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

Wednesday, December 5, 2001 - Clearwater, Florida

The Council of Elders began its first-ever Florida meetings today with reports from the president and all three operation managers.

Welcome to Florida

Chairman Roy Holladay welcomed the Council to Clearwater and launched proceedings for a busy day of reports. He obtained Councilâs input on retaining its membership in the National Center for Non-Profit Boards (affirmative), and continuing efforts to meet with leadership of other branches of the Church of God (also affirmative). First he moved through old business, then asked for clarification on the Councilâs intent for its interview of presidential candidates ö should the session be open or closed? Gary Antion expressed his understanding that the interviews were not a meeting of the Council, but a matter of Council business. As such, they will be closed to all but Council members and the interviewees, with no notes being kept, even by the Council Secretary, who will not be present. This will allow frank discussion and clarity of view from the presidential candidates. The Council concurred.

Mr. Holladay put another item forward for the Councilâs consideration. Citing work done by Clyde Kilough and the task force on Christ-centered servant leadership since the August meetings in Cincinnati, he asked all Council members to concentrate on ways to make face-to-face Council meetings more productive by using time profitably between meetings. This would involve more committee teleconferences; committee chairmen would also confer among themselves in order to be better prepared for face-to-face Council sessions.

Presidentâs Report

President Les McCullough took the floor to present the Administrationâs overview of recent developments. ãEveryone wants to hear about the new home office building!ä he said. Construction continues; recent mild weather in Cincinnati has allowed some seasonal tasks (such as exterior painting) to go forward ahead of schedule. The builderâs goal is to have the Church moved into its new facility by February 11.

He next detailed some of the growth in international areas, highlighting South Africa and the nearby countries of Malawi and Zimbabwe. A second pastor for South Africa, based in Johannesburg, is still needed. One American pastor has volunteered, and details are being worked out for visas. Once in place, an official announcement will be forthcoming. Of course, this leaves Ministerial Services operation manager Richard Pinelli with one more ãholeä to ãplugä in the United States. Growth in the Philippines also makes some help in oversight for the ministry in that country desirable, but difficult to provide at the moment.

Mr. McCullough painted a broad overview of advances in media, but stated that he didnât want to take too much material from operation manager Peter Eddingtonâs report, scheduled for later today. He noted with pleasure the growth in the print run of the Good News, now at 449,000 (only about 50,000 away from the five-year goal he had set in accepting the post of church president in March 1998). Booklet printings continue to surge upward, with over 1.7 million pieces of literature printed by the United Church of God in the last six years. Efforts continue to explore new avenues to add regular subscribers.

Wrapping up his presentation with a snapshot of the financial picture, Mr. McCullough pointed to the anticipated ãincome bulgeä of late December as a soon-coming indicator of the pattern we can hope to see. Since contributions historically rise in the last half of December, and since it takes increased time to process all mail postmarked by December 31, the picture will be clearer by mid-January, he stated. To date, income continues to remain ahead of expenses, by roughly 2%.

Media and Communications Services

Operation manager Peter Eddington once again brought a wealth of statistical evidence of the burgeoning growth of the proclamation of the gospel. Noteworthy developments:

ð Good News print run has increased 19% in the last six months
ð Print promotions will go into 6.7 million homes this fiscal year (July 1, 2001-June 30, 2002)
ð Incoming mail processed for 2001 to date stands at 41% increase over 2000
ð Internet responses leapt to more than 12,000 for the month of November (October, at 2,566, had been the highest year to date)
ð Several new subscribers to the Good News are specifically requesting that their subscriptions begin with the current (November-December 2001) issue; with its cover photo and numerous articles dealing extensively with the terrorist attacks of September 11, it appears to be viewed as a kind of ãCollectorâs Editionä
ð The January-February issue of the Good News, with a cover article on ãThe Middle East in Prophecy,ä bodes well to continue the rapid escalation of interest in the magazine, based on the connection to world events
ð 568,000 booklets have been either printed or reprinted in 2001 so far (2000 total was 511,000)
ð 600,000 copies of the Bible Study Course have now been printed; between 3,000 and 3,500 graduates of the Course are expected to accept the offer of a 12-month audiotape program following their completion of the written course over the next year
ð ãPay-per-clickä services on the Internet have proven a highly successful and cost-efficient way to add subscribers to the magazine (12,000 in November alone)
ð Significant changes to the Web page have streamlined operations
ð The mix of print promotions will continue, utilizing card decks, congregational brochure mailings, direct mail and internet advertising, to name a few
ð Some promotions are more successful than others; some, such as a recent card deck promotion directed specifically at college students, have not produced as much response as hoped
ð Numbers of coworkers and donors continues to steadily advance, with over 3,000 donors and nearly 1,500 coworkers now assisting in the work of the Church
ð Good News radio has added just under 2,400 new subscribers this year, with the best responses tending to come on the programs dealing with ãwhat happens after deathä
ð Personal correspondence, whether by ãsnail-mailä or e-mail, has increased; Cecil Maranville has answered over 1,000 letters this year by mail, and a team of ministerial volunteers has answered about 500 e-mails
ð 25% of Good News subscribers are choosing to renew after their two-year subscriptions have run out
ð Cable access TV continues to contribute, with over 1,750 new Good News subscribers added since July 1999
ð Finally, the latest subscriber development letter offered the Bible Study Course and resulted in more than 24,800 new subscribers to the course.

Mr. Eddington echoed earlier reports on the value of the 2001 Feast of Tabernacles video message. Reports have been uniformly positive, and he asked the Council to consider a similar approach in 2002. This would involve bringing material from the General Conference of Elders meetings in May to the brethren via the Feast video vehicle. Some discussion has already taken place as to possible themes; ãequipping the saintsä or ãpreparing the brideä have been suggested. More consideration will be given at this set of Council meetings.

Other media efforts include plans to assist in Caribbean radio broadcast production, and a systematic ãWeb launchä for the Bible reading program, a successful and helpful tool begun by the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship.

Ministerial Services

Operation manager Richard Pinelli brought the Council up to date on ministerial services. In the United States, the United Church of God now employs 104 elders, who serve Godâs people here in 226 congregations. The Church has a total of 420 elders; but this session of the Council meetings will consider nearly 30 applications for credentialing or ordination, so that number will not long be current. Two men have taken retirement for health reasons recently; others have health concerns.

This past yearâs ministerial conferences were ãthe best yetä according to several elders. The series of nine regional meetings concluded just before the Feast in Portland, Oregon.

The regional pastors met in mid-November. Paul Suckling addressed the topic of a more comprehensive approach to baptism, and Lyle Welty spoke on premarital counseling. In addition, the regional pastors discussed the following areas:

ð Manpower needs
ð Health situations
ð Retirements
ð Relocations
ð Feast of Tabernacles speaking schedules, Bible study topics, and speakers
ð Progress and development of the leadership training program
ð Pastoral evaluations.

Feast planning continues for 2002. The hoped-for site in Alaska has fallen through due to difficulty in coming to agreement on the cost with local facility management. Hawaii will therefore remain a Feast site for 2002, but the actual island location may shift to Maui. Gettysburg, PA may be replaced by a site somewhat further east.

Mr. Pinelli concluded with a brief update on the Education program, and introduced staff member Dave Evans for his presentation on member assistance. Mr. Evans handed out a proposed draft for a manual to help standardize approaches across the country, and fielded a handful of comments for modifications. He proposed having a team of five pastors and two non-salaried elders review the final product to ensure it effectively serves those in need in the Church, a goal he stressed must be clearly kept in focus.

Treasurerâs Report

Tom Kirkpatrick gave further information on the progress of construction of the new home office facility, stating that he was hopeful it would be ãopen for businessä by the time the next face-to-face Council meetings convene in Cincinnati on February 27, 2002.

He then discussed details of the proposed loan covenants sought with BankOne to finance the new facility. Working out details with loan officials, the Church proposes to borrow slightly less ($1.57 million as opposed to $1.72 million) than originally planned. The interest rate being sought reflects recent favorable rates, and is one-half point lower than anticipated several months ago. These two factors would result in lower monthly payments (about $13,500 in contrast to just over $15,000).

As he customarily does, Mr. Kirkpatrick then walked through the budget for the fiscal year to date, which is 42% complete. He noted the importance of continuing to monitor the income carefully, given the state of the economy and the possibility that the nationâs economic recession could be reflected in church income. In very recent days, since Thanksgiving, the income of the Church has shown some weakness. He agreed with Mr. McCullough that the picture will be more complete once the anticipated end-of-year income ãbulgeä is processed by mid-January.

Mr. Holladay then thanked all for their contributions, and adjourned the group from an informative first day.

  -Doug Johnson      

© 2001 United Church of God, an International Association