Update from the President
This past week, Jan. 20-22, 62 elders and wives met in Atlanta, Georgia, for the Southeast regional ministerial conference. This begins a new round of meetings to be held in each region over the next two years.
Mark Welch speaks to the elders at the Southeast conference.
There were many hours of instruction and discussion. From the home office we brought our team of Mark Welch, Chris Rowland, Steve Myers and myself, along with our spouses. We added regional pastor Ken Martin and Dr. Don Ward from Big Sandy, Texas, for presentations.
Our regional pastors asked our elders for the topics they wanted enrichment on most. Hence, we produced a two-day program with topics that included doctrine, ethics and pastoral responsibilities.
In each region the regional pastor presents a topic. Ken Martin showed 22 techniques Jesus Christ used that made Him a great teacher such as:
- Master of His subject.
- Spoke with confidence and authority.
- Expressed an outward love and concern for people and a desire to see them learn.
- Use similes, metaphors, analogies and parables to convey His message.
- Stressed throughout His teachings man's relationship to God and to his neighbor.
- Teachings were relevant to everyday life.
- etc.
An important part of the event is the personal interaction we have with one another and the ability to discuss church matters face-to-face. Sometimes there's no substitute for talking to one another in person.
Dr. Ward spoke on Expository Preaching and recounted practical rules of interpretation as well as how to analyze a book of the Bible and gave examples using Malachi and Romans.
Several commented how this conference was the best one they've attended. Being the debut conference of this set, those comments are particularly refreshing to us as presenters. We gave the attendees a survey afterwards to help us improve our presentations.
Haiti
At this conference, Bev and I had the opportunity to talk with Caribbean senior pastor Chuck Smith who returned a few days ago from Haiti where a UCG congregation has been established. The purpose of this trip was to make progress on the construction of a new church building. Chuck makes this report:
"In the infamous words of fictional character Hannibal Smith, 'I love it when a plan comes together!' The plan for our new church building in Haiti is coming together nicely. I made a working trip to the island on Sunday, January 13, and stayed through Wednesday the 16th. In four days we were able to complete about 1/3 of the rafters for the roof of the new meeting hall. The new structure will give the United Church of God not only a place to worship each Sabbath, but also a learning center and a safe haven to go to during the annual hurricane season. The 1700 square ft. building (which is built to international building codes--unseen in most of Haiti) is planned for completion around the 1st of April. Most of the brethren do not have electricity. The new building will have a dedicated transformer with reliable power and Internet access for use by the brethren and community. The metal roof has been ordered and our plan is to have it installed by February 10. This will officially 'dry us in!'
Construction of the new building.
Deacon Joseph Jean with wife, Molene.
"A Bible Study was scheduled for the Tuesday night I was there. A huge deluge of rain ensued, and deacon Joseph Jean thought it best to cancel. It had been extremely hot and humid since I had arrived. I was exhausted from the day's hard physical labor, and had lain down for a rest. About 15 minutes later, Mr. Jean knocked on my door. He informed me that around 40 people had walked through the heavy downpour to attend the Bible Study, and we needed to go ahead with plans to conduct it. I got dressed and was so enthused when I arrived and saw everyone, singing hymns and waiting for the Bible Study to begin. We had a wonderful Bible Study.
"We thank our God and Father for the incredible blessing of this building and remember the words from Psalm 127:1: 'Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.' Now we must begin to prepare for the spring Holy Days in our new building--the very first United Church of God Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread in Haiti.
"Updates and photos can be found at https://ucghaiti.blogspot.com"
In Haiti we plan to have sponsorship to teach English and computer skills by Good Works and LifeNets. We thank all who have contributed directly so far to make this all come together. We are grateful for the godly zealousness of Chuck Smith.
Roy Holladay
On our drive home from Atlanta to Cincinnati, Bev and I stopped to see our beloved long-time friends Roy Holladay and his wife, Norma, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They are doing fine and pass along their greetings to you. I have deeply appreciated and have great memories of my more than 20 years of working with Roy Holladay as a pastor, Council member, Council Chairman, President and MMS Operation Manager.
We had hoped to stop by and see retired pastor Bill Cowan and his wife Betty, but they were not feeling well.
Be sure to listen to the latest Inside United podcast with Darris McNeely about his visit to South Central and South Africa where their nearly month-long journey has borne good fruit in the congregations on the opposite side of the world from us.
