United Church of God, an International Association
Council of Elders Meeting Report

Tuesday, February 29, 2000 ö Cincinnati, Ohio

Today the Council set dates for the next fiscal yearâs meetings and the General Conference of Elders, issued a response to the report from the task force on Ministerial Workload and Remuneration, released a statement on the identity of the church, and finalized other miscellaneous items.

Meeting Dates for 2000-2001

Council member John Jewell speaking in  Lafayette, Indiana on the Sabbath of February 26

Chairman Bob Dick restated the dates of the upcoming General Conference of Elders as being May 7-8, 2000, then confirmed the traditional three days of Council meetings following the GCE. He then led the Council through planning dates for Council meetings for the next fiscal year. Church convention coordinator Charles Melear had requested as much "lead time" for planning as possible, due to difficulties encountered in arranging past bookings on shorter notice.

The Council set the following dates for its meetings in the next fiscal year:

• September 13-18, 2000, in Cincinnati

• December 6-11, 2000, in Tyler, Texas

• March 14-20, 2001, in Cincinnati.

 

In addition, the Council set the date for the 2001 General Conference of Elders as June 3-4, 2001 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The usual three days of Council meetings following the GCE would then be June 5-7, 2001.

Task Force Response

The next issue facing the Council was to make a formal response to the report from the task force on Ministerial Workload and Remuneration. A letter had already been sent to each individual member of the task force, expressing the Councilâs appreciation for the many hours of hard work put into the project by each member of the team. In addition, the Council decided to issue the following statement:

"Whereas the Ministerial Workload and Remuneration Task Force has submitted a FINAL REPORT, dated January 17, 2000 to the Council of Elders and Administration of the United Church of God, an International Association,

It is hereby resolved that the Administration study the FINAL REPORT of the Ministerial Workload and Remuneration Task Force and present proposals to the Council of Elders that the Administration deems prudent to implement."

Church Identity

Gary Antion returned a statement to Council for final approval on the subject of church identity. Some have requested the Council make a statement expressing its understanding in this area.

The Council issued the following statement:

 
The Church consists of individuals called and chosen by God the Father, who have accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, repented of sin, baptized into Jesus Christ, and have been set apart through the Holy Spirit (John:6:44No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day., Acts:2:38-39[38]Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.[39]For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.; Romans:6:3Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?; I Corinthians 12:13).

The Church is a spiritual organism consisting of all those who have received the Holy Spirit (Romans:8:9But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.). The Church is built upon Jesus Christ, the apostles and prophets (Matthew:16:18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.; Ephesians:2:20And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;). Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church (Ephesians:1:22-23[22]And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,[23]Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.; Colossians:1:18And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.). The biblical name of the Church is the Church of God (I Corinthians 1:2; 11:22).

The members of the Church are enjoined to work together to fulfill His will (Ephesians:4:2-6[2]With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;[3]Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.[4]There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;[5]One Lord, one faith, one baptism,[6]One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.; I Corinthians 1:10) and to do His work (Matthew:28:18-20[18]And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.[19]Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:[20]Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.). Christ promised to be with the Church even until the end of the age. He also prayed for the unity of the people of God (John:17:20-23[20]Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;[21]That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.[22]And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:[23]I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.). In that light, all members of the Church have the responsibility of fulfilling the mandates of Jesus Christ.

  Miscellaneous

A few miscellaneous items rounded out the dayâs business. Richard Pinelli discussed the policy regarding ministerial festival transfers with the Council, and Council members talked about their own individual Feast plans for the 2000 Feast of Tabernacles. David Evans brought material on ministerial relocation policies to the Council, which revealed that incomplete communication of information to the Council (and to Mr. Evans as to the extent of the Councilâs knowledge) would require new policy suggestions. These will be brought forward at the Council meetings in May. Peter Eddington gave a brief synopsis of mail received year to date.

Following his expression of thanks to the Council for its hard work this session, Mr. Dick commented that the Council was doing "less business more thoroughly" as the Churchâs operations continue to be streamlined. He adjourned the meetings at noon and wished all safe journeys home.

- Doug Johnson

©2000 United Church of God, an International Association

 <!--webbot bot="HitCounter" u-custom
i-digits="0" i-image="1" preview="<strong>[Hit Counter]</strong>"
i-resetvalue="0" startspan --><!--webbot bot="HitCounter" endspan i-checksum="4944" -->