Cincinnati, Ohio—169 elders and 140 wives gathered at the Holiday Inn Eastgate on May 5 for the annual General Conference of Elders. The theme of the meeting was “Edifying the Body Through Spiritual Gifts,” and in addition to the keynote speeches, workshops and plenary sessions held during the two-day conference, the eldership of the United Church of God balloted on constitutional amendments, bylaws, the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, and Council of Elders positions, among other things. The results of the ballots were a confirmation of the strategic plan, operation plan and budget for the next fiscal year. It also resulted in the confirmation of Roc Corbett as Council member (with him having taken his seat mid-term last October), a re-election of Mario Seiglie and John Elliott to the Council, and the election of Rex Sexton and Rainer Salomaa to seats previously held by Gary Antion and Bob Berendt, respectively.

The keynote messages given on Sunday were by Scott Ashley and Darris McNeely. Coverage of both can be found on page 2. Other events from Sunday were reports from Ministerial and Member Services, Financial Services, Media and Communication Services, United Youth Camps, various international areas, and tributes to deceased elders and wives. New this year was officially recognizing and honoring elders who have served 50 years in the ministry. Sunday concluded in the evening with a workshop on Bible study tools.

Monday saw a plenary session given by Victor Kubik titled “Actually Using Spiritual Gifts” (see report on page 3), and then workshops given by a variety of elders on a variety of topics relating to the theme.

The conference was a big success, and the energy was palpable. The theme contributed to the momentum United is beginning to see in its march toward its vision statement, which is “A Church led by God’s Holy Spirit, joined and knit together by what every member supplies, with all doing their share and growing in love to fulfill God’s great purpose for humanity to bring many children to glory (Ephesians 4:16; Hebrews 2:10).”