United Church of God, an International Association

Council of Elders Meeting Report

Feb. 25, 2009—Milford, Ohio

            At the start of today’s meeting, Chairman Robert Dick prioritized the remaining agenda items. He noted that a new item would be added to the agenda as a result of a number of elders, regional pastors and international pastors appealing to the Council to establish ethical standards for balloting prior to this year’s GCE meeting.

            Today, though, was spent in finalizing the Strategic Plan and budget. Also, after a long discussion and much editing of the documentation, a Media Committee of the Council was adopted. An executive session rounded out the day’s meeting.

Strategic Plan Documentation Review

            Clyde Kilough led the Council through Strategic Plan documents that will be sent to the GCE in the call and notice package. The following new agreed-upon objective and strategy crafted by the three members of the Council and the three members of administration will be included in the goal of Public Proclamation:

• Objective: Increase the effectiveness and reach of television programming.
• Strategy: Develop television programming plan to attract TV viewers and increase audience awareness of the benefits of God’s way.

            A discussion took place about the proposed results of the Good News renewal program. Larry Salyer noted that with the annual, instead of biennial, renewals, subscriptions are projected to be 350,000 and are not expected to fall below this number.

            Jason Lovelady noted that increasing the GN print run involves increasing both printing and postage. All such planned GN increases would have to be evaluated in light of those extra costs. He also said we don’t have the resources right now to have both a high GN circulation and to spend the funds necessary to improve our Web presence.

            Paul Kieffer asked about increasing the number of our nonanonymous relationships with those who come to our Web sites. Peter Eddington mentioned that we do have a number of e-mail addresses to which we respond. In fact, he said, we’ve had to purchase outside support to maintain our e-mail list. Mr. Kilough said that with more manpower we can steer more people from milk to meat, which increases the likelihood that they will contact us. There are those people, however, who come to our sites who want to remain anonymous.

Budget Review

            Mr. Lovelady responded to a number of questions about the proposed budget that is to be included, along with the Strategic Plan, in the call and notice packet.

            Roy Holladay asked why the Church is picking up the scholarships for students in the international areas when LifeNets at one time had picked up those costs. Mr. Lovelady said he was unaware of the history of why those decisions were made. Mr. Kilough noted that in January 2007 the Church began sponsoring scholarships for about 35 students in Latin America and the Philippines. Mr. Lovelady said that whatever we do in the future must be consistent, and one thing we don’t want to do is to start blurring the line between Good Works programs and regular operating expenses. Mr. Kilough mentioned that the issue of Good Works will be presented later in the meetings.

            In another question, Mr. Holladay asked if we could free up more money for preaching the gospel. He gave the example of the travel budget, and asked if we could do with less in that category. Mr. Lovelady went through each of the travel-related accounts for the home office, Council, Ministerial Services, etc., and noted that any budget item can be looked at. We need to be efficient in everything we do in order to best align our resources in preaching the gospel and preparing a people. With that said, there are costs of doing business that are necessary and difficult to cut. He gave the example that in order for some outlying congregations to have a pastor with them on the Sabbath, air travel is required.

            Mr. Kieffer asked about the $550,000 in our current budget that had been approved by the GCE last May for expenses related to the relocation. Since the rescind motion was approved, did this action also rescind this line item amount? Mr. Lovelady responded that from a practical standpoint, we had an approved budget, but would have been unwise to go ahead and spend it. If the income had been on target with the budget as planned, the administration would have recommended setting aside the full amount for next year to be used in whatever approved facilities are needed for educational purposes.

            Mr. Lovelady pointed out that there is agreement among everyone that providing ministerial training is our highest priority. It is prudent then to begin setting aside funds for that purpose. It is good to be proactive and position ourselves for the future. We can’t talk about the need for ministerial training without also setting aside funds for the necessary facilities that it will require. This would be a capital investment for the future. It was his recommendation that we begin to set aside funds for it now.

            Darris McNeely then asked if we are now at the point of placing the “where do we go from here” discussion into a committee. He said the Council now needs to discuss what has been presented. This is the highest strategy. It has been such a large issue and has been on the agenda for a while. He said we need to move off dead center on this.

            In addition, Bill Eddington asked if the third option in the original proposal about remodeling the current facility was now off the table. Mr. Kilough responded that the recommendation also included a feasibility study. The option can be postponed, but we don’t have to wait to start saving money. We are now in a holding pattern, but eventually we will have to spend money on this building or some other facility.

            Mr. Eddington also asked if we were going to sell the Denton, Texas, property. In response, Mr. Lovelady said it would be premature to sell until the whole “where do we go from here?” issue is resolved. Also, the economy will need to stabilize before we try to sell it. With the state of the housing market, now is not a good time to sell real estate. It is a buyer’s market.

            In a related comment, Mr. Holladay said that he didn’t think the Council has dragged its feet on this. We simply asked for time to consider it. We ran out of time to discuss this in previous meetings, and so here we are in February faced again with these same items on the agenda. We could move this issue to the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee.

            Further discussion of the Strategic Plan, budget, media mix and the plan for immersion education would be discussed in the next day’s meeting.

Media Committee Discussion

            Mr. Holladay began his presentation by noting that there are three major operations: Ministerial Services, Media and Finance. As the Council is to provide oversight, it would be good to have a Media Committee. It had been a committee of the Council previously, and it would be good to have it once again. He said that we are not trying to micromanage, but to work with the administration. So, he presented a document that would establish a Media Committee. Much discussion followed.

            A historic review of all committees had been presented to the Council earlier. Mr. Kilough remarked that the Council established a “committee review task force” (comprised of Bob Dick, Richard Thompson and Leon Walker) in August 2006, and that committee brought its recommendations to the Council in December 2006. The first committee review was held in 2000, and the second, in 2006. The number of Council committees had ranged from 10 to six over the years, and there were good reasons listed in 2006 why committees were reduced in number to three. He asked if we are going about establishing this committee with an overall view and in a strategic manner. If not, we will continue to shift back and forth, creating an organizational difficulty.

            Vic Kubik said that there is no more important area in the Church of God than the preaching of the gospel. A Media Committee is important to help facilitate this. For example, the original Media Committee helped initiate a more aggressive presence on the Internet for preaching the gospel. In defining the work of committees, Mr. Holladay mentioned that the Council is to provide direction, and so a lot of Council work is done ahead of time—prior to Council meetings.

            The new Strategic Plan is a learning curve for us, Darris McNeely said. The Council and administration need to work and interact together. This committee will act as a focus group for the administration’s proposals. Mr. Kilough asked what that meant and how would it work in practical terms.

            After more discussion took place about the proposed document, Mr. Dick said that he believed the Council was moving back into administration. He noted that the Council members had been sent the whole history of committee work and the reasons why the Council had been moving away from managing.

            Mr. Kubik said that the media mix proposal is a big step and that it is exciting, but that he wished there could have been more interfacing from the administration on the proposal. He said that he now has more questions about it, and wished he could have been more involved in it before having to approve it. Mr. Holladay noted that a Media Committee could have asked more penetrating questions about the media mix.

            A handout from the book Boards That Make a Difference by John Carver was given to the Council and was quoted from by Mr. Kilough: “Board committees are to help get the board’s job done, not to help with the staff’s job.” “When board committees are assigned tasks that make them essentially oversee, become involved in, or advise on management functions, it becomes less clear who is in charge of these activities.” “If the staff works for the CEO, then it cannot take direction from the committee…” “If the staff works for the committee, then there is no true CEO because the board has chosen to delegate to staff through more than one channel.” Mr. Kilough said that the staff can become confused, and this could be a real problem.

            After much more discussion, Mr. Holladay said that it was obvious the document establishing a Media Committee had to be reworded, and so during lunch, the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee produced an edited version.

            The Council then adopted the following document. Eight members balloted “yes” and four balloted “no” (Robert Dick, Richard Pinelli, Richard Thompson and Clyde Kilough).

Media Committee—Scope and Responsibilities

The Council of Elders is to ensure the United Church of God IA is using all its resources to effectively preach the Kingdom of God and teach the things that concern the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 28:31). The Council designates the Media Committee as its initial interface with the administration in fulfilling this responsibility.

Operation of the Committee

The committee operates in accordance with provisions of the Bylaws of UCGIA, these guidelines and the lawful directions of the Council of Elders.

Meetings of the Committee

The committee meets immediately before each regular Council meeting according to the matters before it at any particular time. The committee may also meet immediately after regular Council meetings to discuss the tasks delegated to it by the Council.

When considered necessary, the committee chairman may convene teleconferences to address specific matters. The specific dates and times of meetings are at the discretion of the committee chairman, subject to the Council meetings schedule and as are convenient for committee members.

Specific Tasks

To fulfill its purpose, the Council of Elders has delegated the following specific tasks to its Media Committee:

• Interface with the administration during the development of the annual Operation Plan.

• Interface with the administration during the implementation of the annual Operation Plan.

• Prior to each regular Council meeting, receive the president’s report on public proclamation and raise any points that may require clarification.

• Monitor all public proclamation activities in the context of the Media Philosophy Statement.

Reporting to the Council

The committee shall present a formal written report of its activities to each meeting of the Council of Elders. The committee chairman or his nominee shall use the report as the basis for an oral presentation to the Council.

Membership and Tenure

Membership of the committee is drawn from the members of the Council of Elders. Tenure, selection of the chairman, etc., are determined by established Council procedures. 
 

                                                                                                                                                       John Foster

Council Reporter

Ó 2009 United Church of God, an International Association