Conference Update
January 11, 2011 – The meetings began as Interim Board President Mike Hanisko called upon Kevin Epps for the opening prayer. Mr.Hanisko then announced the result of the ballot for our church name. Of the 118 ballots cast, 78 chose "Church of God, a Worldwide Association," making the temporary name official.The first presentation of the day was given by Dave Myers on youth camp programs. We don't have a lot of definition yet but we can review the importance of it. One of our core values is to teach our children God's way of life. In Deuteronomy 6:6-7 we find a directive to do this. Additionally, in Luke 9:47-48 we see Christ telling us to receive little children. Receive means "to receive into one's family, to educate."
Numbers 32:24 speaks of a tribe of Israel taking care of its "little ones" and providing "sheepfolds" for its sheep. In a sense, we are taking care of our little ones via our camps. Matthew 18:10 also speaks of not despising (disdaining or thinking little of) "little ones."
Camp is effective because it takes youth away from their normal routines. It puts them in God's creation and away from electronics. We're familiar with the concept of the "Zone" and will continue to provide a godly environment.
We will also continue our pre-teen camp programs. We may be able to use the same location for both a pre-teen camp and a teen camp. Regarding staff, we have 11 trained teen camp directors, seven experienced pre-teen camp directors and two Challenger II directors. We have very talented people and we will take care of our young people. We intend to continue allowing people of other fellowships to attend as space is available.
We will begin with a demographic study to plan locations of camps and to determine the number of teens we will need to serve. The administration will need to appoint an overall Program Director and camp directors. An application process also needs to be developed. While respecting the rights of our previous organization, we have already made calls to find camps and it looks likely that we will have camps in California, Texas, Missouri, in Alabama or Georgia, and in Ohio or Pennsylvania.
Next, David Treybig gave a presentation on developing a literature base. Prior to speaking of possible ways to produce literature, he discussed the importance of reading. Coupling the second commandment that prohibits the worship of idols with Deuteronomy 6:9 which instructed the Israelites to write the commandments on their doorposts, Mr. Treybig said that it is obvious that God expected His people to be literate. True worship of God involves the intellect as opposed to worshipping an image.
Arthur W. Hunt III in his book The Vanishing Word wrote: "The Judeo-Christian heritage, which characteristically has been word-dependent, is contrasted with paganism, which typically has been image-dependent…A church cut from its word-based heritage and a nation stripped of word-based modes of learning do not have the rhetorical or mental resources to guard against despotism" (p. 26).
The importance of reading is also seen in Acts 17 where we note that many of the Bereans believed what they heard from Paul possibly because they "searched the Scriptures daily" (v. 11). Reading disciplines the mind and helps one retain information.
As for producing literature, our organization has many experienced writers and reviewers who know how to work remotely. Many of these talented people have indicated that they are ready to go to work.
Basic, first-contact literature could be produced first and posted online. More in-depth material could then be generated later. And instead of producing multiple booklets on closely related subjects, one booklet could suffice. Since the Internet is so cost effective, this may serve as our primary delivery tool, although we will certainly want some materials in hard copy, too.
Doug Horchak next discussed planning for the Feast of Tabernacles. He noted that Hebrews 11:13 speaks of our vision of the future. We keep the Feast because doing so reminds us that we are strangers and pilgrims here on earth who are convicted of and assured of the coming kingdom of God. We have 20 or more past Feast coordinators.
Last Friday, many of these men here at the conference met to discuss possible locations for observing the Feast. Of course, we will respect the contracts of our previous organization. At this time, we believe we will have four to six sites in the United States. We may also need to provide some satellite locations that receive webcasts of the services.
Starting from scratch is not something any of us like to do but there can be valuable lessons in doing so. In such a situation, we realize that we need to "seek first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33) and that we need to work together in unity.
Andre Van Belkum, from New Zealand, presented the closing address. He began by thanking everyone for the positive, encouraging environment at this conference. He then told a story about a potential aircraft disaster in which the pilot focused on the systems that were functioning and successfully landed the plane. "How can we stay positively focused?" he asked.
The example of the trial the Macedonian churches faced is instructive. Facing this "great trial of affliction," the brethren "first gave their own selves to the Lord" (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). "First a willing mind" (verse 12) is also of critical importance.
Turning to James 1, Mr. Van Belkum then spoke of having joy when we face difficulties (verse 2) and asking for the wisdom of God (verse 5) to know how to move forward. He also cautioned that we must guard against pride and operate with humility.
The life of Elijah is also instructive. Though Elijah was discouraged, he came to realize that God was all powerful and fully capable of caring for His people. We have talented, capable men and we need to go to work. In Acts 14 we read that Paul was stoned. Yet we see that he rose up and went back to work preaching the gospel (verses 20, 21).
Christ has allowed all that has happened. He knows of this meeting. Let's pray for His direction. If we are faithful, we can be confident that God will finish His work in us (Philippians 1:6).
The conference came to an end with Todd Carey leading everyone in the hymn "All Things Work Together" and Greg Sargent giving a closing prayer. There were 876 English connections and 38 Spanish connections to today's meetings.
