United Church of God, an International Association
Council of Elders Meeting Report
July 28, 2009—Teleconference

Chairman Roy Holladay called the meeting to order just after 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time, with prayer by Victor Kubik. All members of the Council were on the teleconference except for Clyde Kilough and Richard Thompson.

Corrections to Previous Council Report

Chairman Holladay mentioned that there is a correction to make with regard to the previous report issued. He stated that there were 50 to 60 elders who submitted questions, but there were far more questions than that due to elders submitting multiple questions. He commented that this was not made clear in the previous meeting.

He also said that he apologizes to the administration for allowing a comment that mentioned the administration in the last Council Report. He stated that it should have been reserved for an executive session and should not have been in the report. The previous report will be corrected.

Private Discussion Groups

Chairman Holladay referred to the report the Council has worked on with regard to private discussion groups. He stated that the report has gone through several edits. He commented that the report is a good-faith attempt to answer the questions with a spirit of truly addressing the concerns of some elders. He said that the Council desires to put this document out with the intent of moving forward to more important issues—taking care of the Church and reaching out to the world by preaching the gospel.

Robin Webber noted that this has been a working document and the Council has submitted various suggested edits and other recommendations could certainly be made. Darris McNeely highlighted the various edits recommended by legal counsel. The Council then reviewed each section on which legal counsel made recommended edits.

Darris McNeely also read Bill Eddington’s suggested conclusion to the document. The Council agreed to that recommendation.

Victor Kubik moved, Robin Webber seconded and the Council, by a ballot of eight for and two abstentions (Bill Eddington and Paul Kieffer), adopted the 31-page document.

Roy Holladay recommended that the entire document be proofread before being posted to the ministerial Web site. He stated that it should be done quickly in order to get this document out as soon as possible.

Bob Berendt asked if it would be better to e-mail the document to all members of the General Conference of Elders. Victor Kubik stated that it would be better to place it on our ministerial Web site than mailing out the whole document, especially since there may be some elders who do not care to read the document.

Bob Berendt asked about certain messages received at the Council’s electronic mailbox, which have apparently not been responded to. He asked if all messages are to be answered. Roy Holladay responded that the intent is to do so, but there could have been a few messages that were not answered. He commented that he assigns the questions to be answered to a member of the Council as the questions are received. Bob Berendt then asked if those answers could be seen by the entire Council, to which Roy Holladay responded in the affirmative. Chairman Holladay also remarked that he would like to take time at the Council meetings to discuss questions posed to the Council. This was one of the recommendations made by Leadership Strategies.

The Council then went to closed session to discuss other issues privately. The meeting was adjourned just after 6 p.m. Eastern Daylight Savings Time.

Gerald Seelig
Council Reporter

© 2009 United Church of God, an International Association