January 9, 2011 – The organizing conference of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association was opened at 1:00 p.m. by Mike Hanisko, president of the temporary Board of Directors. In his opening remarks, Mr. Hanisko reminded everyone that we are here in faith, looking to God for His blessing. In reference to Psalm 145, he pointed out that God "raises up all who are bowed down" (verse 14) and "preserves all who love Him" (verse 20).
Clyde Kilough then gave an opening address in which he responded to a question that he had been asked. Were ministers just jumping on the bandwagon with those who were exiting our previous organization? Considering that those who recently resigned willingly accepted unemployment, a loss of benefits, etc., he noted that it seems unlikely that what transpired was capricious in nature. Shortly after resigning, Mr. Kilough performed a baptism and was deeply moved by the fact that he wasn't doing this as a minister of a particular organization but as a minister representing the spiritual body of which we are a part—the Church of God. Mr. Kilough noted that the understanding that God's Church is not a human organization helps center us. Though unemployed, he reminded the pastors that they remain ministers of Jesus Christ.
Mr. Kilough said we need to ask God what He wants us to do and that we must have the poor and contrite spirit spoken of in Isaiah 66:2. Without this approach, he said that we would simply be planting and watering the seeds of future problems. Although making difficult decisions is generally not good to do very soon after going through a difficult experience, he noted that people often have to make decisions at such times, just as we will be doing over the next couple of days. Continuing, he observed that while we had committed 15 years to making another organization work, those years weren't wasted. Even though we are older, he said, we have learned important lessons through those years and that experience can often trump the energy of youth. He also noted that we have many younger people who are also desirous of helping do the work.
As for how we got here, he mentioned that via a teleconference, a temporary leadership was established to plan the meetings that have now begun. Continuing, he noted that this team realized that we will still be operating with an interim government after this conference. Committees were then formed on short-term administration, long-term administration, short-term governance and long-term governance. Answering the charge that all this was planned in advance, Mr. Kilough suggested that people simply talk to anyone who served on a pre-conference committee. If you do, you'll find out just how foolish that claim is when you learn how much work those committees had to do in such a short time he said.
He then reminded everyone of the "storming, forming, norming and performing" steps through which new organizations go. This time, he urged us not to spend overly much time on the initial steps. He then appealed to everyone to understand that the government of God begins "between the ears"—that is, in the mind or heart. If we yield to God, he said that he was confident that a good form of administration and governance would be established.
Todd Carey then began a presentation on ethics with a quote by H. Jackson Brown: "Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you." If we do this, he said that he was confident that we would come through this storm. Next, he noted Proverbs 11:3 that says, "The integrity of the upright will guide them."
As for our actions, he encouraged everyone to act more ethical than required and to do less than one is allowed. The reason for doing this, he said, is to leave an honorable legacy. He then covered seven points found in a document given to every conference attendee titled: "Ethical Expectations During Transition."
The next presentation was by Jon Pinelli on proposed church names. There were 411 names suggested. After considering the names in terms of identity, mission and legal availability, five potential names were selected: "Covenant Church of God," Church of God, Ambassadors for Christ," "Church of God, a Worldwide Association," "Faithful Church of God" and "Church of God, a Christian Association." Balloting to select one of these five names will take place on Monday afternoon.
Both Mr. Pinelli and Mr. Kilough noted that the choice of a church name is often intimately personal. They said that a word might bring comfort and strength to the mind of one person, while the same word stirs a strong negative reaction in the thinking of another.
Dave Baker then spoke on interim governance—noting that it was not the intention of this committee to set a precedent for what would be chosen for a long term government, nor how choices would be made, process-wise. After reviewing scriptures showing the importance of choosing capable men of character, he presented two proposals from the committee. The first proposal was to have the assembled ministers, following public prayer, each nominate five men. The names of the top 14 men would be placed in a box and then following another public prayer, seven of the 14 names would be drawn by the interim secretary. These seven men thus chosen would comprise the Interim Governance Team.
The second proposal was to extend the terms of the temporary leadership team and the temporary Board of Directors that have been serving prior to and during the conference until the permanent form of governance is selected and established. These two entities would become the Interim Governance Team. The meeting then recessed for ministers to further discuss these options in smaller groups with members of the short-term governance committee that authored these proposals.
There were 774 web connections to today's meeting.
