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

Sunday, February 27, 2000 ö Cincinnati, Ohio

Sundayâs full day of Council meetings dealt with finalizing the budget presentation, Feast of Tabernacles policies and procedures, and fine-tuning a Roles and Process committee document on the procedure for pursuing any amendments to the Fundamentals of Belief.

Budget

Treasurer Tom Kirkpatrick handled the first segment of the dayâs business, for final preparation of the budget to be presented to the General Conference of Elders for its consideration at the annual meeting in May.

Operations Plan edits were dealt with first. Roy Holladay asked that a consistent approach be used for each section of the Plan, and that each section include the strategic objectives being fulfilled in that part of the Churchâs operation.

Special tribute to the McCullough's  commemorating their 48th wedding anniversary during break in meetings

The Council next gave its approval to retain the services of the regional auditing firm of Clark, Schaefer, Hackett, and Company to audit the churchâs financial statements and procedures for the fiscal period ending June 30, 2000. A considerable savings will be realized by using this firm in preference to more nationally known firms; Clark, Schaefer, Hackett and Company also has the advantage of being experienced in handling audits for non-profit corporations.

The group then turned its attention to the large amount of detail in the proposed budget for fiscal 2000-2001.

A number of questions were asked regarding budget matters. Dennis Luker inquired about the program of visiting ministers and members in the Philippines. President Les McCullough assured the group that the area is being served, but did not feel it required regular visits by Council members.

Roy Holladay had questions on some of the international subsidies. Some areas have risen from last year; others have no subsidy compared to amounts budgeted last year. Much of the cost involves travel expenses for the various ministers who travel to African areas, for example. Joel Meeker, Jim Franks, Doug Horchak, and Fred Kellers have all traveled in the area recently; Dale Schurter has in the past, and Council member Victor Kubik hopes to visit Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa soon. Mr. Kirkpatrick filled in numerous further details.

Mr. Holladay then turned attention to the Ministerial Services side of the budget. The budget proposed by Mr. Kirkpatrick and Mr. McCullough had provisions to raise the salaries of the Churchâs lowest paid ministers. All the Council members thought this was a move in the right direction; however, concern was voiced by several about the fact that the Councilâs resolution of September 4, 1997, which reduced all employee salaries by 4%, still needed to be fully implemented as a first priority. As Chairman Bob Dick stated, "the Council needs to be in compliance with its own resolutions." A part of that resolution called for the restoration of those salaries as soon as prudent; some of the lowest paid employees have already been given raises equal to or greater than the 4% (and some of the lowest paid were exempted from that pay cut in the first place). Many others have not yet experienced the restoration.

In its deliberations, the Council also considered the need to update the Churchâs Human Resource policies regarding salaries.

After further discussion, the Council officially stated:

Whereas, the Council of Elders wishes to implement the Council resolution of September 4, 1997, restoring the four percent (4%) salary cut when financially prudent,

Now therefore, it is hereby resolved, that the four percent (4%) salary cut, implemented with the pay date of September 26, 1997, be restored to all affected employees starting with the first paycheck of the 2000-2001 fiscal year.

A second resolution followed:

Whereas, the Council of Elders wishes to make positive salary adjustments to the Churchâs lowest paid ministers,

Now therefore, it is hereby resolved, that the Ministerial Salary Guidelines, adopted by the Council on May 1, 1996, are rescinded and [Council] assigns to the administration the task of establishing new Ministerial Salary Guidelines for presentation at or before the last face-to-face meeting of the Council in the year 2000.

Both resolutions passed unanimously.

 

These changes, Council was told by Mr. Kirkpatrick, can all be made within the parameters of the budget as he has proposed it for Council review.

Feast of Tabernacles Policies and Procedures

Mr. McCullough brought the area of festival issues to the Council for its consideration.

The first dealt with a proposal by a group of members to have a Feast site in India. The request was made through a local pastor, who referred it on to Charles Melear, the Church festival planning coordinator. While the proposal has been made in good faith, following established procedures, it also raised larger issues. As Victor Kubik noted, the whole question of just how God "places His Name" at a Feast location must be asked. Mr. Dick observed "I think we need to create a rationale early that comes back to the fundamental reasons for why we keep the Feasts· fundamentally, weâve watched a gradual domino process of moving farther and farther away from what the Feasts were intended to do. The trips [were made] to the Middle East, because thatâs where these people [from the Bible] have actually done these things. When you move into cruises, youâve really lost the rationale·.This is an early stage for us to establish that these are Feasts of God, that these are places where weâre commanded to come before Him."

However, as Gary Antion noted, "for most of our people, the Feast of Tabernacles is their only vacation time. For us to say, Îthe only thing youâre going to do is just come here and get spiritual food·â" As he stated, the spiritual aspect can still be there, in any location. He suggested reviewing each proposal on its own merits, and "taking ownership" for the planning and observance of the Feast if the proposal merited it.

John Jewell urged consideration of "whatâs coming first?" This is especially vital, he felt, in requests for Feasts in areas where we have no members (such as the request for India). He went on to say "I do understand that for some people itâs the only time they can have a holiday. I appreciate that, but, to go to some of those areas of the world where we do have a Feast site is still tantamount to using the time partly as holiday. Itâs Îwhich comes first,· Feast or holiday?â" He also noted the needs of brethren who must apply for festival assistance to attend the Feast of Tabernacles at all.

In the end, Mr. McCullough suggested, and the Council agreed, that Victor Kubik, as chairman of the Media and Communications committee, would answer this proposal on behalf of the Council. Further discussion on the related topic of United Church of God ministers speaking at non-UCG Feast sites established the need for a general festival policy, at which time this specific request and others could be reviewed.

Ministerial Services manager Richard Pinelli briefly covered festival policies on applause at the Feast and merchandising efforts, with both policies remaining in place as currently administered.

A discussion ensued on the scheduling of the first service at the Feast of Tabernacles. One site, Branson, Missouri, has the first service in the morning of the first Holy Day, while all others have traditionally had an opening night service and only one service during the daylight portion of the first Holy Day. Attendance has been so low at that opening night service for so many years that the question has been brought up as to the best way to proceed. Several comments were made in favor of each view. Most seemed to feel it best to stay with the pattern as it is, but no formal decision was reached.

Roles and Process Committee

The Council closed out a very full day by carefully editing a proposed document on the procedure, should there ever be a need, for pursuing any amendments to the Fundamentals of Belief. 

- Doug Johnson

©2000 United Church of God, an International Association

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