Update from the President

We value the current period of peace in the church, and need to constantly remind ourselves that it is only in this environment we can have the growth and forward movement that we all desire.

We're on our way home from the grand finale of the current series of ministerial conferences that were held in a beautiful natural setting at the Temecula Creek Inn in Temecula, California, from March 27-29. We combined the ministry from the mountain states with those in the Southwest region and had a lively group of 73 attendees present.

The theme for this round of conferences was "Creating an Environment for Growth."

Live presentations and remarks were presented from myself, Bob Dick, Chris Rowland, Robin Webber, Larry Darden and Randy/Kay Schreiber. Recorded presentations were also shown from Merna Eppick, Scott Hoefker and Randy Stiver about alcoholism and addictions, pornography and doctrinal challenges. We had interactive time for discussion and questions.

Some of the highlights revolved around us, as a ministry, living up to the ministerial and Council of Elders codes of ethics which include the following points I emphasized:

- Consider the well-being of the Church and contribute to the needs and growth of the Church.
- Give honor and respect to all people, being kind, tenderhearted and forgiving of one another as instructed in God's Word.
- Maintain the highest standards of personal and professional conduct and competence, being careful not to demean others in word or deed.
- Denounce divisions and schisms as a means of resolving differences.
- Work within established procedures and processes of the Church for any grievances or any desired change in either governance or leadership in the Church.

We value the current period of peace in the church, and need to constantly remind ourselves that it is only in this environment we can have the growth and forward movement that we all desire.

We talked more about the increased functions of the new regional pastor structure which now has six rather than three serving the United States. The geographic area is now more reasonable for the regional pastor to oversee. We would like our regional pastors to particularly get to know all the pastors, their workloads and schedules. This will help us better assess what manpower we need in our congregations.

We held breakout sessions where we discussed how to improve the process of helping engage people who are interested in attending and becoming part of the United Church of God. We have collected input and suggestions from all our ministers now and will make this final list available to all of them in the near future.

Chris Rowland spoke about what makes the Church spiritually engaging. This tracks with the Church's vision, mission, guiding principles, positioning statements, goals, objectives, critical success factors and strategies. These have been developed by the Council of Elders through the years and are available for all to see at United Church of God: 2015-2016 - Strategic, Operation and Budget Plan

I asked veteran and recently retired elder Bob Dick to speak to the ministry about his reflections on 50 years in the ministry, his rich experiences and contributions on the Council of Elders as well as to the pastoral ministry for half a century. All the ministry, young and old, appreciated his informative, inspiring presentation and even sobering insight into how the United Church of God is governed and what we have had to learn. He cautioned about actions and words that have led to "collateral damage" that church membership has suffered due to the actions of leadership. He spoke about how carefully the Council has been able to build a governance process that we currently have.

We talked about training future leaders, which there is a continuing need. We are hiring four new ministerial trainees in addition to the six we hired last year. We have several training programs we will be streamlining into a curriculum for training new pastors and giving enrichment to all elders. We have a lot of training content through our online training program, Pastoral Development Program, Labor in the Word program as well as events such as the Labor Day Weekend Leadership Workshop and our regional conferences. We are pleased that there are those whom God is calling to a life of pastoral service. Along with our robust Beyond Today media and God's working in individual lives to bring people to repentance, I'm confident that the future of the United Church of God is bright.

This is just some of what we talked about at this conference. It was not only an educational experience, but a bonding one as well for the ministry.

A few of our elders were not able to attend due to health. We have not forgotten them. In the past few days, Beverly and I visited with Herb and Ann Vierra in Glendora, California, as well as Camilo and Agnes Reyes in Bakersfield. We really enjoyed their company and their long history in the Church.

Greetings from Roy and Norma Holladay were given to everyone.

Let's not let down praying for one another, for those who are aging and suffering with health trials. God is aware of all of us as he helps us in whatever phase of life and service we are in.

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.