Cincinnati, Ohio—The United Church of God held its annual meeting of the General Conference of Elders (GCE) on May 3-5, 2025. This year, 335 elders and wives attended and focused on the theme, “A Legacy of Service and Faith.”

Elders and wives enjoyed a welcome reception Friday evening, followed by a group breakfast on Sabbath morning. This was followed by a Bible study, led by Victor Kubik, covering lessons learned from the conditions that led to the formation of UCG. Sabbath services were held in the afternoon and included a performance from the Ambassador Bible College chorale and sermons by Bob Dick and Tim Pebworth.

That evening, members of the GCE and home office support staff enjoyed further fellowship over dinner. After the meal, Randy and Kay Schreiber led a series of special presentations featuring the backgrounds of, and comments from, some of the founders of UCG. Afterwards, council member John Elliott presented a tribute to deceased elders and wives, a ministerial recognition ceremony and employee recognition. The presentation included introductions for 10 new elders and their wives and featured ministerial recognitions for up to 50 and 60 years of service. Finally, Council chairman Tim Pebworth expressed appreciation for Mr. and Mrs. Shabi and their service.

Balloting and Financial Report

While the ministerial wives enjoyed breakfast and a workshop, the Sunday morning GCE sessions commenced with the approval of last year’s minutes, some opening comments from the chairman Tim Pebworth, and the balloting process led by secretary Frank Dunkle.

Filling in for the treasurer, Aaron Dean presented the finance report. He reflected on how God had provided for His Church, even in tough financial times, and expressed his thanks to Rick Shabi and Barry Korthuis for their work as treasurers for UCG. Including projected income through July 30, there has been a 5.8 percent increase in fiscal income this year, and we will end with a 4.2 percent increase in total income over last year. In fiscal year 2024 we added seven Church buildings to those owned by UCG, bringing us to a total of 20, with three more planned for 2025. Mr. Dean closed with Colossians 3:1, reminding everyone that more importantly than money, we should focus on “those things which are above.”

International Reports

On Monday morning, a series of international reports were presented to the GCE.

New Zealand

Mike Fike provided a report on the work in New Zealand. There are two main islands in New Zealand, and about 1,000 miles of scattered brethren. Members come from a variety of cultures and countries: South Africa, Zimbabwe, the Philippines, Myanmar, Holland, Tonga and Fiji, to name several. The majority don’t share English as a first language. UCG has three congregations—Auckland, Hamilton, and Christchurch—and a Bible study group in the small town of Wahii. Some people live six to seven hours away from Sabbath services. We also provide sermons for a small group of 15-20 people we call “the Forest Church.” They’re not officially part of UCG, but they’ve been keeping the Sabbath for 13 years and are learning about the Holy Days. The people are hungry to learn, and each year they send their leader to the Feast of Tabernacles with UCG. In addition to these groups, we have members in Tonga who tune in to livestream Sabbath services each week, and who try to join us for the Feast in Taupo, New Zealand.

Mike Fike recounted a Passover to remember in 1968—the first to be held in New Zealand. There were a series of mishaps that nearly prevented the 
service from taking place, but God intervened mercifully. The bread and wine were stuck in an elevator that quit working halfway between floors. The electrician who came to work on it got electrocuted and had to go to the hospital. So, people opened a little hatch at the top of the elevator and sent someone to climb down to bring the bread and wine up. That same year, members from the South Island faced challenges with travel. They were on a ship which hit a reef, ripping off the propeller and causing the ship to sink. Grant Chick’s grandmother was on that ship, and she survived. She caught the last lifeboat off the ship and made it to Passover in time!

The New Zealand congregations have a very close association with Australia. The Australian office sends assistance to New Zealand and allows members to use resources from their office. A year and a half ago, Darris McNeely came to the Feast in New Zealand and gave three Beyond Today presentations, one in each of the congregations. We now have people attending because of these presentations. A year afterwards, Steve Myers came and gave follow-up presentations. He was able to participate in the baptism ceremony for one of the people who came initially because of Darris McNeely’s presentation. Other outreach efforts include a weekly airing of the Beyond Today program, personal responses to phone calls and a new website and landing page. Despite the challenges with serving scattered brethren, the New Zealand congregations continue to grow.

Caribbean

Representing the Caribbean work, Chuck Smith presented updates and a special video presentation for the region he pastors. In the Caribbean, there are currently 10 congregations, some brethren on scattered islands (including Grenada and Dominica) and two South American countries. The brethren are passionate about serving God.

In the Bahamas, particularly Freeport, the brethren have survived many storms. This year, they will host a Feast site for the first time in years. Jeff and Alisa Lockhart oversee the three congregations in Jamaica—a country which also hosts a Feast site. St. Lucia has grown in their preaching efforts over the years. Visits to prisons and nursing homes, radio and other broadcasting efforts have really grown in this country. Trinidad and Tobago hosts another congregation weekly on Chaguanas Island, Trinidad. Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America, joins their brethren through Zoom for church services. In this country, Good Works has helped build a reservoir to serve the brethren. As a country, Guyana’s future is looking brighter, as they are now pumping more oil than Saudi Arabia.

Haiti is an area that faces tremendous struggles for the brethren. Chuck Smith took extra time to update the GCE on a truly perilous situation the brethren were undergoing. Just three weeks prior, the brethren had fled as gangs overtook their city. They took just the clothes on their backs. Church leaders were able to run money to them, while they remained in hiding, so they could buy some food and survive. At long last, with the help of the Good Works program and the results of answered prayers, we were able to put together a program to get the brethren to safety. Housing was secured and supplied with food, and in a few 5.5-hour trips, members were driven to one of the two safe zones in the country. (At the time of writing this, we are happy to provide the update that all the brethren made it safely to their new location). Following this report, Chuck Smith led the GCE in prayer for the brethren and the success of their journey.

East Africa

Next, Monte Knudson spoke about the work in East Africa—which includes Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. He began with a brief history of how the Church rebuilt in this part of the world over the past 30 years. In 1996, members of UCG visited to restart the efforts begun under Worldwide Church of God. There were about 30 in attendance for the Feast of Tabernacles that year. This was followed up with a Passover visit in 1997. When further division challenged the work, members kept the Feast themselves in three locations. Despite setbacks, they rebuilt with help from senior pastors and elders from the United States. The current senior pastor, Monte Knudson, was mentored by John Elliott, who served for many years in this region, spending as much as three weeks at a time on each trip.

The area has 189 baptized members, 29 congregations/
Bible study groups, six elders and nine church halls owned by the Church (with help from Good Works). Attendance in 2025 ranged from 712 to 833. This year, we’ll have one Feast site in Rwanda, three in Kenya and three in Burundi.

We have two people in school learning English and two others learning during the day on the job. There are a number of Church groups that want to learn more about us. MMS has been given approval to visit and teach those groups. One of the groups is on the radio once a week, making a public proclamation of their own. They keep the Sabbath and Holy Days, and while they’re still learning about tithing, they want to be a part of UCG.

Particular attention has been given to reaching out to the brethren in Burundi. The poorest country in the world, this nation is one in which very little transportation is available. Most people get around by taking a ride on the back of a truck. Fuel is only occasionally available at gas stations, and when it is, it costs about $13 a gallon. Inflation is so high that 1 USD is equivalent to nearly 3,000 Burundian francs.  UCG has collaborated with Living Church of God to meet with some of their members who haven’t been visited in three years. Despite challenging circumstances, a recent baptism and a leadership meeting held in Burundi are evidence of growth in this country.

Latin America

Mario Seiglie presented next, providing updates about the Church in Latin America. We have 650 brethren in 10 countries, and 10 ministers and five deacons serving in the Spanish-speaking area. We serve 33 congregations and Bible study groups around Latin America. We have recently been working to connect brethren across country borders by using Zoom to host men’s and women’s clubs. A regional spokesman’s club meets at the office in Mexico City and welcomes additional attendees online. Youth camps are held each year in Colombia, Mexico, Chile and Guatemala. Regional conferences were held in both 2024 and 2025, including 101 people.

Good Works and LifeNets have covered many of the needs of members in Latin America. The LifeNets scholarship program has awarded 40 scholarships to students from this area. Good Works and LifeNets also helped in Acapulco when a hurricane hit. Brethren live in houses with tin roofs that are easily damaged, so Hurricane Otis resulted in 10 billion dollars’ worth of damage. Deacon Jesse Api, who is a licensed contractor, led the restoration project, reforming and reinforcing roofs and helping provide structure for seven families. He helped members select better materials for their homes. A year later, another hurricane hit. Jesse Api drove over 3,000 miles in his utility truck with a trailer behind it. All the construction stores had been sacked in the aftermath of the disaster, so he brought all his own tools. He worked from March 2024 to March 2025, with some help from deacon Aaron Dominguez (from Denver, Colorado), who spent two months on the project. They built eight roofs, and the work is continuing with the support of local members.

In other news, the Spanish-language website has seen 80,000 unique visitors. We have also been developing YouTube shorts to reach more people. God has truly been blessing His Church in this part of the world!

Baltics, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia

James Ginn updated the GCE on the work in the Baltic, Eastern European and Scandinavian regions. Brethren in this part of the world are scattered geographically, so much of the effort over the last six months has been to find ways to connect them. We have a new virtual Sabbath service for those who are four to eight hours apart. We also serve members through quarterly in-person visits. We’ve met several people who had been quietly observing God’s way of life while isolated from others of the same faith. Members come from many different countries—including Latvia, Norway, Finland, Sweden and even close to the Arctic Circle!

One of our biggest projects has been to translate Church materials into the various languages of these regions. Monica Ohrian and Ludmila Wolf, both from Italy, help us translate into Romanian and Czech, respectively. Natallia Teague helps us translate into Russian, while Kasia Arendsen (from the Netherlands) translates into Polish. Ulf Ståhle translates material into Swedish.

The Feast site for this region is in beautiful Tallinn, Estonia. In Tartu, about two hours southeast of Tallinn, Mr. Johnny Lambert has an apartment, from which he used to send mailings to members. Today, our outreach involves using podcasts and social media to reach a secular audience and generate curiosity for looking into religious matters. UCGEurope.org is currently under development to serve members and prospective members. Also, we need your help! If you would like to contribute to the weekly virtual Sabbath service or the translation efforts, please reach out to James Ginn (james_ginn@ucg.org).

South Asia

Finally, David Schreiber shared updates on the work in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan and South Asia. He played a short video that showed how God’s hand was at work in this part of the world and shared the hunger and joy for God’s Word the people in this area have. Yet, religious, distance and language barriers can make preaching the gospel more difficult.

The Tomes family has provided some additional help in the region the Schreibers serve. Julia Tomes is also serving as an ESL teacher. In the age of AI, we’ve been able to redefine what’s possible. We can use our manually translated booklets to train AI to aid in translation to make the process quicker for the future. We still need to allocate resources and form teams to harness these tools. If you have experience with AI language tools, we encourage you to reach out to David Schreiber.

Mizoram is India’s only Christian majority state. UCG has six Sabbath-keeping congregations in this country. A local man has worked to bring the congregations together, and they reorganized under UCG Mizoram and have adopted fundamental beliefs. With approval, they now translate UCG booklets into their language. Another challenge that India faces is that it does not have many local members who are able to serve. In Sri Lanka, a key challenge is an inability to formally register UCG in the country, which restricts some of our public proclamation abilities.

In Bangladesh a new couple was recently baptized. Sadly, they have been persecuted and have had to move from their Muslim village to a Muslim-Hindu village. They were still accused of trying to convert people to Christianity. In the face of serious persecution, God has provided for His people, and for the first time, 45 people kept the Feast of Tabernacles in Bangladesh! Pakistan has similarly faced persecution, as they are a 96 percent Muslim country. Because of persecution, a recently baptized couple had to flee their home. They kept the Feast for the first time ever in modern Pakistan.

Despite the challenges faced in these countries, there are also many encouraging updates. One of these is the programs for our youth. Children from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka meet regularly for Sabbath school with Jelly. There are also new Sri Lanka and India websites, with plans to expand the India site into a multilingual site. A leadership conference is planned for July in Sri Lanka. There will also be travels scheduled to Mizoram, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

Conclusion

To close this portion of the GCE, Tim Pebworth shared some of the details of how UCG formed in various countries around the world that were also impacted by the events of 1995. For instance, in South Africa, Jorge de Campos heard rumors of impending changes as early as 1990. In the Netherlands, Wim Dekker recalls being a 25-year-old when the apostasy affected his congregation. He observed that there was only one elder in the area who stuck to the faith, so he met secretly with him to counsel for baptism. For a time, they met as an unnamed group to keep the Sabbath, until Marcos Rosales teamed up with Paul Kieffer in Germany. Although he was living in South Africa at the time, Grant Chick had communication with many of the elders who were in Australia at the time. The events in 1994-1995 mirrored those in the United States, with core beliefs being changed. Prior to these events, 51 employed elders dropped to only six, and 54 non-employed dropped to only 10. But in true Aussie spirit, things moved quickly. By April 1995, a transitional team was formed, which eventually became UCG Australia. Beginning with just a telephone, email, old computer and monochrome monitor, a team formed congregations on the east coast and a 
constitution. Today, we have 25 congregations in Australia, with an average weekly attendance of over 600 across all the congregations. God has truly blessed His people around the world for how they responded to the crisis with faith.

Ministerial Milestones

Employee Milestones

“And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake” 
(1 Thessalonians 5:12-13).

The following individuals were honored at the annual meeting of the General Conference of Elders for their many years of ministerial service. Wives of those serving were included in this recognition for their service alongside their husbands. Included is a synopsis of the personal reflections shared with their 
fellow elders and wives.

Terri Eddington

For this year’s milestone General Council of Elders,  we reviewed the history of how United Church of God formed and honored those who were instrumental in its founding.

Prior to the GCE, ministers and wives who were among the founders of UCG were asked to share some of their reflections on that time and how it helped shape UCG as we know it today. Below are some of their comments.

Most of all, we are truly grateful to our loving heavenly Father for His guidance during this challenging time and over the years of growth that have followed!

Bob Dick

“Roy Holladay, Victor Kubik and I are the remaining elders in United who would view Indianapolis from “the other side of the coin”—as organizers of the meeting.

“Indianapolis was announced as a meeting of regional pastors seeking a way forward after Pasadena’s rejection of our plea to maintain our original beliefs. All interested elders were welcomed and 150 came. Indianapolis was like a reunion of survivors of a spiritual Titanic.

“We assembled in Indianapolis desiring to establish a structured body that would provide a safe place to meet for those who held their calling precious—none of us had purchased a spiritual ‘round-trip ticket’ back to where we were when called. Indianapolis gave us hope. We had all refused to abandon the doctrines upon which our hope was based.

“Indianapolis was a tremendous gathering of likeminded elders and wives; without them and the loyal elders and wives who were not able to make the trip to that meeting there would be no corporate Church, but with only them it was nothing but a corporate entity. The real United Church of God was the assemblage of deeply converted members sitting in cities around the world waiting to form again as congregations of the steadfast. They are the United Church of God; we are their servants.

“Today, I am deeply impressed by every young person who says with clear conviction, ‘This is my Church’—this is my future. I am equally impressed with the fine group of elders and wives who have stepped into our shoes and are doing a wonderful job of caring for God’s precious flock.”

Peter Eddington

“Attending the December 1995 conference was one of the most encouraging and unifying Church events I’ve attended. Many commented on the spirit of excitement, enthusiasm and unity evident during the meetings.

“I was on the committee to plan the agenda with Victor Kubik, Dennis Luker, David Hulme, Steve Andrews, Jim Franks and Steve Sidars. At the home office we received many letters encouraging the ministry to move forward in unity at the conference. Here is an excerpt from one such letter:

“‘We desire for unity and peace and to move forward. There are so many of us out here who just want to get on with the work. We are praying and fasting for this conference. Let’s get the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God out to the world.’

“Thanks to God, we left the conference with unity and overwhelming support for doing His work. The Constitution and Bylaws were adopted by a 94 percent majority, and the proposed 1996 budget was approved by a 95.8 percent majority. These are the highest majorities to date of any General Conference of Elders ballot. The agreement and unity in the room was palpable.

“I pray our current and next generation of Church leaders will achieve such unity in doing the work of the Church. Let’s not let our brethren down.”

Judy Erickson

“Victor Kubik was the first speaker. He mentioned we have been through some persecution, but that is the only way we will enter into the Kingdom of God! He mentioned in setting our goals, we need to do a Work again (preach the true gospel), serve the brethren and be living sacrifices, and united.

“This meeting was so wonderful, encouraging, and gave me hope God was providing a way to continue in His truth with our brothers and sisters. I went home elated and feeling so blessed that we had those who were planning and working to provide a church for God’s people and Feast sites.

“My hope for the next generation is they will continue in ‘the Way’ God has taught us, and do it better even than we have.”

Dave Mills

“In early 1995 we faced a crisis concerning the faith and convictions which we had held for many years. Several of our basic doctrines were said to no longer be necessary to observe. These included the Sabbath and Holy Days. My wife and I did not agree with these changes, and before long we heard of other ministers who also did not agree with the changes. We knew we had to do something.

“And so, a general conference of elders was planned for April 30–May 2 in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was a joy for my wife and me to be there and see the humble attitude of fellow ministers. We weren’t there out of rebellion, nor to condemn or put anyone down. No, we were there simply to preserve our biblical faith and convictions.

“It was good to see a right attitude and right spirit as the United Church of God was formed. It was an attitude of humility, collaboration and submission to one another. Now, 30 years later, let’s all strive to maintain this attitude of humility and submission. And let’s keep our hearts in the work of God—‘Preaching the Gospel, Preparing a People. ’”

Steve Nutzman

“The months of early 1995 were a time of prayer, fasting and faith. God’s elect had been hurt, discouraged and divided, but a faithful remnant looked to Him for a place of spiritual safety, and mercifully, God heard their collective prayers.

“Truly, God was so caring and loving to do this for us in 1995 as well as over the last 30 years! It was a time then (and still is) of submitting to God and to one another, and a time to rekindle our first love.

“After United began it was so refreshing to be able to enjoy doctrinal unity among the elect of God again. One of my best memories from the December 1995 GCE was seeing an airport shuttle pull up in front of the hotel the day before the GCE began. Out walked ministers and wives from Canada who had just arrived for the conference. It was a nice reminder then, and it still is 30 years later, that the United Church of God is truly “an International Association.”

Rainer Salomaa

“There were a handful of elders from Canada who attended the December 1995 GCE in Cincinnati. This was a catalyst to help start UCG in Canada.

“One afternoon, we met for a meal at a restaurant and made plans to have an organizational meeting to form Uni-ted Church of God–Canada. It was determined to have the meeting in Calgary, Alberta in February 1996. We met there for several days, inviting leading members from Western Canada to attend. We also had legal representation come from Arcadia to help us with governing documents. A board was established, consisting of seven ministers and two lay members. Tony Wasilkoff was chosen as the chairman.

“All of this was new to us, but the GCE of 1995 was a great help.”

Robin Webber

“The events of the 1990s brought needful realization that God has called us to serve Him and not the philosophical whims of man.

“Ministry and members came together in holding dear to their baptismal vow to worship our Heavenly Father and emulate His Son—not an organization. They embraced who is the Lord of their lives and the Head of a Spiritual Body of believers and would follow wherever His Spirit led—even if seemingly alone but, shepherded forward with the loving guidance of our Heavenly Apostle above (Hebrews 3:1).

“UCGIA was formulated from the beginning to ‘grow in grace and knowledge’ as we strove to learn lessons from our past and build and continue to expand in understanding God’s Holy Word and how to seek and draw upon a multitude of counsel in a transparent manner to all. An ongoing exercise yet in motion, always to be considered, lest we forget. ”