Toronto, Ontario - United Church of God
Toronto, Ontario
National Council Update
NATIONAL COUNCIL UPDATE – JUNE 2012
The National Council met for its regular summer meeting on June 22 and 23. This was the first opportunity for the Council to meet in the new office. They found it much more conducive for conducting their meeting than in the old facility. Currently the Council members are Larry DeLong, John Erickson, Dennis Horlick, Garry Lucas, David Palmer, Patrick Read, Rainer Salomaa (Chairman), Ellsworth Stanley and Anthony Wasilkoff.
A lot of ground was covered during the two days the Council met. The first item on the agenda was to have an office tour so that the Council could see first-hand how the office has been laid out to best utilize the space available.
John Erickson attended his first meeting of the National Council. Since each Council member is required to serve on a committee, one of the first items of business was to realign the committees. John was assigned to work on the Strategic Planning/Finance Committee. This allowed Garry Lucas to move from that committee to the Governance/Ethics/Pastoral Committee. Both committees met on Wednesday afternoon to work on projects for the Council.
An important part of Council’s responsibility is to have oversight over UCG-Canada by setting policy. To assist in this, updates are provided by the National Office, Media and Ministerial Services during each meeting. Although the members on file are down by about 30 from last year, we have approximately the same number of subscribers to the Good News magazine as last year. The number of co-workers and donors remains steady.
Paul Wasilkoff was asked to give a presentation about the websites (including congregational websites), the web server, what is new in Cincinnati, advertising, new computer programs and security on the internet. He explained that one of the biggest draws on UCG-Canada’s website is the Bible Reading Program. Since it seems that more people are interested in Bible reading, some of our internet advertising will use that as a draw.
On Thursday, the Council approved a slightly revised Strategic Plan to be presented to the National Conference in March. It was proposed and approved for Council to resume meeting over a weekend, which would lessen the time Council members not employed by the Church would need to be off from work.
The Governance committee proposed a Technical Amendment to Bylaw 8.3.1. This will be forwarded to the Amendment Committee to be processed. A policy for sick leave was approved and significant discussion took place regarding how to amend the existing vacation policy.
Anthony Wasilkoff asked for input on the upcoming Kingdom of God seminars. Several ideas as to how the program might be most effectively instituted in Canada were put forth. While not every congregation will be able to sponsor a seminar, many will.
After a short executive session and evaluation of the Director of Operations, the Council had a brainstorming session. This is the time Council members are free to bring up any ideas or areas of concern they may have. Sometimes it generates further discussion. At other times, an agenda item for an upcoming meeting is created. One of the last items of the day was the dedication of the National Office in accordance with Ezra:6:15-17[15]And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.[16]And the children of Israel, the priests, and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity, kept the dedication of this house of God with joy.[17]And offered at the dedication of this house of God an hundred bullocks, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs; and for a sin offering for all Israel, twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. and 1 Kings:8:22-26[22]And Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:[23]And he said, LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart:[24]Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.[25]Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.[26]And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father..
