United Church of God, an International Association
Council of Elders Quarterly Meeting Report
Milford, Ohio
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
(Due to location, the Tuesday meeting was not recorded.)

Chairman Len Martin called the morning session to order at 9 a.m. Eastern, and the meeting was opened with prayer. All 12 Council of Elders (Council) members were present.

Chairman Martin began by welcoming everyone who were in attendance as well as introducing the newly appointed Council members, Victor Kubik and Tim Pebworth. After a few opening comments, the last Council meeting minutes were approved.

The agenda for the week was then discussed. Mr. Martin explained that the agenda needed to be adjusted, but asked the Council to approve the order of the agenda proposed. The Council agreed and approved. Mr. Martin then explained there would be no need to appoint a deputy chairman on Thursday since Aaron Dean was reappointed for another Council term and will thus complete his term as ceputy chairman.

Mr. Martin then opened the floor for any comments and or feedback from the GCE meetings. The Council discussed the pros and cons of the use of the new Menti website. It was mentioned that Menti was an improvement over the Kahoot app that was used last year. Menti allowed people to participate in a way that was meaningful, even for those who participated online. It was also commented that use of moderators to facilitate the question-and-answer sections was a good addition to the process. It was also suggested that providing more explanation of how the application worked would be helpful if we use this feature in future GCE meetings.

Mr. Martin ended the discussion by encouraging everyone to put their thoughts, comments and concerns into their GCE Exit Survey. He then turned the floor over to the operations managers.

Operation Manager Reports:

Ministerial and Member Services (MMS)—Steve Myers

Steve Myers began his report with some personal comments about the GCE and the comments that were given on the Menti website. He mentioned that MMS will be able to use the data gathered from Menti input during the GCE presentation. He then informed the Council that because he had previously given a report during the annual GCE meeting, there would not be much more to report today.

Mr. Myers reported that he had wonderful and productive meetings with the international senior pastors. He said there was a wide range of men and women in attendance, including a few elders from areas that had their own national councils. He mentioned that many expressed a desire to unify and work together in the fellowship of the gospel, especially in the area of education. Mr. Myers added that we have a mission and great responsibility to engage in meeting the needs of all our members around the world.

Mr. Myers ended his presentation by informing the council that the MMS statistics are also posted on the Council Working Documents page and that an ordination recommendation had been submitted earlier that morning. He asked the Council to review and discuss this ordination request later this week. He then opened the floor for questions then turned the floor back over to the chairman.

Media and Communications Services—Peter Eddington
Peter Eddington began his presentation by handing out a printed copy of the latest Media and Communications Services report. He commented primarily on two main items: Broadcast TV Commercials and Website Rankings. Mr. Eddington then reminded the Council of Beyond Today’s current project; being three, five-part video series:

• “Joseph’s Birthright,” presented by Darris McNeely
• “Unmasked,” presented by Steve Myers
• “The Unknown Jesus,” presented by Gary Petty

Mr. Eddington outlined the comprehensive TV advertising campaign launched April 23 that will run for 14 weeks to advertise each five-part series as it begins. Mr. Eddington pointed out that the initial reports/ratings we have received after the first 10 days of these 30-second ads indicate that they have been seen by over 3 million people. The first five weeks are advertising the “Joseph’s Birthright” series on The WORD Network and 18 broadcast TV stations. He then explained the process of how the broadcast stations were selected, for example ratings and cost. He also reported that we are advertising on YouTube, Google and Roku. He then referred to the statistics in his report and mentioned that these are incomplete and that a more thorough report will be given in August once all three series have been released.

He mentioned that after three days of its upload, YouTube stopped running the advertisement for “Joseph’s Birthright.” Mr. Eddington mentioned that he is curious to learn what will happen when ads for Mr. Myers’ series are released. He explained that online services have been limiting our advertisements to those interested in religious content. Mr. Eddington says with time it will become apparent how much difference the advertising makes to program views and literature requests.

President Shabi shared some thoughts on the purpose of these 30-second TV ads we are running. He emphasized the importance of what this effort of advertising is doing for the preaching of the gospel and its effectiveness of reaching millions of people with short, concise messages that may plant a seed in their mind, then drive them to the website for more info.

Mr. Eddington then handed out the summary of Neilson GRP (Gross Rating Point) results and discussed the document. Mr. Eddington says he is quite happy with the results so far. These numbers reflect only the first week of the ad campaign, and the numbers should rise as weeks go by.

Mr. Eddington presented some encouraging figures as of April 30, 2023:

• U.S. Beyond Today magazine subscribers for the May/June issue is at 279,891. That’s 2.3% higher than last May. Worldwide circulation stands at 328,823 which is 1.3% higher than a year ago.
• The May 2023 subscriber development letter from Rick Shabi was mailed to a total of 179,246 subscribers. It offered “The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.” So far, 1,774 responses have been received.
• The number of people listed on our U.S. database as members, youth and those who consider themselves associated with the United Church of God stands at 11,997. This is 1% more than a year ago.
• United News circulation stands at 18,987—which is 2.4% over last May, and a 4.2% increase over two years ago. The increases are mostly due to our coworkers requesting a subscription.
• We served 69.5 million online ads on Google, Yahoo and Bing in 2022.
• Our mail processing department processed 308,829 pieces of incoming mail in 2022.
• The Church’s Sermon YouTube channel has had 773,186 video views (25% more than a year ago), has 6,670 subscribers (18% more than a year ago) and hosts 521 sermon videos.
• The Church’s Beyond Today YouTube channel has had 15.6 million video views (5.4% more than a year ago), has 70,000 subscribers (4.6% more than a year ago) and hosts more than 2,525 videos.
• Our coworker count is at 7,930.
• Our donor list now includes 7,795 people.

Mr. Eddington then opened the floor for any questions, comments and suggestions concerning the media report. After a few questions and clarifications, Mr. Eddington turned the floor over to the chairman.

Committee Chairman Reports:
Doctrine Committee (DC)—Mario Seiglie

Mr. Seiglie reported that the Doctrine Committee has complete the Hebrew Calendar paper review and the paper, along with all its appendices, have been uploaded to the members’ website. He also reported that the DC is working on the following three projects:

• The Prophecy Advisory Committee is reviewing a paper.
• The Doctrine Committee is reviewing a paper.
• The use of Remez (presenting to Council later this week).

Members on the DC: Scott Ashley, Jorge de Campos, Darris McNeely, Mario Seiglie (chairman) and Rex Sexton.

Education Committee (EC)—Aaron Dean

Aaron reported that the Education Committee met via Zoom since the February meeting. The following items remanded to the committee are:

• The ministerial survey has been completed and the reports have been sent.
• The preliminary study paper on marriage has been placed on the Council Google drive for review.
• The article on hymns was published in the United News. There has been no feedback at this time.

Mr. Dean then gave an update on the Nomination Committee. The members are Keith Wilson (chairman), Grant Chick, Aaron Dean, Dan Dowd, Ed Dowd, Frank Dunkle, Devin Schulz, Paul Smith and Tony Wasilkoff. He mentioned that Chris Stewart has set up a group email address and Chris Rowland has set up a shared documents folder on SharePoint for Committee use. The Committee has met twice in March and future meetings have already been scheduled. Mr. Dean added that the SharePoint site has been populated.
Members on the EC: Aaron Dean (chairman), Jorge de Campos, Rex Sexton, Brian Shaw and Paul Wasilkoff.

Ethics Committee—John Elliott

Mr. Elliott began by his presentation with a short overview of the Ethics Committee’s purpose and processes. He also described the difference between ethics issues from congregation levels and those at a GCE Level. He then informed the council that the Committee has no new mandated duties or assignments at this time and has completed all remanded projects that were assigned.

Members on the Ethics Committee: John Elliott (chairman), Mario Seiglie, Rex Sexton and Paul Wasilkoff.

Executive Committee—Len Martin

Mr. Martin reported that the Executive Committee has no mandated duties or assignments at this time.
Members on the Executive Committee: Scott Ashley, Aaron Dean, Dan Dowd, Len Martin (chairman) and Darris McNeely.

Media Committee – Scott Ashley

Mr. Ashley reported that the Media Committee met on May 4, 2023, via video conference, and included Peter Eddington and Len Martin. He added that the Committee is required to preview the operation manager’s report to Council, which it did. Mr. Ashley also mentioned the resent trip to Turkey and the possible use of the material recorded for future projects.
Members on the Media and Communications Committee: Scott Ashley (chairman), Jorge de Campos, Darris McNeely, Brian Shaw and Paul Wasilkoff.

Roles and Rules Committee (RRC)—Dan Dowd

Mr. Dowd began by stating that the Roles and Rule Committee is a standing committee of the Council of Elders. Its overall responsibility is to monitor administrative policies and procedures so that organizational, constitutional, bylaw and legal requirements and standards are complied with. He mentioned that there have been no face-face meetings since the February Council meetings.

He then gave the following updates on the work of the RRC that will be presented later in the day and tomorrow:

• Proposed Policy 1.7.6 – the re-admittance on an elder to the GCE.
• Propose addition to Policy 1.8.5 – the appeal process for removed website content.
• RRC will facilitate the annual assessments for the secretary and the president.

Mr. Dowd then updated the Council on the progress of other projects remanded to the RRC:

• The RRC will begin the process of the annual assessment of the treasurer which will be covered in the August 2023 meetings.
• RRC will facilitate a discussion on the repopulation of the Doctrinal Advisory Committee once the 2024 Council is seated.

Mr. Dowd then reminded the Council that June 30 is the deadline for submitting a proposed amendment to the Amendment Committee. He added that Chris Rowland and himself have had been working to identify duplicates of documents and that Mr. Rowland is also working to move the Pastor’s Policy Manual online. He then opening the floor for question and comments. After clarifying a few questions he ended his presentation.

Members on the RRC: Dan Dowd (chairman), John Elliott and John Miller.

Strategic Planning and Finance Committee (SPFC)—John Miller

Mr. Miller reported that the Committee has been quite busy over the past three years, however they currently have little on the docket other than providing oversight at this time. The only active projects currently are the Regional Property project and Employee Retention. He added that progress has been made on both projects.

Mr. Miller mentioned that since his term is ending, a shared folder that Council members can access with documents he has produced has been made available. He says that he will work with the next chairman of the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee if needed. Mr. Miller ended his presentation with confirming that he is still working on the pronoun issue, and is producing articles for Mr. Eddington.

Members on the SPFC: Aaron Dean, Dan Dowd, Darris McNeely, John Miller (chairman) and Brian Shaw.

GCE Planning Committee report—Charles Melear
Charles Melear began by presenting a handout, “Quick Facts for the 2023 General Conference of Elders.” He then stated that in person attendance was up this year, but the web-connections went down. Mr. Melear mentioned that more elders and wives stayed for the entire conference than in previous years. He commented that the overall attendance is back to what it was pre-COVID.

Regarding the attendance on the Sabbath, it was noted that the hall was a bit crowed. Chairman Martin suggest that the GCE Planning Committee consider this issue and discuss a solution going forward.

Mr. Melear commented that the hotel staff was very complementary of the GCE attendees throughout the weekend. He mentioned that although the hotel is under new ownership, they have continued to be favorable to us. Mr. Melear also noted that the management staff went over and beyond, taking on jobs that were not their responsibility in order to serve us over the GCE weekend.

Mr. Melear ended his presentation by announcing the dates of next year’s GCE, May 4–6, 2024.

Update on UCG logo—Rick Shabi

President Shabi began by giving a quick background of the logo history and issues. Sense the new logo was rescinded at the February 2023 meetings, the administration has worked together to assess the problem. He added that after much consideration he has concluded that UCGIA does not need a physical symbol to represent the Church. Moving forward the administration and staff have discussed ways in which artistic design can be utilized to bring unity to our different forms of media. He feels that those ways will actually be more effective than a logo. President Shabi then stated that this is where we are, and then opened the floor for further discussion, questions and suggestions.

After a lengthy discussion, Chairman Martin suggested that Mr. Shabi invite Clint Porter to meeting with the Council on Thursday for further discussion and clarification.

At 11:45 a.m. the Council took a break for lunch.

At 1:02 p.m. Chairman Martin called the Council to order and opened with prayer.

Chairman Martin then turned the floor over to Brain Shaw to lead a discussion on the possibility of a policy statement concerning the subject of the Tithe of the Tithe.

Mr. Shaw began by explaining why he wanted to have this discussion. He mentioned that he has been approached by members who have asked if the Church still requires the members to give a tithe of the second tithe in order to pay for facilities at the Feast of Tabernacles. He commented that we used to have a statement on it in the Feast brochure, however, it seems that the policy has been inconsistent. Is it optional? Is it not optional?

Mr. Shaw said that it’s clear that it’s not a biblical command, but a policy that was put into place years ago in order to help pay for festival cost. Mr. Shaw added that, as a pastor, he would like to see us have a policy or clarify our stance on this matter. He then opened the floor for discussion.

During the discussion it was mentioned that the term “Tithe of the Tithe” is not used anymore and has been replaced with the term, “Festival Fund.” Chris Rowland reminded the Council that a resolution concerning the Tithe of the Tithe was passed by the Council on February 12, 1997.

Chairman Martin made a motion for consent without resolution to remand this to the Education Committee for the purpose of examination of the 1997 Resolution and report back to the Council in the August meetings with their suggestion. Eleven Council members supported the motion, one abstained.

Dan Dowd then led a discussion on proposed Policy 1.7.6. Mr. Dowd commented that this is a new policy that’s being proposed. Before presenting the Policy, he clarified the purpose for why this is being presented:

• The first reason for this policy: when a man is ordained an elder he has the option of becoming a member of the General Conference of Elders (GCE) or not. If not, in the future, if he is an elder in good standing, he can request to join the GCE.
• The second reason for this policy: If a man left or was removed from the GCE, and later wanted to request readmittance.

Mr. Dowd pointed out that there was not a mechanism in place to address these situations. He mentioned that we need a formal policy that outlines the proper process to address both these situations.

He then read through the policy and opened the floor to comments, suggestions and edits. After further discussion, concerns were addressed, and many edits were made. Chairman Martin then moved to approve the proposed Policy 1.7.6 as edited. Unanimously passed.

Admittance to the General Conference of Elders Policy 1.7.6

An elder recognized by the United Church of God, an International Association, is automatically part of the General Conference of Elders (GCE), unless choosing to opt out, in which case he shall notify the secretary of the GCE of his decision.

If an elder not in the GCE desires to be admitted, he will notify the secretary of his request. The secretary will then notify the chairman of the GCE of the elder’s request. If the secretary and chairman determine the elder is “in good standing” (see Pastor’s Policy 4.5.1.3), then the elder and Ministerial and Member Services will be notified that the elder is now recognized as a member of the GCE.

If the elder is not recognized as an elder “in good standing,” and still desires to be admitted to the GCE, he may appeal through the Elder Appeal Process.

COE Approved May 9, 2023

Mr. Dowd then led a discussion on the revision of current Policy 1.8.5 (Appeal Process for Removed Website Content). Mr. Dowd explained that the reason for this revision is for the purpose of adding clarity of the Council’s responsibility within the appeal process for removed website content (audio, video, written material) deemed objectionable.

Mr. Dowd read through the suggested revision and opened the floor to comments, suggestions and edits. After further discussion concerns were addressed and many edits were made. It was decided that the Roles and Rules Committee (RRC) continue to review Policy 1.8.5 with the suggestions, concerns and edits for further consideration and clarification. The RRC will then present this revision at the August meetings.

At 4 p.m. the Council went into executive session for the purpose of the secretary’s annual evaluation.

At 4:41 p.m. the Council came out of executive session and adjourned for the day.

Wednesday, May 10, 2023
Chairman Martin called the morning session to order at 9 a.m. Eastern, and the meeting was opened with prayer. All 12 Council of Elders (Council) members were present.
The Council immediately went into the planned executive session in order to address the following:

• Annual assessment of the president.
• Ordination requests.
• Resolution to appoint additional New Zealand trustee.
• Legal updates.
• Review and repopulate sub-committees.

At 5:28 p.m. the Council came out of executive session and adjourned for the day.

Thursday, May 11, 2023
Chairman Martin called the morning session to order at 9 a.m. Eastern, and the meeting was opened with prayer. All 12 Council of Elders (Council) members were present. Paul Wasilkof connected via zoom.

The Council immediately went into the planned executive session in order to address the following:

• Clarification on teaching “Remez.”
• Ballot on ordination requests.
• Council direction on discretionary support termination date.

At 10:45 a.m. the Council came out of executive session.

Chairman Martin called the Council to order and then turned the floor over to Clint Porter to address the follow-up discussion concerning a Church logo.

Mr. Porter began by explaining how the Media and Communications Services department can bring unity across the UCGIA platform without the use of a logo. He then demonstrated how this can be accomplished through the use of text type, color schemes and wording. He presented the “NC State University” website as an example of how this can be achieved. After a quick demonstration, Mr. Porter opened the floor for comments, suggestions and concerns. After a further discussion addressing a few questions and concerns, Mr. Porter then turned the floor back over to Mr. Martin.

Mr. Martin then introduced Rex Sexton and Steve Myers to present the results of the Ministerial Survey.
Mr. Sexton began by thanking everyone who participated in the survey. He commented that the participation was high and has given Minster and Member Services (MMS) a lot of valuable information to work with. Mr. Sexton then used a PowerPoint presentation to give a better visual explanation of the results from the survey. After a few comments and questions, Mr. Sexton turned the floor back over to Chairman Martin.
Mr. Martin then took time to thank and recognize the two men who are exiting the Council, John Elliott and John Miller. He presented them both with a card and a gift as a token of the Council’s appreciation for their dedication and hard work over the last term.

At 11:15 a.m. The Council adjourned the 2022–2023 Council meetings.

At 11:16 a.m. Chairman Martin open the 2023–2024 Council meetings with Victor Kubik and Tim Pebworth seated on the new Council.

Chairman Martin turned the floor over to Dan Dowd to lead a discussion on the population of the committees. He began by giving a quick overview of the process and went through the committees to determine who desired to continue or step down from each of the committees. Mr. Dowd then proceeded with the process of repopulating the vacant spots. Each committee then privately met to appoint a chairman.

The following are the updated committees and their chairmen:

• Doctrine Committee: Scott Ashley, Jorge de Campos, Darris McNeely, Mario Seiglie (chairman) and Rex Sexton.
• Education Committee: Aaron Dean, Jorge de Campos, Brian Shaw (chairman) and Paul Wasilkoff.
• Ethics Committee: Dan Dowd, Mario Seiglie, Rex Sexton (chairman) and Paul Wasilkoff.
• Executive Committee: Scott Ashley, Aaron Dean, Dan Dowd, Len Martin (chairman) and Darris McNeely.
• Media and Communications Committee: Scott Ashley, Jorge de Campos, Victor Kubik (chairman), Tim Pebworth and Paul Wasilkoff.
• Roles and Rules Committee: Scott Ashley, Dan Dowd (chairmna) and Tim Pebworth.
• Strategic Planning and Finance Committee: Aaron Dean, Darris McNeely (chairman), Victor Kubik, Tim Pebworth and Brian Shaw.

Chairman Martin moved to approve each committee as they stand. All committees assignments passed.

At 12:09 p.m. the Council went into planned executive session to appoint an elder to the Doctrinal Advisory Committee.

At 12:12 p.m. The Council ended the executive session and adjourned the meetings.
-end-
Council Reporter
Ryan Hall
[These are not the official minutes from the Council meeting. Elders can find those at the home office with the Council secretary. Video recordings are posted for the elders on the UCG Ministerial Resource Site.]
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