United Church of God, an International Association
Council of Elders Meeting Report
Friday , December 5, 2003 – Cincinnati, Ohio

In this morning's meeting Jim Franks, chairman of the Doctrine Committee, provided an overview of the status of the study papers that are being written and led the Council through a final review of two completed papers. In the afternoon, Media Operations manager Peter Eddington moderated a critique of the 2003 Feast of Tabernacles video and initiated discussion of plans for 2004.

Doctrine Committee

Mr. Franks started his presentation with an overview of current and planned study paper projects.

"The Nature of God and Christ" study paper will be presented to the Council in the February, 2004 meetings. The Doctrine Committee has reviewed the paper and determined that it is doctrinally sound. However, committee members felt that it would be strengthened by additional material to fully address such an important topic. This is the final study paper on the topics requested in a survey given to the ministry in 1996.

"Is it ever permissible to lie?" This seems to be an odd question, but ministers in one Church area submitted this question to the Doctrine Committee because it had arisen in their area. The question was whether or not it would be permissible to lie under certain circumstances. There also seemed some doubt about whether the command in Exodus 20 regarding "bear false witness" included lying. Leon Walker will compose a statement on behalf of the Doctrine Committee supporting the Biblical teaching against lying. That statement will be forwarded to the concerned area.

Two letters have been submitted by the Advisory Committee for Doctrine in response to suggested changes to the Passover service and our method of conducting it. The letters were approved by the Doctrine Committee and will be forwarded to the members who posed the questions

"The Role of Women in the Church of God" is a paper that was written by a task force appointed by Ministerial Services. The current draft was recently submitted to the Doctrine Committee, which is in the process of reviewing it and will submit comments to Mr. Franks by January 1, 2004.

Other papers in various stages of preparation are:

• The Calendar and Postponements
• Statement on Observing the Sabbath in Extreme Northern Regions
• Modern Identity of Ancient Assyria

Review of "Music in the Bible"

This study paper was produced by a task force appointed by Ministerial Services. It was felt that it would be helpful to complete this study to resolve issues regarding music in Sabbath and Holy Day services before the Church compiles a new hymnal.

The purpose of this study paper is to provide some general guidelines by answering the question: "What does the Bible say about music?" To that end, the heart of the paper is a commentary on scriptures relating to music. All the information in the paper is directly from the Bible rather than other sources. While Mr. Franks acknowledged that ultimately there is much about music that is subjective, the basis of this paper is that every aspect of a Sabbath or Holy Day service, including music, must be holy and direct us toward God.

In a cover letter to the "Music in the Bible" study paper the Doctrine Committee makes the following recommendations to the Council:

1. Publish this study paper for all members.
2. Proceed with the development of a new hymnal.
3. Embark on an educational program to help the ministry understand the biblical principles and purpose of music in the Church.
4. Embark on an educational program to help the membership understand the biblical principles and purpose of music in the Church.
5. Produce a video sermon introducing the purpose and importance of music in the Church.
6. Produce sermon and sermonette outlines on music to educate the membership.
7. Produce articles for United News on the subject of music.
8. Develop a process by which new music material can be introduced.
9. Encourage musical consistency throughout the United Church of God.

Mr. Franks read through the first several pages of the paper with the Council, which includes the headings "Overview and Purpose of Music" and "What is Proper Music in Church?" He also read the last several pages of the paper with the Council, which includes concluding remarks and six biblical principles that can help determine what constitutes godly music.

Mr. Franks emphasized that this study paper is the starting point in an educational process. The paper itself concludes by making the point that "the answer to the subject of music in the Church is a thorough process of education for the ministry and the membership."

Doug Horchak asked at what level special music would need to be approved. He also observed that the words to some modern Christian songs aren't controversial as a matter of doctrine, but describe a relationship with God and Jesus in terms that may not be appropriate.

Victor Kubik made the point that sometimes special music may be inappropriate not because of the music itself but because of the attitude in which it is presented. He also pointed out that, while some classical music is beautiful, it really has nothing to do with worshipping God.

Mr. Franks responses emphasized the need for education of the ministry and membership. He said that most decisions about whether a particular piece of music is appropriate could be made by a qualified, local music review team. He also commented that the criteria used by Steve Myers' task force in compiling the supplemental hymnal would be useful for establishing consistent criteria for music performances in Church services. Mr. Franks suggested that to provide consistency in such decisions the Church should develop a high-level resource to which pastors can turn when there are difficult questions.

After discussion the Council unanimously approved the study paper to be published and distributed to the Church and the implementation of the proposals in the cover letter.

Review of "Voting and Involvement in Politics"

Next, Mr. Franks led the Council through a thorough review of the study paper on voting and members' involvement in the secular political system. This paper was written by members of the Advisory Committee for Doctrine. It was reviewed and edited by the Doctrine Committee, which unanimously approved it for presentation to the Council.

An alternate study paper on the same subject had also been submitted. The alternate study paper was reviewed by the Doctrine Committee and presented to the Council without recommendation for publication. Council members received both papers several weeks prior to the meetings so they could review and compare them. The Council unanimously agreed to endorse the paper recommended by the Advisory Committee.

Up until now the Church has had a short form-letter, maintaining our traditional teaching, which was sent to anyone who asked for our teaching on voting. The study paper will provide a more complete answer to that question and related issues.

Mr. Franks read through the entire study paper with the Council. Some technical edits were suggested, discussed and made to the document. There was no disagreement with the conclusions, which maintain our traditional teachings.

The Council unanimously approved that the study paper be accepted, as edited, to represent the Church's official teaching on voting and involvement in politics.

The study papers on music and voting and involvement in politics will be published and released as soon as possible, but will require several weeks for formatting and for the suggested edits to be incorporated.

Council Nomination Process

The afternoon meeting began with a proposal made by Robert Dick, chairman of the Ethics, Roles and Rules Committee. Mr. Dick presented a four-page document for Council approval which would be helpful to the general conference in the Council nomination process, which is now underway. The document begins with a cover letter explaining that the purpose of the mailing is to help general conference members in making their nomination selections. It is followed by two pages of quotes from the Constitution and By-laws regarding duties and responsibilities of the Council of Elders and a job description for individual Council members.

The document was unanimously approved (Jim Franks and Doug Horchak were not present due to their involvement in a teleconference). The document was sent by e-mail on Friday afternoon, December 5.

2003 and 2004 Feast of Tabernacles Videos

The final item of business today was a discussion led by Peter Eddington about the 2003 Feast of Tabernacles video and initial plans for the 2004 video. Video editor, Clay Thornton, was also present to help provide direction and for technical input.

Mr. Eddington gave the Council members a compilation of 48 separate comments received on the 2003 Feast video. He pointed out that two of the comments questioned the need for such a video, but that overall it was very well-received. To date the Council has agreed that it is a valuable aspect of the Feast. Among other benefits, the video helps provide background for some who are not familiar with the Church and/or are not able to attend local services on a regular basis.

• Tony Wasilkoff said he had heard only positive comments about the video. It had a strong personal impact. One lady commented that she would like her daughters to view it so they would see what the Church has to offer to adults. He added that the Feast video is important because it has a unifying effect.

• Richard Thompson commented on the professional quality of the video. He said he would prefer to see more content about the work and growth of the Church in general rather than concentrating on just one region.

• Aaron Dean said that the video was very well-received at the Feast in Italy. Some of the Mexican brethren were at that site and were very excited to see their region and some of their brethren highlighted.

• Mr. Kubik pointed out the value of emphasizing how the Church affects people. He said that the brethren he was with in Malawi were very receptive and the video helped them feel like more a part of the work of the Church. He felt it would be interesting to highlight a different area of the world in next year's video.

• Joel Meeker suggested that the video highlight more than one international area. He pointed out that it if only one area is discussed each year it would take a long time to show all the areas where the work of the Church is being done.

• Roy Holladay gave the Council a table showing daily attendance figures for U.S. and Canadian festival sites. In some areas the video service had lower attendance than average, but the trend was not significant. Seven out of the 12 U..S. sites had lowest attendance on another day of the Feast. The lower attendance was probably because the video was shown mid-week, when attendance is generally at its low point.

• Les McCullough said that several attending in Steamboat Springs said they didn't appreciate the emotional content of the video. He also suggested that there be more images at the beginning and conclusion to highlight the home office, giving more of an identity to the Church.

The discussion then turned to the subject of plans for next year. All comments from the Council were in favor of the production of a video for the 2004 Feast of Tabernacles. Several ideas were put forward in regard to the sermon content and the international areas that should be highlighted.

Mr. Kilough directed Mr. Kubik, chairman of the Media and Communications committee, to schedule a teleconference with Mr. Eddington and others to review the suggestions and finalize a plan for the video, to be presented to the Council in its meetings in February, 2004.

The meeting adjourned shortly before 3 p.m.

-Don Henson

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© 2003 United Church of God, an International Association