Council of Elders Meeting Report - May 7, 2019

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United Church of God, an International Association

Council of Elders Quarterly Meeting Report

Milford, Ohio

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Chairman Don Ward called the morning session to order at 9 a.m. Eastern, and the meeting was opened with prayer. 11 Council of Elders (Council) members were present. Scott Ashley joined about 90 minutes later because he was teaching an ABC class.

Dr. Ward welcomed everyone, including the new incoming Council members, Darris McNeely and Randy Stiver. The last Council meeting minutes were approved from the February meetings. The agenda for the week was discussed and approved.

Appointment of Secretary

Rainer Salomaa, the chair of the Roles and Rules committee (RRC), read through the resolution from March 1, 2018 that approved Frank Dunkle as the assistant secretary. Mr. Salomaa then introduced a new resolution. A quorum of the Council unanimously approved the following resolution to appoint Frank Dunkle as the secretary:

Whereas, on March 1, 2018, the Council appointed Frank Dunkle as Assistant Secretary and now desires to appoint him as Secretary according to the ballot instructions as described in Section 9.1 of the Bylaws,

Now therefore, it is hereby resolved that, Frank Dunkle is appointed Secretary of UCGIA with his term commencing on July 1, 2019.

Gerald Seelig will step down from his role as secretary on June 30, 2019. Appreciation was expressed for the diligence shown by Mr. Seelig as he has served in this role for 22 years.

Video Recording of Council meetings

Chairman Ward led a discussion of whether the Council meetings should be video recorded. In the December 2018 meetings the Council decided to only post the Monday morning reports. This topic was discussed and a quorum of the Council unanimously gave consent without resolution that videos would be posted to a private link for the ministry to be able to view. The videos will be posted when the written report is sent out and will begin with tomorrow’s meetings.

Review of the 2019 General Conference of Elders Meeting

Charles Melear led a discussion and sought input from this past week’s GCE meetings. The in-person attendance this year was 272. Appreciation was expressed for Charles Melear and the GCE task force along with Peter Eddington and the home office staff for all the preparation and help with the weekend.

The dates for the 2020 meeting of the GCE are May 3-4 and it will be the 25th anniversary. GCE planning will begin at the August Council meetings.

Discussion of Relationship with Church in Mizoram, India

President Kubik discussed our relationship with church groups in international areas which also included Mizoram, India. They recently sent a letter seeking a closer relationship to UCGIA. With any international area the process is slow as we develop relationships and become familiar with their beliefs and practices. We continue to help and assist them where we can.

Chairman Ward asked David Schreiber, Larry Darden and Mr. Kubik to draft a response to their letter.

The elders were sent a document titled “Manner of Approving Official Relationships with Other Religious Organizations” in the call and notice packet. There were a few elders who have given input that will be reviewed by the Roles and Rules Committee (RRC). The RRC will also discuss any other edits and present it to the Council in the August meetings and then it will hopefully go before the GCE in May 2020 for final approval.

Update on Nielsen ratings and viewership from WGN-America

Peter Eddington, as the Media and Communications Services operation manager, discussed briefly the recently received Nielsen ratings for Beyond Today TV on WGN-America. He is still going through the hundreds of pages of data. He will provide a more detailed report as soon as he can to the Council. The three months of data for February, March and April 2019 cost $5,000, with separate data for both Saturday and Sunday mornings broken down by each individual week.

Safety Manual and Open Door Policy

In the February 2018 meetings, Chairman Ward asked for a safety manual to be drafted to assist congregations in various areas of safety and security. Dan Dowd presented the current draft of the manual to keep the Council aware of its progress.

The Council discussed various aspects of the manual for about an hour. Input was given as to how much information should be included in the manual since the meeting halls across the nation vary so much. This manual would not establish a mandatory policy but serve as a resource to assist congregations in their planning to handle emergencies and safety issues.

The Council agreed that further discussion was needed. Various edits were offered to the manual. These edits will be added to the manual and will be reviewed in the August meeting of the Council. Bob Dick recommended an 11 article series by Leroy Neff that began with the February 1963 Good News that may also help with this topic.

Planned Giving Coordinator

President Kubik introduced Howard Marchbanks, a deacon from the Redlands, California, congregation. Mr. Marchbanks spoke to the Council about planned giving for about 30 minutes and then took questions for about 30 minutes.

The position of Planning Giving Coordinator will be part-time and he will coordinate existing charitable contributions that are made to the Church.

The Council went into executive session for the rest of the day at 2:04 p.m. Items discussed were the planned giving coordinator, personnel issues and elder ordinations.

After that executive session the Council advised that it had approved the hiring of Howard Marchbanks, part time, as a Planned Giving coordinator under the direct supervision of President Kubik.

The Council adjourned at 5:08 p.m.

-end-

 

Council Reporter

Shawn Cortelyou

[These are not the official minutes from the Council meeting. Elders can find those at the Home Office with the Council Secretary.]

© 2019 United Church of God, an International Association