Most of the Council members made the journey after preaching in their own congregations on the Sabbath of August 20, arriving in Cincinnati on Sunday the 21st. All day Monday they broke into various committees to finish their homework prior to the full Council meetings on Tuesday.

As church president Dennis Luker’s assistant, this reporter sat in on the Doctrine Committee’s meeting for most of two hours. All the doctrinal papers and issues that they had been discussing on the phone and via e-mail were reviewed and prepared for committee chairman Bob Berendt’s presentation to the full Council for their discussion. Committee meetings serve the vital processes of the Council’s efforts in overseeing the church. However, they are not any kind of high-handed deliberations in some vaunted halls of power! They are mental grunt work that helps streamline the full Council’s meetings and service to Christ.

Tuesday through Thursday, the full Council met all day, each day. Sitting on the Council of Elders really is a lot of just that—sitting and considering. The first day consisted mainly of the regular reports from Mr. Luker and the other operations managers in the administration. They brought the Council up to speed on the day-to-day operations of the home office and reported what progress they’ve made in preaching the gospel, caring for the congregations and on how God is financially blessing our efforts to serve Him and do His work. The rest of the day involved hearing the basic reports from the various committee chairmen, planning dates for the next several quarterly meetings and approving the proposed dates for the General Conference of Elders annual meeting next May.

Wednesday consisted of executive sessions all day. As reporter, that was my day off to get back to my several other duties. Council chairman Melvin Rhodes strives to minimize the amount of time spent in executive session. However, whenever someone must be discussed by name, out of respect for that person’s privacy, the Council must enter executive session. For the quarterly meeting report, church secretary Gerald Seelig provided the Council reporter with a concise summary of the topics of the session.

Thursday wrapped up the meetings with committee discussions where needed. Each committee chairman would chair the Council for a time to lead the discussion on strategic planning, doctrine or other Council business. The last part of the day provided time for several additional discussion items ranging from the need for a larger video studio for Beyond Today, Council and GCE self-reviews and the nature and purpose of special music.

With the Council meeting’s end, over a dozen tired men (counting administration personnel) gathered their Bibles and brief cases and emptied out of the conference room. May we all remember to do our part by prayerfully supporting those who labor long and hard on our behalf in the United Church of God.