Dr. G. Blair Dowden presenting an honorary doctorate to Lloyd Spencer, a longtime leader in Jamaica Conference. Archie Cameron, a missionary Honduras, also received an honorary degree.

Thursday, June 28

Two significant things happened on Thursday:

• Paul Hirschy was elected bishop of the United States National Conference.
• Gary Dilley was elected Director of Global Ministries.

Paul Hirschy has been Director of Church Services since 1981. Gary Dilley is pastor of First Love UB in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.

Having pointed out those significant elections, let's backtrack to the beginning of the day.

Getting Started

As the day began, the US National Conference was still in session, though all of the international delegates were present. Bishop Seilhamer asked for some grace during the day. He said in the afternoon we would recess and reconvene as a General Conference to handle the election of the Director of Global Ministries, and then recess and reconvene as the US National Conference to continue the huge amount of material before the US body. Then, on Friday, we would need to go back into the General Conference and back to the US National Conference.

This is all a one-time thing, in this year of transition. In 2005, the US National Conference will holds its meeting separately, and then the General Conference will meet. Or vice versa--the order hasn't been determined yet.

The Bishop handled a couple simple, brief reports--the UB Historical Society (report 45) and the Discipline Revision committee (report 47).

Election of Bishop

Then Russ Baker (right), chairman of the Nominating Committee, gave a report from his committee, and presented the ballot for Bishop of the US National Conference: Gary Dilley and Paul Hirschy.

Bishop Seilhamer asked both candidates to stand. Then heasked Bishop Emeritus C. Ray Miller to lead the conference in prayer before the ballots were distributed. He ended his prayer, "We pray that you will empower that person to serve you, to serve in this capacity, to the best of his ability, and depending on your help. Father, we want your will to be done. So direct this body now, we pray, as they cast their ballots for the office of Bishop."

The Bishop then turned to each one and said, "If you aren't elected, it is no reflection on you and your service to the church and to Christ. It just means God has chosen the other person for this role. We will support the person who is chosen, and will continue to admire and respect the person not chosen."

The ballots were distributed by the pages. People marked them, and then passed them back to the pages. The pages then delivered them to the bishop.

The Bishop read off the ballots. Paul Hirschy was elected 29-24.

Election of Director of Education

Russ Baker then presented the ballot for Director of Education. He asked that the rules be suspended so that only one person would be on the ballot: Dr. G. Blair Dowden, president of Huntington College. They voted favorably to suspend the rules. Dave Burkett (Michigan) moved that the conference instruct the conference secretary to cast a unanimous ballot for Blair Dowden. And so, he was re-elected as Director of Education.

Members of Education Commission

Then they voted for members of the Education Commission. Bob Bruce and Craig Burkholder, observers, were asked to tally the ballots. The ballot had two parts--clergy members (3) and lay members (4). The results:

Clergy Members

• Tom Brodbeck 31
• Gary Dilley 45
• Daryl Elliott 45
• Pat Jones 41

Lay Members

• Don Duff 45
• Bernard hull 38
• Paul Lehman 42
• Tom Ponsot 35
• Kelly Savage 34

So Gary Dilley, Daryl Elliott, and Pat Jones were elected as clergy members. And Don Duff, Paul Lehman, Bernie Hull, and Tom Ponsot were elected as lay members.

Membership Study Committee

Russ Baker then came back to present the report of the Task Force on Membership, which he chaired. He explained their work and the ramifications which will come under Discipline revision later, and then moved that the report be adopted. Which it was.

Morning Break

The Bishop said we would work on Discipline revision until about 11:50, and then recess and convene the General Conference to elect a Director of Global Ministries. He said he anticipated nominations from the floor, which would require giving the Nominating Committee time to contact the person regarding availability.

Executive Leadership Team

Next the Bishop asked for the ballot for members of the Executive Leadership Team. They needed three clergy members and four lay members. The results:

Clergy

• Brent Birdsall 30
• Gary Dilley 24
• Steve Gilbertson 20
• George Kreger 16
• Pat Jones 31
• Denny Miller 23
• Hubert Schmucker 12

Brent Birdsall (Central), Gary Dilley (Central), and Pat Jones (Mid-Atlantic) were elected. Dilley and Jones had served on the ELT since 1993; Birdsall is a new member.

Lay

• Russ Baker 40
• Brian Hughes 18
• Carol Van Douser 24
• Dan Paternoster 33
• DuAnne Thrush 22
• Sam Rupp 5
• Dave Rahn 30
• Paul Michelson 27
• Ed Souers 18

Russ Baker, Paul Michelson, Dan Paternoster, and Dave Rahn were elected. Michelson and Rahn had served on the ELT since 1993; Baker and Paternoster are new.

Discipline Revision

Tom Brodbeck, chairman of the Discipline Revision Committee, began leading us through the Discipline revision proposals, beginning with report 81.

The first proposal, a fairly minor thing, ended up with a close voice vote. The Bishop declared that the motion lost, but someone then called for a standing vote, which showed that the motion actually passed 21-19. If this was a portent of the speed with which we would proceed through the dozens of proposals on the docket for today, then we're in trouble.

Many of the proposals involve simple, relatively insignificant changes. Only the proposals with substantive changes will be noted here.

The Discipline lists a whole bunch of questions to ask ministerial candidates, and a list of questions are included for each level of license--local conference, annual conference, specialized minister, and ordained elder. There was a proposal to delete the lists of questions, and just instruct the examining committees like this: "The candidate shall be examined to determine matters of personal integrity, commitment to the Christian faith, ministerial call, relationships with others, spiritual maturity, and understanding of and agreement with the doctrinal distinctives, history, and polity of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ." That would provide a general framework in which to work.

The delegates decided to keep the questions.

Mid-Atlantic Conference had their own set of questions, which they proposed. After lots of discussion, they withdrew the proposal, saying they didn't intend to spend so much time on it.

Report 81 was completed--a bunch of proposals regarding ministers.

Director of Global Ministries

The bishop then moved the group on to the ballot for Director of Global Ministries.

The Nominating Committee presented just one name: Philip Burkett. The other candidate, Jim Elliott, had been disqualified when the General Conference decided that the person needed to be an ordained elder.

Pat Jones nominated Gary Dilley from the floor.

Gary Brooks nominated Denis Casco, Director of Latin American Ministries.

The rules required that the Nominating Committee meet with persons nominated from the floor to determine their availability.

There was a lot of discussion about how this relates to the international General Conference, which will actually do the electing. The US National Conference is putting together the ballot, and the General Conference (which includes all the international delegates) will do the voting.

The Nominating committee presented only one name. Did that constitute a "slate of candidates," as required by the General Conference decision on Tuesday? Probably not.

There was also discussion about whether or not the international delegates, once we convened as a General Conference, could also nominate persons from the floor. Luke Fetters felt there was nothing precluding that, but that the international delegates understood that if they nominated someone who didn't have the approval of the US body, there could be problems.

The US National Conference voted on the names, just an affirmation of whether or not to put their names on the ballot. The delegates could vote yes or no on each candidate, and those who received a majority approval vote would be placed on the ballot. So the delegates gave a "yes" or "no" to each of the three persons--Philip Burkett, Gary Dilley, and Denis Casco. The ballots were given to a board of tellers to count during lunch.

Lunch.

The bishop read the results of the affirmation ballot. Philip Burkett and Gary Dilley were affirmed, and Denis Casco was not affirmed.

The Bishop called a recess of the US National Conference, and the General Conference reconvened. It had previously adjourned on Wednesday morning.

Russ Baker presented the ballot of the nominating committee for Director of Global Ministries. It included the names of Philip Burkett and Gary Dilley.

Jose Ramirez said that his understanding was that the international delegates would be able to make nominations from the floor. He then nominated Gary Brooks for the position (as Gary translated for him).

Joe Bob Amara said his understanding was that the international delegates would only participate in the voting, not in nominating. Lloyd Spencer agreed with that--he said they would be satisfied to just participate in the election, not to take part in nominating. Joe Ramirez said he disagreed with them; he never agreed that the international delegates wouldn't be able to make their own nominations.

At any rate, Gary's name was added to the ballot alongside Philip Burkett and Gary Dilley.

Altogether, 69 ballots were cast. The result:

• Gary Dilley: 41 votes
• Philip Burkett: 19 votes
• Gary Brooks: 9 votes

So, Gary Dilley is the new Director of Global Ministries. Actually, the first Director of Global Ministries.

Bishop Seilhamer asked Gary and Rhonda Dilley to come to the platform, where Gary spoke a few words. Then the bishop asked Lloyd Spencer (Jamaica) and Francisco Raudales (Honduras) to come to the microphones and offer prayer--Lloyd in English, Francisco in Spanish.

International Convener

Brian Magnus (Canada) pointed out that the General Conference needs to appoint someone as "convener" of the international Executive Committee--a person to get the first meeting organized (not necessarily the chairman). Bishop Seilhamer said he would do that on Friday morning.

Kyle McQuillen moved that the General Conference adjourn, and that they move back into the US National Conference.

Women's Ministry Recommendations

The delegates adopted the Women's Ministry model, and then talked about whether or not to put the Women's Ministry director on the Executive Leadership Team. Some wanted to keep the Women's Ministry Leadership Team on the same level as the other leadership teams--Healthy Church, Administration, Youth, etc.--none of which have representation on the ELT. Others expressed concern about having a male-only ELT, and that adding female representation would be a good move.

Kyle McQuillen felt it would be better to make the person an advisory member, like the Communications Director and General Treasurer. He proposed an amendment to that effect. His amendment lost.

They then voted on whether or not to delete that whole recommendation, which says the US Director of Women's Ministry would be on the ELT. It passed 26-24.

Break

Back to Discipline revision, this time Report 82.

They passed a proposal requiring that new churches, before being organized, show "evidence of financial self-sufficiency and an ability and willingness to pay assessments."

The delegates also added procedures for organizing churches out of church plants, and for adopting non-UB congregations.

The delegates added a new chapter called "Churches in Crisis." It outlines conditions which would call for a congregation to intervene in a church. The conditions include an attendance of less than 50, less than 10 membership families, lack of financial stability, lack of purpose, or severe internal conflict which damages the church's reputation in the community and hurts the cause of Christ.

The proposal outlines three intervention plans--a renewal plan, a restart plan, and a maintenance plan (the church would continue as is, but could lose its vote in the conference).

Report 82 passed, with its 9 proposals, at 4:35. Less than an hour before supper.

On to report 83. It took just five minutes to adopt all 7 proposals in report 83.

And report 84, which rewrote the procedure for electing national conference delegates, took about two minutes to pass.

Property

Now came Report 85, Property. There were three proposals on property, but two of them were placed in the supplemental section. One of those supplemental proposals was written by Mike Newman, who moved that his proposal be substituted for the one advanced by the Discipline Revision Committee. It made it easy for churches to gain title to their property, and to even walk away from the denomination (which is the reservation the Bishop and other delegates expressed about his proposal).

They talked a long time about property issues, and got pretty well tangled up.

Finally, at 5:20, Dan Kopp (Central) proposed a task force on property. Mike Newman didn't like the idea of a task force. He said to either kill the thing or deal with it, but don't send it to a task force. The vote to refer it to a task force lost 30-17.

Time for supper.

The Evening Service

The eveningservice, held at College Park UB church, featured a number of special elements, but no sermon. Here are the highlights.

Huntington College awarded honorary doctorates to Lloyd Spencer of Jamaica Conference, and to Archie Cameron of Honduras Conference.

Tributes were given to four outstanding UBs who passed away during the 1997-2001 quadrennium.

• Bishop Emeritus C. Ray Miller gave a tribute to Orville Merillat.
• Bishop Emeritus Clarence Kopp gave a tribute to Clyde W. Meadows.
• Dr. Ron Baker gave a tribute to his father, Dr. E. Dewitt Baker.
• Eleanore Datema spoke in tribute to Bernadine Hoffman, who served 39 years as a missionary in Sierra Leone.

Other special recognitions, including gifts, were presented to the the three outgoing general officials.

• Tom Brodbeck gave a tribute to Bishop Ray Seilhamer.
• Brent Birdsall, chairman of the Missions Commission, gave a tribute and gift to Kyle McQuillen.
• Twyla Lee, chairperson of the Church Services Commission, recognized Paul Hirschy's life and service to the church.

But the highlight of the evening was the presentation of two honorary doctoratesby Huntington College:

• To Archie Cameron, missionary to Honduras.
• To Lloyd Spencer, a longtime exemplary leader in Jamaica Conference.

Bishop Ray Seilhamer conducted a service to install the three newly-elected officials:

• Paul Hirschy as Bishop
• Blair Dowden as Director of Education.
• Gary Dilley as Director of Global Ministries.

A reception was held afterwards at the Habecker Dining Commons.