United Church of God, an International Association

Council of Elders Quarterly Meeting Report

Milford, Ohio

Monday, December 7, 2015

Chairman Robin Webber called the morning session to order at 9:02 a.m. Eastern, and the meeting was opened with prayer. All 12 Council of Elders (Council) members were present. Mario Seiglie joined about an hour later because of teaching an ABC class.

Mr. Webber welcomed everyone and read through Philippians 2:1-5 to remind everyone of the spiritual tone for the meetings. He then read the Vision Statement and Mission Statement.

The last Council meeting minutes were approved as well as the agenda for the week’s meetings.

President’s Report—Victor Kubik [All morning sessions were video recorded and can be accessed at http://coe.ucg.org/videos.]

President Victor Kubik greeted everyone. Since the last August Council meetings four ministers died: Gordon Barr, Bob Fahey, David Roenspies and Walter Warren. Also Roy Holladay had a severe stroke. Mr. Holladay is continuing to improve. He is continuing to have rehabilitation and care. He would have liked to be at the meetings and continues to think about the work of God. That’s the kind of man he is.

Mr. Kubik went through describing various activities since the August meetings:

• Area Ministerial Conferences were held in Southern Minnesota and Portland, Oregon. They are always very encouraging, informative and bonding.
• Labor in the Word: The launch of this program was conceived one year ago at the Council retreat. There are 24 two-hour classes covering the topics of labor in the Word, rightly divide the Word, preach the Word and pastoral care. John Elliott’s work is appreciated for all his help to edit, coordinate and distribute the material.
• Pastoral Development Program (PDP): Developed a 10-day intense residency curriculum.
• Online Training Classes Live: Currently Don Ward is teaching the epistles of Paul class. The next upcoming classes will be Daniel by Darris McNeely, Revelation by Jerry Aust, and the book of Acts by Darris McNeely.
• Public Appearance Campaign (PAC) was held in three locations in Texas: Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. Brochures were passed out by the brethren to neighbors and friends to invite them to the PAC. The theme was America: The Time is Now! and included three parts: Where we are a nation, the big questions in life, and repentance each presented by one of the three Beyond Today (BT) presenters.
• Kingdom of God Bible Seminars: Cleveland had 28 new people attend. The increase could have come from all the publicity from the PACs. Two were held in the Philippines with more than 40 attending.
• Semi-annual letter sent out to 183,000 subscribers of The Good News. The purpose is to inform people of what the Church is doing and to solicit support.
• Local Church Websites: Howard Marchbanks stepped up in October 2013 to help develop a system of maintainers with Bev Kubik and others. Now Melanie Morris is going through upgrading the 200 local websites to the mobile-friendly platform.
• Ministerial and Member Services (MMS): The hiring of the six new trainees in Phoenix, Cincinnati, Pennsylvania, Alabama, New England and Dallas has been met with good reports about them all.
• Good Works: The focus has been on Youth Corps and other projects around the world.

Mr. Kubik concluded by commenting that besides the Bible he looks heavily to the Strategic and Operating Plan strategies. He looks to this for how to improve strategies and improve in the church. He thanked everyone for their support.

Operation Manager Reports:

Ministerial and Member Services (MMS)—Chris Rowland (on behalf of Roy Holladay)

Chris Rowland went through a number of activities in the MMS department.

• Roy Holladay: On Oct. 10 he suffered from a stroke that has slowed down some of the activity of the MMS department.
• Area Ministerial Conferences: Southern Minnesota had 42 elders and wives attend, and Portland, Oregon, had 50 elders and wives. The last conference of the series will be sometime in March in the Southwest United States. The date and location have not been finalized.
• Two Leadership Workshops: Southern Minnesota had 44 members in attendance. The traditional Labor Day Leadership workshop at the home office had 32 members.
• Continuing Education for the Ministry: The Labor in the Word continuing education program began on Aug. 16. The program will continue throughout the winter with the last class scheduled to be posted near the end of March 2016.
• Pastoral Development Program (PDP) was held at the home office from Aug. 24 through Sept. 2, 2015. There were six newly hired trainees and five of the newer pastors plus their wives in attendance.
• Ambassador Bible College (ABC) started its 17th year with the current class.
• Feast of Tabernacles attendance for 2015 worldwide was 13,780, which was an increase of about 250 from last year (2014).
• Camp Directors Meetings were held from Nov. 2-4. The theme selected for the upcoming camps in 2016 is “Guided by God’s Word.”

Some statistics and general information:

• 370 total elders
• 284 elders in the U.S.
• 86 international elders
• 195 churches and Bible study groups (U.S.)
• 138 baptisms so far this year (U.S.)

Media and Communications Services—Peter Eddington

Peter Eddington went through some very encouraging statistics:

• United News circulation is the highest it’s been since Aug. 2010 at 14,386.
• Coworker count is now the highest it’s ever been at 5,074 (65 percent higher than two years ago).
• Our donor list now includes 8,206 people. That’s an 85 percent increase over the same time last year.
• Combined with our coworkers, we now have more of our U.S. readers and viewers contributing to the work of the Church than the total number of members in the U.S. and abroad.
• U.S. Good News subscribers are the highest they’ve been since July of 2013 at 199,691. The additional advertising is bringing very good results. We are on track to have 225,000 U.S. subscribers by June 30 of this fiscal year and 295,250 globally.
• The December subscriber development letter from Victor Kubik was sent to 183,000 subscribers. It offers the Beyond Today study aid Christ’s Reign on Earth: What It Will Be Like. This is a title that most of our readers will not yet have. This December letter is also designed to encourage end-of-year tax-deductible donations.

Some of the other items Mr. Eddington discussed were:

• The launch of Beyond Today magazine will be for the January-February 2016 issue.
• Additional Good News print advertising will reach 24 million households in February of 2016.
• New streaming technology for Beyond Today will be available for Roku, Fire TV, Samsung, Smart TV Alliance and Android TV early in 2016.
• The PAC locations had the following new guests: Dallas—57; San Antonio—45; Houston—21.
• Here are the planned upcoming cities for the PAC:

• Nashville, Tennessee—Sunday, Feb. 21, at 3 p.m.

• Indianapolis, Indiana—Sunday, March 20, at 3 p.m.

• Columbus, Ohio—Sunday, April 10, at 3 p.m.

• Chicago West, Illinois—Sunday, June 26, at 3 p.m.

• Chicago South, Illinois—Monday, June 27, at 7:30 p.m.

• Cleveland, Ohio—Sunday, Aug. 14, at 3 p.m.

• Dayton, Ohio—Sunday, Aug. 21, at 3 p.m.

• Raleigh, North Carolina—Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m.

• Greensboro, North Carolina—Thursday, Sept. 22, at 7:30 p.m.

• Charlotte, North Carolina—Sunday, Sept. 25, at 3 p.m.

Bill Bradford asked about the follow-up with those who attended the PACs in Texas and if they are attending Sabbath services.

Peter Eddington said that each Texas location had a follow up Bible study one week later, and the PAC program handed out at each campaign included pastoral contact information for upcoming Sabbath services. San Antonio had eight come to the Bible study, and five of them now attend church regularly. Two more are expected to attend very soon. Houston had two come to the follow-up Bible study. Dallas has two people now coming to church services. Mr. Kubik said that there is also the bi-weekly Bible study webcast at the home office that was advertised for the PAC attendees to watch.

Financial Services—Rick Shabi

As he opened his report, treasurer Rick Shabi commented that three significant financial events had occurred since the August meetings. First, the annual external audit was completed and will be published in the next edition of United News; second, the fall festivals occurred, and all the offerings were processed; and the ministerial training program, which was unbudgeted for this fiscal year, began.

Mr. Shabi then went through the balance sheet and income statements, highlighting the following results:

• Cash balances for the organization continue to increase and are currently $2.5 million higher than this time last year;
• Income for the first five months of the fiscal year (through Nov. 30) is running above budget, with General Contributions (first tithes and offerings) and fall Holy Day offerings both being well over budget and over prior year amounts;
• Expenses for the five months ended Nov. 30, even including the unbudgeted ministerial training program, are running under budget.

In reviewing key operating statistics, it was noted that during the current calendar year, more than 111,000 new names have been added to the Church’s database. These are people who made first contact with the Church during the past year, either requesting a booklet or a magazine subscription.

Overall, the Church’s financial condition remains strong. God continues to bless His Church; the brethren are to be thanked for their continuing support and generous offerings.

Council Retreat—Robin Webber

After a 20-minute break, Mr. Webber commented on the Council retreat that took place on Sunday, Dec. 6. It was meaningful, frank and concise. It was encouraging as the Council looks to God’s guidance. At the end of the day they could hug and smile and have dinner together. He then introduced the committee chairman for their reports.

Committee Chairmen’s Reports:

Strategic Planning and Finance Committee—Bill Bradford

This committee works closely with the administration to present an annual strategic plan to the Council for their endorsement. The committee has to verify the annual Strategic Plan with the Operation Plan and a balanced Budget prepared by the administration. The committee follows up by monitoring the approved Strategic Plan to see that it is implemented and followed by management in a prudent manner that it complies with our Constitution, Bylaws and legal requirements and standards.

The Council approved Strategic Plan, and the Budget will be presented to the GCE for their review and ratification in May of 2016.

The committee has a focus on external and internal conditions that would materially affect the operations of the UCG and bring it to the Council for direction.

The committee will also be discussing the Operation Plan for the next year with plans for it to be completed by February 2016 and presented to the GCE for their review and ratification in May.

It has been very pleasant working with the administration. It isn’t an easy job to put together a plan some six months before it takes effect, but it gets us into the planning business for the Church rather early and is a very valuable exercise for all of us to participate in.

Members are: Bill Bradford (chairman), Bob Dick, Mark Mickelson and Don Ward.

Doctrine Committee (DC)—John Elliott

The scope of this committee’s work, as directed by the Council of Elders, extends to all matters relative to the Fundamental Beliefs, established doctrines and teachings of the Church.

Specific tasks include:

• Review, at its discretion, doctrine and prophecy papers sent to it.
• Prepare or assign statements or papers on topics as needed or directed.
• Other tasks consistent with the scope and responsibilities as directed by the Council.

DC Members: Scott Ashley, Bill Bradford, John Elliott (chairman), Mark Mickelson and Don Ward.

The committee has two subcommittees:

Doctrine Advisory Committee (DAC): Robert Gardenhire, Jon Garnant, Ken Graham, Don Hooser and Larry Walker (chairman).

Prophecy Advisory Committee: Rick Beam, Ken Martin (chairman), David Mills, Tom Robinson and Herb Teitgen.

Each subcommittee is involved in pre-examination of papers and subjects that the Doctrine Committee chairman assigns them. The committee greatly appreciates the advance work on projects that ultimately are examined by the DC. They do intensive and exhaustive research, which is beneficial.

For the past year the DAC has been researching and compiling data relating to the calendar/Hebrew Calendar and postponements related issues.

Mr. Elliott reminded everyone that Christ tasked and authorized His ministry that He place in His Body to teach His Father’s doctrines, which He delivered to the writers of the Bible. The ministry has always sought God’s commands, direction and inspiration and continues to do so. Mr. Elliott read from Matthew:18:18Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. in the New American Standard Version: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” So in other words, Christ would lead the Church leadership to decisions that He had already bound in heaven, and not vice versa.

UCG has a process by which our doctrines and Fundamental Beliefs are established, reviewed and even updated, if needed. The process ultimately involves the entire ministry worldwide, 75% minimum requirement for changes to be made. While some may come to hold various alternate viewpoints at times, it is by our submission to God and Christ that we have unity in the Body, trusting Them that They will lead Their appointed leaders to the understanding that They desire Their Church to have.

For this December Council meeting, the DC has completed the “Project 15 Marriage” and has prepared a succinct paper for Council review during this week’s meetings.

Media and Communications Committee (MCC)—Rex Sexton

This committee had a videoconference meeting on Oct. 29 and Dec. 1. In addition to ongoing discussions about how the committee can better fulfill the responsibility given to us in the governing documents and Scopes and Responsibilities statement, the items that were discussed were:

• Texas PAC America: The Time Is Now! report from Peter Eddington. The report included attendance figures and a detailed breakdown of the expenses. Copies of the report will be provided to all the Council members. There were 121 new people attend. Weather reduced the attendance in Houston. Discussion was made regarding the importance of getting our name and message out. We recognize that we live in a time of degenerating society and reduced interest in following God but that world events present an opportunity for some to respond.
• Review of the president’s report on progress of the Strategic Plan.
• The United News (UN) editing process and mission were discussed. A recent article quoting a psychologist caused some concern. The UN circulation is over 13,000 and likely read by over 20,000. It is read by many not attending UCG services. It needs to represent the Church’s teachings accurately. The MCC requested that two Council members be included in the editing and review process for feature or doctrinal articles. Mr. Eddington agreed. Tony Wasilkoff and Rex Sexton have been added to the editing team for the UN.

Members: Scott Ashley, Mario Seiglie, Rex Sexton (chairman), Don Ward and Tony Wasilkoff.

Roles and Rules Committee—Rainer Salomaa

This committee had one videoconference meeting on Nov. 4. They went through the following items:

• The “Process and Timeline for Selection of President” document was reviewed and will be presented to the Council on Wednesday of this week.
• The “GCE and COE On-line Librarian—Scope and Responsibilities” one-page document.
• Proposed amendment to bylaw 8.7.2(1)
• Technical amendments to four documents with numbering issues were looked at.
• Discussion of how to correct the “scrivener” error in the 2014 version of Constitution Article 5.1.1(4)
• “Process for Calling Special Meetings of the GCE”

Members: Aaron Dean, Bob Dick and Rainer Salomaa (chairman).

Education Committee—Aaron Dean

There are no currently remanded items to this committee. This committee is to continue to monitor and evaluate the educational programs that we have to make sure we maintain the “faith that was once delivered.” We monitor the results of those educational programs like “Labor in the Word,” the pastoral education classes and the courses of ABC.

We have still not received our certification from SEVIS to issue I-20s for international visas. Please pray this happens soon since recent events have created fear of all types of visas to the U.S.

We are trying to create ways to take the U.S. ministerial education programs to other countries that do not have the resources to do this themselves or join U.S. programs.

Members: Scott Ashley, Aaron Dean (chairman), Bob Dick and Rainer Salomaa.

Ethics Committee—Mario Seiglie

The scope of the Ethics Committee’s work, as directed by the Council, extends to all matters of ethics and ethical conduct within the Church organization, including the alleged violation of standards described in official documentation.

Currently there aren’t any tasks remanded to the committee, and the Church’s ethics documents are meeting the different needs without any concerns being reported.

Members: Bob Dick, John Elliott, Mark Mickelson, Mario Seiglie (chairman) and Tony Wasilkoff.

Chairman Webber thanked all the men on the committees for their service. All of the Council members serve on two to three committees and have a lot to do in this service.

Social Security Discussion Regarding Employees Affected by Self-Employment Tax (IRS Form 4361)—Chris Rowland

The Council went into scheduled executive session until lunch.

External Audit Report—Rick Shabi, Kerry Roe (auditor) [video done]

Following lunch Rick Shabi introduced Kerry Roe, who is a partner with Clark Schaefer Hackett, the independent accounting firm the Church engages to perform the annual audit. Mr. Roe made a presentation to the Council on financial highlights from the recent audit and commented on the Church’s favorable cash balances and how assets have stabilized over the past few years. He answered the few questions that were asked by the Council.

Strategic Planning Exercise and General Annual Review of the Strategic and Operation Plans—Bill Bradford

The Council went into scheduled executive session for the next 2½ hours.

Social Security Discussion Regarding Employees Affected by Self-Employment Tax (IRS Form 4361)—Chris Rowland

The Council came out of executive session. Chris Rowland discussed a proposed policy regarding the introduction of a Self-Employment Tax Allowance for the employed ministry.

Chairman Webber mentioned that when a minister is deciding whether to file an exemption from Self-Employment Tax that he should have full counsel to help make a sound decision. When hired into the ministry he needs time to think this through and understand the impact. The MMS department, in conjunction with the treasurer, will provide educational information for new ministers as they make that decision.

Don Ward moved, Rex Sexton seconded, and the Council unanimously adopted the following policy:

UCGIA is willing to provide an Allowance equivalent to half the amount of a ministerial employee’s Self-Employment Tax in addition to his salary (currently up to approximately 7.65%), to offset his payment of the tax.

The Council then went into a 30-minute executive session.

Discussion of Proposed Amendment Related to Majorities for Amending the Governing Documents—Gerald Seelig

Gerald Seelig led the discussion on a proposed amendment related to majorities for amending the Fundamental Beliefs. The Amendment Committee of the GCE reviewed the proposed amendment to Constitution Section 5.1.1 and Bylaws Section 7.6.1 and recommends that the proposed amendment goes forward to the GCE.

The Council reviewed the proposed amendment with much discussion and centered its attention on the issue regarding the ballot level of approval needed to approve this amendment since the proposal is with regard to Fundamental Beliefs.

Mr. Seelig mentioned that Larry Darden, legal counsel, had expressed a concern regarding the level needed to approve this proposed amendment. Mr. Darden felt that it would need a three quarters ballot for approval, because of dealing with the Fundamental Beliefs. The Council reviewed the matter in depth and believed the amendment needed only the standard two thirds ballot approval and not the three quarters approval level. Many Council members spoke to the vital importance of maintaining the three quarters approval level of any Fundamental Belief measure that comes to the GCE for approval.

The regular amendment process requires at least four members of the Council to approve a proposal going forward. Ten Council members approved the proposed amendment going forward with a requirement of the standard two thirds majority of the valid ballots cast.

The Council adjourned at 5:34 p.m.

-end-

Council Reporter

Shawn Cortelyou

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