United Church of God, an International Association
Council of Elders Quarterly Meeting Report
Milford, Ohio
Monday, August 19, 2019
Chairman Don Ward called the morning session to order at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, and the meeting was opened with prayer. All 12 Council of Elders (Council) members were present.
Chairman Ward welcomed everyone. The last Council meeting minutes were approved. The agenda for the week was discussed and approved. The two new Council members were welcomed: Darris McNeely and Randy Stiver.
Dr. Ward read James:3:16For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work., “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.” He emphasized that we are members one of another (Romans:12:5So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.) and that the members should have the same care for one another (1 Corinthians:12:25That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.). Dr. Ward mentioned in this age when the world is falling apart all around us we should be asking, “What would God have us do?” during these times.
Dan Dowd, as the ethics committee chairman, was asked to read the Council code of ethics, which is customarily done in the August meetings.
President’s Report—Victor Kubik
President Victor Kubik greeted everyone and expressed his gratitude for the fine men and women that he directly works with. They are a positive solution-oriented group of people who have a common vision about where we’re going as a church with attention to our mission. He appreciates the mutual friendship. He then discussed some of the areas of interest since the May meetings:
Operation Manager Reports:
Ministerial and Member Services (MMS)—Mark Welch
Current statistics include:
Mark Welch summarized some manpower changes since the last meetings in May:
Media and Communications Services—Peter Eddington
Peter Eddington went through some of the following statistics as of July 31 this year:
Some other items Mr. Eddington talked about were:
Treasurer and Financial Services Report—Rick Shabi
As the August Council meeting is the first of the new fiscal year, Rick Shabi began his report by commenting that it is a time to look back at the fiscal year that ended June 30 and a time to look forward to fiscal 2020 and beyond.
He reported that the annual external audit of the Church’s financial records is being conducted this week. Much work had been prepared in advance for the auditors. The final audit report will be presented to the Council in the December meetings and published in the United News in early 2020.
Mr. Shabi then led the Council on a review of the year-end income statement and balance sheet, comparing and discussing areas of significant variance from the prior year and noting trends and significant financial events of the fiscal year. Key operating statistics for the fiscal year were also presented.
On a positive note, overall income for the Church exceeded budget for the fiscal year just ended, with Mr. Shabi noting that income in the second half of the fiscal year, including spring Holy Day offerings, were very strong. He pointed out that in one of the “restricted fund” areas, we may have received more donations than needed to cover expenses in the coming fiscal year. In that case, the excess funds are set aside to be used in future years.
While income for fiscal 2019 exceeded budget, expenses were considerably over budget as well, and Mr. Shabi discussed those areas. For the fiscal year, the Church essentially “broke even,” with income virtually equaling expenses.
Mr. Shabi then briefly reviewed and commented on the July 2019 financial statements, noting that income through the first six weeks of the new fiscal year was coming in over budgeted and prior year levels.
The Treasurer concluded his presentation by discussing some of the strengths and “threats” to the Church’s financial condition as we looked forward to fiscal 2020 and beyond. He noted that the financial condition of the Church was strong and that our cash balances were sufficient to see the Church through any short-term economic downturn that might occur. He also mentioned other strengths such as the stability of the Church and the loyalty of members regarding their tithes and offerings. But the greatest strength of the Church is God. He will provide our needs as long as we continue to seek His guidance and will, and do it.
When mentioning threats, he cited changing societal mores and the effect that could have on the Church’s financial health beyond 2020, and he mentioned the possibility of an economic downturn or recession in the coming year, as public fears and discussion of that grow.
Despite what comes, God is our strength, and we need to continue to do what we are called to do, being wise stewards of all that He provides.
Committee Chairman Reports:
Education Committee—Aaron Dean
The Education Committee has not been assigned any special work, but Mr. Dean gave some updates on areas of education. He mentioned that graduates of ABC are being given increased opportunities for growth and commitment to UCG by adding opportunities beyond staffing camps and Good Works projects. Two recent graduates are planning to assist with the Feast in Myanmar and give messages. Better cost benefits came by combining an international education seminar for both French and English-speaking elders in western Africa with young translators serving at the French-speaking UYC camp on the Ivory Coast in addition to translating the education seminars.
Ethics Committee—Dan Dowd
The Ethics Committee (EC) serves as directed by the Council. There is nothing before the EC.
Roles and Rules Committee—Rainer Salomaa
The Roles and Rules Committee (RRC) will assist the Council in the annual assessment of the treasurer in this week’s meetings. The RRC is also working on draft 11 of Manner of Approving Official Relationships with Other Religious Organizations which will be reviewed by the Council during this week of meetings. The RRC is also working with Frank Dunkle, Council Secretary, in populating various committees with Council approval.
Strategic Planning and Finance Committee—Bob Dick
The Strategic Planning and Finance Committee (SPFC) has had some time to reset in August before beginning the annual cycle of preparing for the next fiscal year’s budget, strategic plan and operation plan. It was a good time to bring the new Council members up to date on strategic planning goals. The importance of board education was also emphasized especially when it comes to financial planning. One illustration was used regarding the policy on using cash reserves. He also said that Kerry Roe would later present an education seminar on “fiduciary responsibilities of a board.”
Doctrine Committee—Mario Seiglie
The Doctrine Committee (DC) has caught up with all the projects it had backlogged and is currently reviewing the projects which are left pending. There is a completed project that will be reported to the Council later in the week.
Media and Communications Committee—Scott Ashley
The Media Committee (MC) is mandated to preview the media report by Mr. Eddington. This was done. Randy Stiver volunteered to be the MC secretary. The MC is working on no other Council mandates at this time.
Chairman Ward thanked the committees for their reports. He suggested there be time for a Chairman’s report as well. Dr. Ward emphasized the importance of education and also the importance of camps and supporting the parents who are parenting in difficult times. Our youth are very important and shouldn’t be forgotten.
The Council broke for lunch.
Planned Giving Program Update—Vic Kubik
President Kubik updated the Council on the planned giving program progress. The subscriber development of co-workers and donors and planned giving were discussed as they pertain to the Strategic Plan. The Church is primarily funded by tithes and offerings, but it isn’t the only income. The team that worked on this updated planned giving program were Howard Marchbanks, Brandon Zollner, Lisa Fenchel, Richard Kennebeck, Clint Porter, Matthew Hernandez and Tom Disher. Rick Shabi and Larry Darden were consulted as well.
One of the goals is to cultivate a closer relationship with our subscribers. More effective ways to communicate and show appreciation are being looked at for donors and co-workers. Donors, by definition, contribute once a year and a co-worker donates at least twice a year.
A new planned giving program packet is being developed to provide information to those who ask for it to help answer questions if they want to donate to UCGIA. A sample packet was given to the Council to see the progress.
Various ideas are being studied to help make it easier for donations to be made. Some of those ideas are text donations, website donate buttons and Google Pay.
Update on Young Adults Leadership Initiative—Vic Kubik
President Kubik updated the Council regarding the Young Adult Leadership Initiative (YALI) that was originally presented to the Council in May 2016 and at the following regional ministerial conferences. Since 2016 there have been 17 young adult weekends in Minnesota, Cincinnati, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, North Canton & Cambridge, OH and Germany. Recent reports from YALI organizers Tim Pebworth, Philip Aust, Scott McKeon and Andy Lee identified some initiatives for young adults, which included:
Proposed Reserve for Healthcare Expenses—Rick Shabi
One of the financial challenges of every employer is the continually rising cost of healthcare. The Church has been self-insured for medical care since its beginning. During the last few years our health claims have exceeded budget by a significant amount, and month-to-month healthcare expenses can vary widely. This has caused a few problems in budgeting in the past.
In an effort to mitigate the adverse financial effects of this unpredictable expense, Mr. Shabi noted that he and the Human Resources Director had invited and reviewed proposals from certain fully insured companies, such as Anthem. Upon reviewing the proposals, though, it became evident that the most cost-effective option for the Church was to continue to be self-insured.
Rick Shabi then presented to the Council a plan to establish a health care reserve account, which will permit healthcare expenses to be stable throughout the year, using an accounting method that will allow for positive and negative variances from budget to be recorded into the healthcare reserve. He also proposed setting aside some of our excess cash reserves in a Board-restricted fund to be used for healthcare expenses that are significantly over budget.
The Council favorably responded to the suggestions made by Mr. Shabi and remanded the development of a policy to the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee (SPFC) to be brought back to the Council at a later date.
Bob Dick, as chair of the SPFC, then brought up a “use of cash reserves” policy. After discussion and agreement that such a policy was needed, the development of the policy was remanded to the Treasurer and Strategic Planning and Finance Committee for development and presentation during these Council meetings.
The Council went into executive session at 2:35 pm for discussion of international elders in governance.
The Council came into open session at 3:05 pm.
Presentation of the Fiduciary Responsibility of the Council of Elders—Kerry Roe
Chairman Ward introduced Kerry Roe, who is the President of the accounting firm of Clark Schaefer Hackett and the partner who supervises the Church’s annual audit. Mr. Roe presented an educational seminar to help the Council better understand their fiduciary responsibility as a non-profit board. Bob Dick, as the chair of the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee, organized this presentation as continuing education for the Council.
Following the seminar, Chairman Ward, mentioned handing out a notebook for new Council members with resource material to help them know what to expect. It was done in the past, but hasn’t been done for some time. It was remanded to the Ethics Committee to organize and determine the documents to be included.
The Council went into executive session at 4:17 pm to discuss ordinations.
The Council came into open session to set upcoming Council meeting dates:
December 9-12, 2019
February 24-27, 2020
May 5-7, 2020
August 17-20, 2020
The Council adjourned at 5:07 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. Video recordings are posted for the elders on the UCG ministerial SharePoint site.]
© 2019 United Church of God, an International Association
Links:
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