly moved me closer to reaching that goal.

Our Ministerial Education Team—Darris McNeely, Steve Myers, Chris Rowland and myself—along with President Kubik presented a variety of topics that were very well received by the attendees. We began Sunday evening with everyone giving an introduction and sharing a bit about themselves, their service and how long they have been married! There are many fine examples of married couples who have been together for 10, 20, 30, 40 and even over 50 years in the Northeast region. It was good to have a cross-section of seasoned elders who are truly "elders" in the sense of their age, but we also had a number of much younger ministers and wives, with some very cute infants and toddlers also attending!

One of the things that struck me was how often the elders mentioned being eager to learn at the conference and to bring that instruction back to their congregations in greater service. I was impressed with their evident desire to serve more effectively in their congregations.

On Monday morning, we began with Victor Kubik sharing "News and Developments" in UCG. In this session, Mr. Kubik mentioned that he believes "the best years of the United Church of God are still ahead of us." I would agree and certainly pray that is the case!

The next session was entitled, "Who is the LORD?" The Northeast regional pastor, Steve Myers, and I used a "tag-team" approach to address a topic that has generated a lot of discussion over the last few years. In this presentation we answered ten questions on the subject. This session was very well received both at the first regional conference in the Southeast region and here in the Northeast.

Our next session was by Darris McNeely and entitled "Speaking to the Mission and the Vision." In this session, Darris emphasized the importance of being sure that the sermons we give to our brethren are mindful of our mission "to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God in all the world, make disciples in all nations, and care for those disciples." Darris also emphasized our Vision Statement and how we are to become: "A Church led by God's Holy Spirit, joined and knit together by what every member supplies, with all doing their share and growing in love to fulfill God's great purpose for humanity to bring many children to glory (Ephesians 4:16; Hebrews 2:10)."

In the afternoon, Steve and Kathe Myers discussed "Becoming a Nurturing Pastoral Couple." In their presentation, they used two different exercises showing the important need for our ministerial couples to nurture our local congregations, with a lesson to focus on the positive side, giving our members the benefit of the doubt and thinking the best of them.

Steve Myers followed up with a seminar entitled "The 'Mess' in Messianics," pointing out our need to follow the Bible in regard to the spirit of the law with a New Covenant application, being careful not to overemphasize Judaism and traditions of men.

The third afternoon session was "Expository Preaching" in which Darris McNeely discussed the need to present a balanced diet of sermons. He used the example of Paul's sermon on Mars Hill in Acts 17, and showed us how to "expose" the real depth behind the written words of scripture and how to apply them in this present day and age.

At our dinner meal, my wife, Barbara, and I, along with facilitators from the home office ministry, guided a discussion on the importance of developing more meaningful and closer relationships among the ministry to help support one another and to serve more effectively.

Monday evening, Chris Rowland took us to the Ministerial Resource Site and showed us some new features of the ministerial Intranet site that bring new tools to our pastors and elders. I greatly appreciate what Chris has done in developing, improving and maintaining this very valuable resource for our ministry.

On Tuesday morning, Victor Kubik presented a very timely session about our need of "Going Above and Beyond the Ministerial Code of Ethics." Vic emphasized the ministry's need to be above reproach and to set the proper example for our brethren around the world. He carefully went through our Ministerial Code of Ethics line by line. We must be careful to avoid even the appearance of evil and must deal honestly and uprightly in all our actions and behavior. Vic also mentioned how he keeps a copy of the Strategic and Operation Plan on his desk at all times and is focusing on meeting all of the goals for Congregational Care and Organizational Stewardship.

Steve Myers and I presented a session on "Effective Pastoring and Ministry." With many years in pastoring and ministering to the needs of several congregations, we answered a number of questions we had gathered through our regional pastors.

I ended the conference with a final session entitled "Unity in the Body of Christ," in which I exhorted and admonished our ministers to strive for unity in their own local congregations and throughout UCG. There are many scriptures in the Bible that speak of unity and against causing division within the Body of Christ. I emphasized the need for true integrity, true humility and genuine godly love in our quest for greater unity.

Steve Myers, who has done an outstanding job as regional pastor, and Victor Kubik made some closing remarks, thanking everyone for their wonderful participation and service to God and His people!

Throughout the two-day conference, we allowed time for ministers to comment and interact in the various sessions. We received a lot of helpful input and, along with anonymous feedback from those who attended the conference, we believe we can make our future conferences even more productive and meaningful!