United Church of God, an International Association
Council of Elders Videoconference
Cincinnati, Ohio

Thursday, March 14, 2013

After the Council of Elders secretary, Gerald Seelig, took the roll, chairman Robin Webber called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m. EDT, and asked deputy chairman, Gary Antion, to ask God’s blessing on the meeting.

Mr. Webber’s opening comments centered on the sadness and swirl of feelings and memories all are experiencing from hearing early this morning of Church president Dennis Luker’s death after his short battle with cancer.

Carmelo Anastasi asked if a Council or administration member would be officiating at the funeral. Ministerial and Member Services (MMS) manager, Victor Kubik, explained the plan so far. There will be an initial internment service for only the immediate family conducted by Seattle pastor, Steve Shafer. The larger memorial service will take place in the near future, but no suitable location has been found for next week. Details will be forwarded to the Council and administration members when they are finalized.

Plans for acting president—Robin Webber

Based on our established process, the Council will be selecting the new president at their May meeting. In the interim, the Council chairman will serve as the acting president in accordance with the Church’s bylaws. Mr. Webber outlined his plan for connecting with the home office staff via regular video conferences on Tuesdays and Thursdays, writing the pre-Passover member letter, and, if all goes well, making only one trip back to the home office in the process of conducting the business of the Church.

Chairman Webber then asked deputy chairman Gary Antion to report on the home office employee and ABC student meeting (conducted earlier this afternoon) which was held to talk about Mr. Luker’s life and service to God’s Church. He described the several comments by the operation managers and some of the employees about Mr. Luker’s wonderful example and his love for Jesus Christ and all of His people.

As chairman of the Roles and Rules Committee, Mr. Antion also reported on the numbers of president nomination forms he has received from the General Conference of Elders. He explained that after the nomination deadline tomorrow, he will send each nominee a letter asking if they are willing to serve as president if selected. Nominees will then have a deadline for submitting their resumes to the Council who will make their final selection during their May meeting.

Operation manager’s reports

For MMS, Mr. Kubik reported that Mr. Luker’s health situation was the dominant concern. Also, the Women’s Enrichment Weekend in Cincinnati went very well last weekend. And, he commented on the positive planning for our joint Feast site in Trinidad with a very small Church of God group headquartered in Georgia.

Treasurer, Aaron Dean, presented the interim financial report showing that we are on target for cash flow projections, and that February income is positive. The Church also purchased the Luker’s pickup truck to use for many duties around the home office.

Peter Eddington reported on Media and Communications Services work. Much attention has been given to preparing for the General Conference of Elders meeting in May. The Feast of Tabernacles video is presently under preliminary discussion. The United Youth Camps video is in editing in preparation for viewing before the camp application deadline this spring.

Bob Berendt asked if the Unleavened Bread study paper has been replaced on the website after the Council had approved its wording in their February meeting. Mr. Eddington reported that the old paper was taken off the website and the new one will be posted this week. In the meantime, the pertinent part of the February Council meeting report which contains the text of the Council’s paper is linked on the website.

Gary Antion reported about Ambassador Bible Center and that the 2013-2014 class stands presently at 20 accepted. Several addition applications are in the acceptance process. He mentioned that we usually get a large percentage of our applications after the Passover season.

Peter Eddington summarized the Media team’s swift reaction to the appointment of the new Pope in writing and posting several pertinent blogs and videos. At the moment, those blogs put ucg.org on the first page of search engine results for the subject. Likewise, he pointed out that early reporting from the home office about Mr. Luker’s failing health and subsequent death has been posted and reposted by many people on Facebook and elsewhere. This again shows the value of timely Web posting.

The Council then entered executive session for further discussions. When they concluded those discussions, they returned to open session and Darris McNeely gave the closing prayer. The meeting ended at 5:55 p.m.

-end-
Randy Stiver
Council Reporter

© 2013 United Church of God, an International Association