United Church of God, an International Association

A letter to members from the Council of Elders...

May 13, 1998

Dear brethren,

We have recently completed a most productive Council of Elders conference. The highlights of the conference included producing a balanced budget for presentation to the General Conference of Elders and adopting a media policy for the Church.

Timely reports have been made to pastors who have communicated much of this to you. New Beginnings will also cover some summaries of the meetings so we will not discuss them here.

Lingering questions of the past months do remain, however, and we would like to address some of them here. Letters that we have been receiving indicate the desire for some to understand more about the removal of David Hulme as president of the United Church of God, especially now as a new group has been formed under his guidance.

There has been a reluctance on our part to say much about why Mr. Hulme was removed because we had hoped that he would accept a different position within the Church. For everyone's protection we have been and will continue to be cautious about disclosing information that would be hurtful or could in any way impugn the character of Mr. Hulme.

Many of the reasons why Mr. Hulme was removed as president were discussed in executive sessions of the Council, over many months. Executive sessions deal primarily with personnel matters and as such they are private and confidential. We realize that many do not understand the sensitivity of this issue, but it is essential that we protect the privacy of all personnel when they are discussed in executive sessions. However, since Mr. Hulme himself has openly discussed some of the issues involving himself that were covered in executive session we are now at liberty to comment on those issues and clarify any confusion that may have resulted.

One of the biggest questions surrounding the removal of David Hulme as president of the United Church of God has to do with the phrase "philosophical differences."

On January 19, 1998, the Council of Elders drafted a resolution in executive session asking that Mr. Hulme voluntarily step aside as president. The resolution read as follows:

Whereas, there are irreconcilable, philosophical differences between the Council of Elders and the president concerning the operations of the United Church of God, an International Association,

Now therefore, it is hereby resolved that, the Council of Elders requests that David Hulme resign as president of the United Church of God, an International Association,

It is further resolved, that, because of David Hulme's considerable talent and ability to contribute to the organization, he be offered a new position in the area of media or in the international work, and that, upon notification of these resolutions, it is requested that he respond to the Council within twenty-four (24) hours, and contingent upon his response of the Council's request for his resignation, discussions will take place in a timely manner on the specific position that he will be offered in one (1) of the two (2) stated areas, although the discussion would not be limited to these two (2) areas.

The next day, January 20, Mr. Hulme read the text of the above resolution to the home office staff, as well as a letter that was his response to the resolution, all at about the same time that I was reading his response the Council.

As mentioned above, Mr. Hulme acknowledged to the home office staff the Council resolution. His response states: "That resolution asks me to resign because of 'irreconcilable, philosophical differences' between the Council and me 'concerning the operations of UCGIA'" [emphasis ours]. Mr. Hulme accurately quoted the January 19, 1998, resolution which had to do with how the Church was operated and governed.

The phrase "philosophical differences" has been misunderstood. Please note that it did not originate with the Council resolution of January 19. It was mentioned by Mr. Hulme at the August 1997 conference of the Council of Elders in Phoenix, Arizona.

On April 15, 1998, Mr. Hulme wrote a letter addressed to "fellow elders of the Church of God" in which he states:

I resigned from the Council of Elders for reasons of conscience. I could no longer support a governance structure [emphasis ours] that I believe has failed.... It was also increasingly difficult to participate with men with whom I had less and less in common about how the job of president should be done [emphasis ours].

It is clear from this letter that Mr. Hulme agrees that the differences between himself and the Council of Elders were operational. Indeed, the position of Mr. Hulme as president was that of an operational administrator of the Church's mission. His removal had nothing to do with Church doctrine as some subsequently have attempted to imply.

These differences revolved around how the United Church of God would be administered. At some point in time, Mr. Hulme decided that he disagreed with the method of governance set up in our Constitution and Bylaws, which he had helped to write and which were agreed to and ratified by the General Conference of Elders in Cincinnati, Ohio, in December of 1995.

Since Mr. Hulme, in his April 15 letter, has openly indicated that he could no longer support our governance structure, we are now free to confirm that indeed this was one of the primary issues in the conflict between the president and the Council. The president was not willing to submit to the Council's direction as outlined in our Constitution and Bylaws. The Council of Elders' own Code of Ethics adopted on

March 6, 1996, states that each member will support the consensus of the Council. This is vital if there is to be unity. Mr. Hulme apparently no longer agrees with this structure.

The actions taken with respect to Mr. Hulme were carefully considered over a long period of time. Difficulties between Mr. Hulme and the Council of Elders go back almost two years when the relationship problems were discussed in executive sessions. We were hoping to find a way in which we could work together as a team, with improved communication between the president and the Council.

A decline in the relationship continued through 1997. The problem escalated when the General Conference of Elders balloted in March of 1997 in Louisville, Kentucky, to move the location of the home office to Cincinnati. Mr. Hulme disagreed with this decision and would not support it.

These differences, and the rumors of a possible split in the Church, became the focal point of the November 1997 Council meetings in Monrovia, California. At these meetings several representatives of the US regional pastors addressed the Council of Elders with their concerns of perceived conflicts between the Council and the president. The regional pastors requested that a statement of unity be drawn up by the Council of Elders to quell the rumors of an impending split within the Church.

A Unity Statement was developed. It was signed by all Council members, including Mr. Hulme, on November 18, 1997. It reads as follows:

We, the Council of Elders of the United Church of God, an International Association, want to address the rumors of an impending split of the Church. We hereby categorically state that no member of this Council is planning nor will support [emphasis ours] such a split or division of the United Church of God.

As a member of the Council of Elders, I am committed to pursuing godly unity which is essential in the Church. I therefore renounce divisions and schisms as a means of solving our differences just as the apostle Paul powerfully wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:10-14:

'Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and [that] there be no divisions among you; but [that] ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.'

Furthermore, we hereby enjoin all members of the General Conference of Elders to follow this same biblical injunction in leading and shepherding their congregations.

In David Hulme's April 15 letter he responds to a question about his leaving the United Church of God: "It has been mentioned to me by a few people that you said you weren't going to leave United and now you have. To them, this demonstrates that you broke your word and can't be trusted."

David Hulme's answer is: "I don't think I said that I wouldn't leave United. I signed a unity statement in good faith in November, believing that we should give the relationship another chance."

Mr. Hulme does not accurately characterize the purpose of the Unity Statement. It is clear from the plain language of the Unity Statement that it was an affirmation from every member of the Council of Elders that he would not plan or support a split in the Church. The Unity Statement was not a statement about relationships. It was a statement affirming that none of us would support a division in the Church.

In the November 1997 meetings, the Council members asked Mr. Hulme to let them know whether or not he would support the move of the home office from Arcadia, California, to Cincinnati. He said at first that he would "think about it." He then told us that he would let us know shortly after Thanksgiving. He wrote to the Council in late December of that year, stating his objection to the move to Cincinnati. The Council again reviewed Mr. Hulme's objections to the home office move and did not consider them to be valid. His objections were a restatement of materials he had previously presented to the Council.

Differences between the president and the Council finally reached a crisis stage at the January 1998 meetings and led to the Council requesting Mr. Hulme to resign. When Mr. Hulme refused to resign the Council made the decision to remove him from his office as president. None of the 11 other Council members voted against Mr. Hulme's removal from office. It is also important for all to remember that Mr. Hulme was not terminated from his employment with the Church. In fact, he remained a paid employee until he chose to resign on March 13, 1998.

We hope that these facts help answer some of the remaining questions surrounding the departure of Mr. Hulme. This has been difficult for all of us. We wish it would have worked out differently, but we must continue working to fulfill the mission of the Church. As we read in Matthew:24:14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come., the Gospel WILL be preached into all the world and we need to be doing that. Following the last Council of Elders conference in California we all, to a man, feel even more energized to accomplish the Work. It is important that we now move forward as God leads us. Thank you for your support in laboring together to do just that.

For the Council of Elders,

Robert Dick

© 1998 United Church of God, an International Association