The ministry of the Living Church of God has been shown its mission as it heads into the twenty-first century: lead the churches in restoring Apostolic Christianity.
In both of his keynote addresses—to ministers attending the western ministerial conference in San Diego, California and the eastern conference in Louisville, Mississippi—Dr. Roderick Meredith extensively outlined this concept, linking it to preaching the gospel and feeding the flock.
Dr. Meredith encouraged the ministry to focus on one of the main keys that will help people outside the Living Church of God understand the scriptural and historical origins of the beliefs it has received in this modern era.
Quoting from 1 Timothy 3:14–15, Ephesians 2:19 and 1 Thessalonians 2:14, Dr. Meredith said: “We get these ideas from the Jerusalem Church of God, the original apostolic Church of God. We are restoring apostolic Christianity.”
Dr. Meredith hoped this could be a theme to help people know why the church preaches what it preaches, countering claims that Herbert W. Armstrong got the church’s doctrines from a variety of other church organizations.
“We didn’t just grab some from over here or over there. It comes right out of the Bible and we have to prove it primarily from the Bible as we always have,” he said.
“God can use us to do a very powerful work, if we yield ourselves to God and try to cultivate a Book of Acts mentality.”
Looking at persecutions and troubles in the years ahead, Dr. Meredith reflected: “We’ve got to be willing to be put into jail. We’ve got to be willing to die. We’ve got to be willing to lay down our lives for Jesus Christ,” linking today’s ministry to those who established the original church in Jerusalem.
The ministers were encouraged to have an attitude of love and support for one another, and to show they are laying down their lives for the brethren and that they are going to build the Church of God at the end of the age just before Christ’s return.
Evangelist Carl McNair, Director of Church Administration, introduced a new management paradigm based on delegation of line authority. Ministers were given draft copies of the new ministerial policies and procedures for review and input.
Looking at past problems of too few ministers and too large church areas, Mr. McNair said there is a growing need for teamwork—for pastors to be creative and maximize the resources available.
“We have to learn teamwork. Work is what it’s all about. Work is what we’re engaged in. We have a job to do and there is more than enough for all,” he said. “We must support one another. We are not in competition. We cooperate. The recent crisis was precipitated by ‘me’-thinking, not ‘we’-thinking,” said Mr. McMair.
Given the current number of full time ministers, the church must look to the larger number of unpaid elders, making some of them assistant pastors. Mr. McNair said area and regional pastors will decide who will be designated as assistant pastors.
“There is need for a firmer line of authority. We are going to be delegating line authority to area pastors and elders according to the ability to serve. With it will be accountability,” he said.
He cautioned pastors to always consider that the unpaid men “have a life” besides their service to the church. The churched should not place an elder in an area where his family or job is jeopardized.
“As we delegate, we must draw a circle around the man, not draw the circle and put the man into it,” he said.
A large part of the conferences was concerned with providing the ministry an update of the progress the church and work have been making over the past seven months.
Dr. Meredith told the more than 150 ministers, wives and HQ personnel attending: “We have made wonderful progress. We’re building on two foundations: the foundation Christ laid through Mr. Armstrong and the foundation we all helped lay in the Global Church of Gad as well.”
Since the Living Church of God started, it has been able to get back, almost immediately, WGN and Vision network in Canada with responses that are far greater in number than for TB programs aired in our former association.
According to a report by Evangelist Richard Ames, Director of Media Operations, the telecast was off the air for only six weeks. He also noted that the church has retained 65 of the 71 public access channels it was on previously. Typically the response has approached or exceeded 1,000 per program.
Radio programs continue in South Africa and the Caribbean. TV and radio programs are back on in Australasia. Audio tracks of the TV program are being resumed on Radio Manx, and the Spanish work has expanded with TV programs in the United States and radio in Mexico.
In addition, three booklets – Build a JOYOUS Marriage, Should You Be Baptized? And What’s Ahead For America and Britain? – have been produced. The Living Church News and the Tomorrow’s World magazine are being mailed out regularly to the brethren and general public.
A report by Mr. William Bowmer, Executive Editor in the Media Department, outlined the growing importance of the Internet as a vital tool in preaching the gospel around the world.
Mr. Bowmer addressed the need for caution as members develop church related websites. He said that member efforts are appreciated deeply, and must always be conducted according to applicable laws, especially regarding copyright. Mr. Bowmer discussed the current state of the Church web site and outlined future plans for it.
Ministers from the International areas attended the western conference. Evangelist Dibar Apartian, Europe; Mr. Bruce Tyler, Australia; Mr. Charles Bryce, Canada; Mr. Jonathan McNair, Caribbean; Mr. Rod McNair, Philippines; Mr. Sidney Hull, South Africa and Mr. Mario Hernandez, Spanish areas, all presented reports.
Mr. Fred Dattolo, Church Treasurer, provided back ground on the Church’s accounting system. Mr. Tom Turner presented two reports, one on risk management, the other an overview of the bylaws and canons of the church.
Ordinations were conducted at both sites, raising two elders to pastor rank and ordaining four new elders. In San Diego, three men from the International area were ordained as elders: Mr. Dayrell Tanner, Mr. Rajan Moses and Mr. Michael Gill, all serving in the Australasian region. In Louisville, Mr. Martin Fannin and Mr. David Burson were elevated to pastors. Mr. Evo Walker was ordained as an elder.
In concluding conference remarks, Dr. Meredith said these 1999 conferences provided the greatest degree of love and unity he had ever experienced at such gatherings. He encouraged the ministry to take that back to the brethren.
“Teach them to build the mind of Christ, to totally submit and adore and worship God and Christ,” he said in closing the 1999 conference.