On Thursday, the Council of Elders selected Roy Holladay as the next president of the United Church of God. They also held discussions on media and communications priorities and planning for the 2002 General Conference of Elders, and concluded by dealing with several individual items of business.

The first item on today’s agenda was the culmination of a yearlong process in choosing the next president of the United Church of God. Meeting in closed session, the Council chose Roy Holladay as the Church’s next president. He will assume office on May 7, 2002 at the beginning of the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Council. The Council issued a statement earlier today announcing its choice, and thanking Les McCullough for his four years of service as president. He and Mr. Holladay will work together over the next two months to effect a smooth transition.

Operation manager Peter Eddington returned to the Council to complete his report from the first day of meetings. He commented briefly on the new Bible reading program. Response has been favorable, both from members of the Church and those outside our fellowship. Gary Antion and Aaron Dean asked about the possibility of featuring the actual Bible readings themselves more prominently on the Web page in question, since the commentary being provided is supportive of the main text of the program, the Bible itself. Mr. Eddington agreed; the scriptures themselves will become more prominent on the Web site.

A short update of the audio and videotape programs, including the Feast video for 2002, concluded Mr. Eddington’s report. Much of the material for the 2002 Feast video will be drawn from the General Conference of Elders in May, a pattern that proved profitable last year.

Victor Kubik, chairman of the Council Committee on Media and Communications, moderated the next portion of the meeting. He reported on the meetings of the Media Oversight Committee, held January 10 & 11 in Cincinnati, and handed out summaries of the notes from the meetings.

Regarding the Church’s Strategic Plan (strategic issue #1) the Council decided several years ago to use both central and local efforts in preaching the gospel, and the Church is still working to achieve the right mix. The oversight committee’s goal is to create an integrated structure for evangelism that includes the Church leadership, media (electronic and print), ministerial evangelism, and the contribution of local congregations, combining all these aspects of the Church to proclaim the gospel. "The purpose…is to preach the gospel in a focused, prayerful, collaborative effort that is guided, inspired, and blessed by God," Mr. Kubik stated.

He compared the work of preaching the gospel to what some non-profit corporations would call their development area. Such companies frequently spend 25% to 30% of their budgets to state their case and mission. From this rises interest and sustainable support. "We are far below this model and need to improve it appreciably to be viable," Mr. Kubik stated. He mentioned that we must do more than just read the thermostat on the wall, but find out "what is happening down in the boiler room" to see what the future holds for the Church.

A survey of Feast of Tabernacles attendees in 1999 found that 70% of those attending the festival that year were (then) over the age of 45. Nearly three years later, that same percentage is now 47 or 48. Within the next 20 years, most of that group will retire, living on less income. What will be the result in financial support for the work of the Church?

Mr. Eddington supplied information on the Church budget for media. It is increasing not just in terms of dollars, but also as a percentage of the budget – from 16% in 1998 to 17% this fiscal year to 18% in the proposed budget for fiscal 2002-2003. Can we do more? What methods could be used to increase the effectiveness of what we can budget?

Following are some highlights from the discussion that ensued:

• "Take some of these basic booklets that set us apart from the Christian-professing world, and make sharply focused booklets that could be read in somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour... to try to get those out front some way... A group with that as their job… focusing on that element [would be helpful]" – Don Ward
• "I would just like to agree with what Don said. I think that our ‘bait’s’ too big… the booklet that changed me was ‘Why Were You Born?’ I read it in about seven to ten minutes, no more, and I thought, ‘that’s it!’" – Richard Thompson
• "I would say as a part of perspective, that we wrote our booklets to defend our faith. So our audience has changed. We’re transitioning through phases, and we’re focusing more now on this issue of ‘how do you reach the people that are in that group of a half-million reading the Good News’… For those newer people, they’re not looking for apologetics, and in a sense, our booklet lengths are what we needed to comfort our people that we were holding on to traditional doctrine. The punchier, shorter things [are] for somebody that doesn’t know anything about us…You are hard pressed to find something that you can give to somebody quickly, beyond ‘What is Your Destiny?’, that is their introductory package." – Robert Dick
• "I don’t see us needing to have a short version of every one of our booklets – I don’t think that’s what anybody is saying. But to have a handful, maybe of two or three, that are introductory materials, because eventually people do want to know more, and you have to give them the thick booklet. But a couple of ‘doors’ in here, on a couple of different subjects… the one that got me was ‘The Gospel of the Kingdom of God’. It wasn’t that long either. And then there was ‘Why Were You Born?’" – Peter Eddington
• "When I came to understand that I had been deceived – that made all the difference in the world… What I’m trying to get at is the focus that somehow distinguishes us in that we are different. We have something to offer that no one else has." – Don Ward
• "I was sitting here during this whole discussion thinking about the same thing. Smaller booklets would help. What we’re talking about is what makes us stand out from the crowd, how we’re different… It seems to me that the one element that we have is why we were born, what the Kingdom of God is all about, about Christ’s soon-coming Kingdom. To me, I think this is what our focus should be." – Roy Holladay
• "The question that Roy was addressing – we’re the only people on the face of the earth that have a real, genuine, positive solution to the mess. Everything else is fluff – ‘I can’t get out of it any other way, so I’ll go to heaven.’ Or, ‘if it’s bad enough I’ll get raptured first, then go to heaven.’ It just doesn’t wash. We do have a solution." – Robert Dick
• "Where we are different is our true understanding of the Kingdom of God. We know the message that Jesus Christ brought, not just the message about Him. And that’s the difference. The truth of the Kingdom of God being on this very earth, right here. You don’t go to heaven, it’s right here. I think that’s something to focus on. Then the initial package of material you receive is important. To me, the gospel of the Kingdom is where we are different. That’s our message." – Peter Eddington
• "I had the same comment as far as the Kingdom of God. But the other thing that struck me… was that I could be a part of it and help solve the problems. It was not just that God was going to come down here, but that He was going to let me help to bring about peace and harmony on the whole planet, and that to me was very exciting." – Richard Thompson
• "I believe our booklets provide a good study for people who want to study in depth…but as has already been mentioned, the shorter versions really do give people a chance to get the crux of the matter without having to wade through so much… I would suggest that you have both…" – Gary Antion
• "One thing that does that, of course, is the Good News magazine." – Peter Eddington

Further discussion moved into spreading the message in international areas as well. But as Mr. McCullough reminded the group, historically in the Church, the United States, Canada, and Australia have really been the "engines" that drove the efforts in areas beyond their borders. Indigenous income was simply never there in most other countries at levels needed to be self-supporting in the proclamation of the gospel.

Mr. Holladay led discussion of the agenda for the General Conference of Elders, scheduled for May 5 & 6, 2002, at the Holiday Inn Eastgate, Cincinnati. Mr. Antion reported on possible speakers for the Conference, and the Council went over a proposed draft of events.

The basics hammered out are as follows:

• International meetings (smaller group than last year) on Wednesday, May 1
• Committee meetings Thursday and Friday, May 2 & 3
• Dedication and tour of new home office building – Sabbath morning, May 4
• Sabbath services with split sermons by Mario Seiglie and Richard Thompson
• Optional seminars Saturday evening for those unable to attend Monday’s meetings
• Reports from Ministerial Services and International areas – Sunday morning, May 5
• Business meeting – Sunday afternoon
• Q & A with Council of Elders – Sunday evening
• Speaking presentations and breakout discussions – Monday, May 6

Proposed speakers for this year (in addition to messages from officers and operation and/or area reports) are Gary Petty, Robert Berendt, Dave Johnson, and Melvin Rhodes.

Discussion next turned to planning the General Conference of Elders for 2003. Earlier discussion in past Council meetings had focused on the possibility of having a larger conference in 2003, funded by the Church. But several Council members expressed serious reservations about the cost of such a Conference, especially in light of some of the topics covered in the first two days of these meetings – what is the best use of the funds God gives? Is it to have all the elders meet for two or three days here? Or is it to put more into the proclamation of the gospel? No one questions the desirability of a face to face General Conference, but the issue of financial priorities comes into play. In the end, although the Council agreed not to make the final decision just yet, support by the Council for a Church-funded 2003 General Conference had clearly eroded. Further Council discussion, the seeking of input from the General Conference, and evaluating the Church’s financial resources compared to its priorities are proposed before the decision is made.

Several items of unrelated business rounded out the Council’s day. Richard Thompson reported on a task force report to analyze and recommend changes in the Church’s mileage reimbursement policy for its elders. The Council accepted his recommendations and will implement revised reimbursement levels with the new fiscal year July 1.

Leon Walker covered material relating to specific questions on the administration of tithing, in light of a request for clarification on a handful of issues from South Africa. The Council made a few minor changes in his suggested response on their behalf.

Finally, the Council rescinded its resolution of December 7, 2001 relating to Internet policy and passed an amended version in its place, with Messrs. Antion, Dean, Dick, Holladay, Jewell, Kilough, Kubik, McCullough, Seiglie, Thompson, and Ward in favor, Mr. Walker abstaining. The amended text is as follows:

• Hiring or subcontracting of a Managing Editor of the Church's Internet presence under such terms, duties and conditions as shall be determined by the president;
• Development and implementation of daily Web-site updates;
• Development of certain UCGIA publications into Web-based e-learning modules for the general public, beginning with The Bible Study Course;
• Management of volunteers on Internet-related projects;
• Management of subcontractors of Internet related projects,

Ó 2002 United Church of God, an International Association