United Church of God, an International Association
Council of Elders Meeting Report
Thursday , December 4, 2003 – Cincinnati, Ohio

As the final Council session of the calendar year opened this morning, Council Chairman Clyde Kilough emphasized that in the coming week much will be accomplished. Mr. Kilough pointed out that this series of meetings will be characterized by blocks of time that will allow in-depth discussion of matters relating to the work of the Church – such as an analysis of our audience to help our publications be more effective and a related session that will deal with the potential for television as a medium for preaching the gospel. During the course of the meetings there will also be reports from several of the task forces which have been working on projects such as plans for the 2004 General Conference of Elders, Christ-centered servant leadership and retirement planning.

The morning portion of this opening meeting included quarterly reports from the home office operations managers.

Approval of Minutes

The first order of business was the approval of the minutes from the August meetings. Council Secretary Gerald Seelig had sent copies of the minutes to the council members prior to the meeting. The minutes as written, with no additions or corrections were necessary.

President's Report

Church President Roy Holladay began his report by summarizing his recent trips to Germany and Britain.

During their stay in Germany, Mr. and Mrs. Holladay were hosted by Paul Kieffer. The Holladays met with brethren in Utrecht in the Netherlands and spent a Sabbath with the German membership. He led a Q & A session and gave the sermon during their service. On Sunday, following a potluck meal, he also attended a meeting of their National Council.

The Church in Germany recently opened a small office. Until then, all their operations were conducted from Mr. Kieffer's office in his home. Mr. Holladay reported that he found the German brethren very supportive of the United Church of God and appreciative of all the literature. Their greatest challenge in doing the work is similar to what we face in the United States and Canada: effectively reaching a generally irreligious audience.

Mr. and Mrs. Holladay spent the Feast of Tabernacles in Great Britain. Even though the Church there has experienced three major disruptions in recent years, Mr. Holladay found the members in general to be responsive, warm and very much involved in the United Church of God. Mr. Holladay was able to answer the questions of some who are still struggling, to help them put events in perspective. Several members of the National Council of the United Church of God, British Isles specifically asked Mr. Holladay to convey to this council that the Church in Britain supports UCG, IA. They desire not to be independent, but to be part of a bigger work.

Mr. Holladay then summarized several of the activities and efforts at the home office:

• All reports so far indicate that the 2003 Feast of Tabernacles was one of the best we've had so far, characterized by fine sermons focused on the meaning of the Feast. Attendance was nearly 20,000.
• So far this fiscal year Category 1 income (first tithe and offerings) is doing well, showing an increase above what was budgeted. Fall Holy Day offerings were short of projections. (See the "Treasurer's Report" for more details.)
• In media operations, the first issue of Vertical Thought was published shortly before the Feast and a newly designed Web site has also been introduced to support it. Good News subscribers are now receiving e-mail letters to help them learn more about the Church and to encourage them to request additional literature. The Good News Web site is also being re-designed. Jorge De Campos is continuing to work on translation of literature into the Portuguese language and records one sermon each month for our Portuguese brethren. He is also developing a Portuguese page on the Church's Web site.
• The retirement task force, led by Britton Taylor, has completed its efforts and will make a report to the Council later during this session.
• Home office operations managers are updating job descriptions for employees and will then conduct performance evaluations.
• Because of a smaller Good News print run for the last two issues, funds have become available for more advertising for the magazine (more details in the "Media Operations" report).
• The Church recently purchased the 5,000-volume Dean Blackwell library. Of particular interest is a collection of about 100 books that relate to Sabbatarians.
• Currently 35 students are registered for the upcoming Ambassador Bible Center session. To date, 155 have graduated from ABC. In addition 1,782 have received certificates for completion of the ABC mini-sampler, which has been offered in twelve cities. Most recently 144 received certificates in Jefferson City MO and 200 in the Seattle/Tacoma WA area.
• The Church has produced two tri-fold brochures which will be ready for distribution in January, 2004. Dubbed "first contact literature," these mini-booklets are designed to appeal to a younger audience and will distributed on 50 college campuses. The brochure titles are The Debt Trap: How do I Get Free? and Sex Outside of Marriage: What's the Big Deal? Each will include a reply card for subscriptions to Vertical Thought and The Good News.
• There was a meeting of United Youth camp directors shortly after this year's Feast of Tabernacles. All of our camps are fully accredited by American Camping Association. During the summer of 2003 four of the camps were inspected by the association and each one received a perfect score. This is a remarkable accomplishment and reflects the dedication and hard work of the camp directors and their staffs.

Finally, Mr. Holladay distributed a spread sheet that summarized the status the Church's media efforts. For November, the total amount of mail processed (including internet) was 32,528. The number of co-workers has grown to 2,225 along with 5,169 donors. Circulation figures for United News and World News and Prophecy are 13,551 and 20,813 respectively. The November-December print run for The Good News was 425,026.

Treasurer's Report

Church Treasurer Tom Kirkpatrick distributed a complete report to each of the Council members. This fiscal year's budget calls for a total income of $19 million. The report shows that income to date stands at a 5.2 percent increase, slightly above the 4.46 percent increase that was budgeted.

Specifically, Category 1 income (first tithe and offerings, which represents almost 3/4 of our total income) shows an increase of 6.5 percent compared to a budgeted 4.5 percent increase. Category 2 income (Holy Day offerings) is short of projections by about $70,000. The primary reason is that more Americans transferred to international sites for the Feast of Tabernacles this year and gave their offerings outside of the United States.

Dr. Kirkpatrick commented that consideration is being given to managing the Church's cash reserves in a manner that would generate more income. The Council will be given full details and asked for approval before any decision is made.

Dr. Kirkpatrick reviewed the detailed budget report with the Council. All areas of expense are projected to be at or below budget by the end of the fiscal year with the exception of insurance and health care. It is anticipated that the extra expense in that category will be covered by other areas that finish the year under budget.

In the August council meetings, Dr. Kirkpatrick was named director of the Good Works Program. He reported that at this point one project (in the Philippines) is described on the Good Works Web site. Some contributions have already been made toward it. In the near future more projects will be added, including one in Ghana. Representatives from several congregations have indicated their plans to participate, but it will take some time to get fund raisers organized.

Ministerial Services Report

Richard Pinelli reported that plans are being made for one-day conferences in each of the nine U.S. regions between December, 2003 and June, 2004. The theme of the conferences will be developing and mentoring local Church leaders. The conference plans will be finalized during meetings of the Ministerial Services team and Regional Pastors, both of which will follow these Council meetings.

Mr. Pinelli commented that while there are plans and budget for three ministerial new-hires this fiscal year, those positions remain open. It is important, he said, to take the time necessary to find the right men for those responsibilities. Five men were hired into the ministry last year and all are doing very well.

The supplemental hymnal project has been successful. CD's of the hymns will be ready soon for use by congregations that don't have a pianist. In several congregations the two hymnals have been re-bound into one book, which makes it easier to use.

The two sessions of the Ministerial Candidate Program has been very effective. A total of 41 couples and two single men have completed the program. Based on experience so far, some modifications will be made to better fill the needs of the Church. The program will emphasize the development of local leadership rather than strictly candidates for the full-time ministry. A second level of the program will also be developed, in which those who have been to the weekend workshops will receive additional training in their local area.

Mr. Pinelli reported that a change is being made in the regional pastor position for the southeast region. Harold Rhodes has been pastoring three congregations and is the coordinator of the Panama City Beach Feast of Tabernacles site as well as serving as regional pastor. Due to health considerations, Mr. Rhodes will no longer be the regional pastor. He will be replaced by Bruce Gore (Birmingham AL).

Mr. Pinelli described the procedure that is followed in making such a change. First he discussed the matter with the ministerial services team, the President and regional pastors. After that he approached Mr. Rhodes to suggest the change in responsibilities and then he spoke with Mr. Gore to see if he would be willing to serve as regional pastor. Mr. Pinelli also sought input from the pastors in the region, all of whom were supportive.

Mr. Pinelli emphasized that the Church's policy regarding the regional pastor position has changed in recent years. Initially, the regional pastor was not a management position and was to be a 3-5 year assignment. However, in a later document the job description was altered, making the RP a management position and eliminating the 3-5 year time limit. Mr. Pinelli stressed the importance of "staffing from strength." He also pointed out that since 1996 there have been eight regional pastor changes.

In reference to the need to continue to develop men for the ministry, Mr. Pinelli stated that as the result of retirement, deaths, and transfers, there are now 13.5 fewer salaried ministers than in 1998. (The 1/2 position is the result of a pastor who now divides his time between the field ministry and editorial.)

Mr. Pinelli then reviewed the "2003 Festival Report to the Council of Elders." The report is the result of input from 37 elders who comprise the "Festival Team." These elders are asked to provide feedback on 14 categories, based on their observations at the site they attended. The categories are: applause, charitable projects, general comments, ideas, problems, senior citizens activity, singles, song leading, speaking, special music, suggestions, video, web casting and youth instruction. The input from the Festival Team was very positive. Very few problems were reported. In particular, the sermons were described as very helpful and relevant.

Attendance at U.S. festival sites was slightly less than in 2002 due to an increased number who transferred to international locations.

In 2004 there will be a special, one-time feast site in Anchorage, AK. The Sheraton Hotel, located ten minutes from the airport, will be the location. An attendance of 500-600 is anticipated, though the hotel could accommodate more. In future years the plan is to have a different "special" Feast site as often as possible.

Consideration is also being given to adding seminars and more Bible studies to the schedules at some sites during the Feast. This will provide more of an emphasis on education during the festival.

Media Operations Report

Peter Eddington began his report by illustrating the challenge of producing a magazine that is interesting to all readers, without being offensive to any. He pointed out that the cover of the November-December, 2004 Good News, on the theme of marriage, is appealing to older readers but not to a younger audience. He said that we have received twelve negative letters complaining about this issue, which is much more than normal. All of the letters were complaints about various photographs, most claiming that the pictures were too graphic or sexually oriented. One cancelled his subscription because the magazine included a picture of an African-American family.

Mr. Eddington said that the re-designed Good News Web site (www.gnmagazine.org) should be ready by January, 2004. It will emphasize family issues, world events and prophecy. The site will include an updated search tool and links to the Church's booklets, the Bible Study Course and The Good News radio program.

The next issue of Vertical Thought is scheduled to be published in January, 2004. The accompanying Web site (www.verticalthought.org) is up and running and beginning to attract attention. The print run for Vertical Thought is 5,000, of which about 3,500-4,000 are distributed. There is no plan at this point for any advertising campaigns. But we are receiving some subscription requests from the Web site and may gain more through the "first contact" literature effort on college campuses.

So far this year media operations is running 4-5 percent under budget, due to lower quantities in The Good News print run. The money saved in the printing function will be shifted into advertising. An additional $10,000 will be used for internet advertising and $50,000 will be spent on card decks and the purchase of advertising in magazines that appeal to younger readers.

The "first contact literature" will be ready for distribution in January. There will be 25,000 each of the two brochures The Debt Trap: How do I Get Free? and Sex Outside of Marriage: What's the Big Deal? They will be available on 50 college campuses in the midwest and southeastern areas of the U.S. The cost per response for the college audience has traditionally been high. It is hoped that this approach will have a greater impact.

Mr. Eddington distributed a graph showing that the number of U.S. households subscribing to The Good News stands at about 238,000. We currently have about 20,000 fewer subscribers than last year at this time. That number is due to renewal programs and less advertising.

The newsstand program is being reevaluated. Currently about 85,000 Good News magazines are distributed at newsstands. However, they provide relatively few new subscribers. While there is some value in having a newsstand presence, it is much less expensive to distribute brochures that offer the Good News than copies of the entire magazine.

The final portion of Mr. Eddington's report focused on The Good News radio program in answer to several questions posed by the Media and Communications committee of the Council.

Mr. Eddington reported that from June of 2000 through October of 2003, nearly 7,968 Good News subscriptions can be directly attributed to the radio program. And a number of people are attending local Sabbath services as a direct result of the program – some of whom have no history with the Church of God. The total cost over that period has been $445,439 for an average cost per response of $55.90. In November, 2003, there have been twice as many responses as last November, while expenses have been reduced.

An October, 2003, Artibron rating study reveals that our current list of 15 stations provides an audience of 43,300 listeners to each program. However, that report fails to take into account that several of the stations are 50,000 watt superstations that reach far outside the cities in which they are located. With that in mind, some estimates put our total audience size over 60,000 per week. Comparing the average cost or $2,517 per week to produce a program, the cost per listener is 4.2 cents to 5.8 cents.

The topics that attract the most response have to do with what happens after death, misconceptions about religious holidays and prophecy. The interview style program is more effective than a monologue by one speaker. More than a dozen elders have been interviewed on the program – many of whom are very effective in front of the microphone. The most successful station format for our program is a talk or news station on the AM band. Some religious stations have requested to broadcast The Good News radio program, but cancel quickly because their regular listeners are offended by our program.

The long-term prospect is positive. One of the benefits is that we can put the program on the Internet. Hundreds of programs are downloaded each month at virtually no cost. Production scheduling is being refined so programs can be aired closer to their initial recording date, making the material more current. It is anticipated that eventually the sound-track of a home-office produced TV program could be used for the Good News radio program.

The morning meeting adjourned at 12:30 p.m. The Council spent the afternoon in executive session.

-Don Henson

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© 2003 United Church of God, an International Association