The following summaries were produced directly by the United Church of God and received by Servants’ News by fax and computer. Only reformatting and deletion of duplicate material has been done.
4:00 Registration
4:30 Call to Order
Welcome
Opening Prayer Burk McNair
Opening Address Victor Kubik
Affirming Doctrinal Beliefs Jim Servidio
Why the Regional Pastors Acted Now Bob Dick
6:30 Closing Comments
Closing Prayer Dean Wilson
Our conference has exceeded our expectations. On the Sabbath we held two services in Indianapolis, Indiana. Attendance at the morning service was 198 and in the afternoon was 323. Split sermons were given by Lyle Welty from Cleveland, Oh; Bob Dick, Kirkland, Washington; Jim Franks, Houston, Tx and Dennis Luker, Garden Grove, Ca.
On Sunday, 312 from across the country gathered together to begin the Conference of Elders. Victor Kubik from Pasadena, Ca. gave the first presentation, followed by Jim Servidio and Bob Dick.
8:00 Registration
8:30 Call to order David Hulme
Opening Prayer Roger Foster
Orientation David Hulme
9:15 Building on a Rock Burk McNair
9:30 Break
10:00 Proposed Transitional Plan Dick/Luker
11:30 Board Selection Process Richard Pinelli
Prayer Richard Pinelli
12:00 Lunch
1:30 Call to Order Richard Pinelli
Prayer Don Billingsley
Board Selection Richard Pinelli
2:00 Perspectives Dean Wilson,
Ellis Laravia
Gerald Waterhouse
2:45 Break
3:15 Announcement of Board
Selection Lyle Welty
3:45 Discussion with Board Board Members
4:45 Discussion Results Jim Franks
Explanation of Church Name
Selection Process
Closing Comments
5:00 Closing Prayer John Bald
On the schedule today were presentations, balloting for ratification of a proposed transition plan, board nominees and finally a balloting for a board of directors. 288 were in attendance for today's meeting.
The proposed transitional plan was approved by 98% of the delegates (a 50 to 1 margin). [Information gathered from later interviews: Local congregations may incorporate separately, receipt donations locally, and pay local expenses directly—including local Gospel-preaching expenses. The rest of the funds will be forwarded to the central organization which will pay the ministry, provide literature, and be responsible for national and international Gospel-preaching.
The UCG sees other Church of God Groups as brethren in different branches, such as CGI, Global, Philadelphia, Seventh Day and also Worldwide. There is agreement on many doctrinal issues with some of these groups, but disagreement in areas such as a hierarchical form of government
As a part of the plan, there will be another general meeting in early December to ratify bylaws and move from a transitional government to a permanent structure.
After the board was selected, we broke into discussion groups and the conference delegates shared with the board members their concerns and what the delegates hoped the board would consider as we enter the transitional period.
Our faxback system was down for most of the day yesterday. At some point in the morning it "froze" and stopped working. We were all at the conference and restarted it immediately after we returned. (It is located about 45 miles from the conference location). Please accept our apology. 206 calls were logged in the first three hours after it was restarted, so I know a lot of people were frustrated in their attempts to communicate.
(Individuals Marked in Boldface were selected.)
|
Dick, Bob |
Luker, Dennis |
|
Dunlop, Wayne |
McNair, Burk |
|
Foster, Roger |
Myers, Dave |
|
Franks, Jim |
Pinelli, Richard |
|
Havir, David |
Servidio, Jim |
|
Holladay, Roy |
Stiver, Randall |
|
Horchak, Doug |
Swenson, Guy |
|
Hulme, David (chairman) |
Thompson, Richard |
|
Jacobs, Bill |
Waterhouse, Gerald |
|
Kilough, Clyde |
Welty, Lyle |
|
Kubik, Victor |
Wilson, Dean |
|
LaRavia, Ellis |
Wooten, Ray |
Today the chairman of the board was announced, a name for the church was selected by a ballot by the entire assembly, transitional managers for two operational areas were announced, a regional pastor system of pastoral support was introduced, planning meetings for the Festival of Tabernacles were held, a temporary address for the "home office" was secured, a presentation on ethics during the transition was given, guidelines for how to begin a local congregation were discussed and employment applications were distributed to interested ministers. 265 were in attendance.
The board of directors met on Monday evening and selected David Hulme, Pasadena, California, to be the chairman of the board during the transition period. Victor Kubik, also of Pasadena, California, was selected to be the operational manager for ministerial services. The consulting services of Ritchie Gaston were retained to oversee the establishment of the business office. The media/publishing operational management was not selected at this time.
Three church names were suggested, and the assembly proposed a fourth. This fourth option was the one selected by the assembly. The name under which the church will incorporate is:
United Church of God
An International Association
Its temporary address is:
United Church of God
P.O. Box 661780
Arcadia, CA 91006-1780
A temporary place of business will be found and telephone numbers secured in the immediate future. A set of four conference audio tapes was distributed to the elders present. On the tapes were sermons given on the previous Sabbath by Lyle Welty and Jim Franks, and conference presentations by Victor Kubik, Robert Dick, David Hulme, Burk McNair and Doug Horchak.
Requests for additional information about the church can be addressed to the above address. 575 requests for information about the conference were logged on this system in the last 24 hours. Included in the faxback information is a copy of the handout from the ethics presentation.
It is proposed that the General conference of Elders accomplish these tasks through an annual meeting:
Elect Directors to the Board
Review annual financial audit
Ratify all by-laws
Ratify all doctrinal changes
(Will hold regular meetings)
Serve 3-year staggered terms
(transitional board expires Jan. 1, 1996)
Approve all long-term contracts
Approve operational managers
Approve yearly budgets
Establish doctrinal studies group
Propose by-laws and changes
Elect Chairman of the Board
Directs day-to-day operations of the corporation
Nominates operational managers
Serves 3-year term
-Ministry
-Evangelism
-Feast Planning
-Editorial
-Correspondence
-Booklets
-Public Relations
-Mail Processing
-CIS
-Budgets
-Accounting
-Human Resources
-Insurance
We believe:
1. In one God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth and the source of life.
2. That Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the prophesied Messiah, who will return to establish the Kingdom of God on earth.
3. That the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are God's revelation for humanity.
4. That the Church is the called out body of believers who have and are being led by the Holy Spirit.
5. That salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, and that Christians will be rewarded according to their works at Christ's second coming.
6. That God's eternal spiritual law of love, defined by the Ten Commandments, is being written on the hearts and minds of His people through His Holy Spirit.
7. That the seventh-day Sabbath established at creation, and made holy by God, is a commanded observance.
8. That the seven annual Holy Days, outlining the plan of salvation, were kept by Christ, the apostles and the original New Testament Church, are to be observed today.
All other doctrinal matters will be discussed over the coming months by a doctrinal team to be established for ongoing Biblical studies. A collaborative approach will be practiced to encourage participation by the entire ministry and membership.
1. We will show love and honor to all and respect their freedom of religious belief.
Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. —1 Peter 2:17
2. We will welcome to Sabbath Services all who sincerely desire to visit and peacefully worship with us.
For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
—1 Corinthians 14:33
3. We will not criticize, judge or condemn any individual or groups publicly or privately.
Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?
—Matthew 7:1-3
4. We will not attempt to draw members away from other church organizations. We will encourage all members to refrain from such activity.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. —Matthew 5:9
5. We will return all corporately owned assets of the Worldwide Church of God to their designated representative as soon as possible.
Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.
—Hebrews 13:5
6. We will err on the side of generosity in negotiations regarding the distribution of congregational assets, including local church activity funds.
Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
—Philippians 2:4
7. We will honor and respect all Worldwide Church of God hall rentals. Where possible, we suggest selecting an alternate location for our services.
If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.
—Matthew 5:40-41