International Executive Committee
Highlights

The International Executive Committee of the Church of the United Brethren in Christ convened three times during the quadrennium. The first meeting was September 15-16, 2003, at the First UB Church in Holly Hill, Florida. The following individuals were present: Brian Magnus, Canada; Peter Lee, Hong Kong; Francisco Raudales, Honduras; Winston Smith, Jamaica; Juan Pavon Pavon, Nicaragua; Albert Beckley, Sierra Leone; Paul Hirschy, United States; and Gary Dilley, advisory.

The second meeting was via an online internet chat June 11, 2004 and members from each country were present. The third meeting was also via an online internet chat on February 16, 2005, again with each country represented except Sierra Leone.

Below please find the highlights of the actions taken September 15-16, 2003.

Following the lunch break, the organization of the International Executive Committee took place. Brian Magnus was elected chairperson and Paul Hirschy was elected secretary.

The first item of business was the consideration of the General Conference minutes for June 29, 2001. It was moved and seconded that we approve the minutes with the spelling correction of John Shubert's name. Motion carried.

There was consideration of the ELT Recommendation #1 from Report #42 of the General Conference 2001. It was moved and seconded that we do not see a need for the International Bishop since we have Gary Dilley as the liaison from the Global Ministries Leadership Team. Motion carried.

Chairperson Brian Magnus called attention to the paragraph in the international documents, which referred to the election of the Director of Global Ministries. Following an explanation and some discussion, it was moved and seconded that item 33.2 be deleted from the international structure titled Director of Global Ministries. It's the understanding that this would be our Executive Committee recommendation to the next General Conference. Motion carried unanimously.

There was discussion of the statistics that best capture the activities of the different national conferences. It was agreed that membership, both youth and adult, the number of churches, and the attendance in the largest service of the week, would best reflect the statistics of our national conferences. It was agreed that we would try to collect these statistics from each national conference by January 31 of each year.

The group took up the request from a group of Philippine churches regarding the possibility of becoming a national conference. Rev. Mike Brown, from our Franklin Church near New Albany, Ohio, is the contact person with the Philippine churches. After reading the material that we received from Rev. Brown and some extended discussion, it was moved and seconded that we investigate this group through Paul Coy, who is a seminary student in the Philippines, and then ask Rev. Peter Lee and Mark Choi to attend their spring national conference in 2004. Furthermore, we are going to ask this group to present their statements of faith to our membership committee. Motion carried.

We further agreed that we need more time to build a meaningful relationship with these Philippine churches and we would like to invite them to be an observer at the 2005 General Conference.

The discussion focused on the need for a membership committee as part of the Executive Committee. After some discussion, it was moved and seconded that the entire Executive Committee will act as the membership committee, and that the chairperson will appoint a subcommittee to work on any recommendations that would come from the Executive Committee. Motion carried.

Chairperson Brian Magnus appointed the following subcommittee to consider the Mexico National Conference considerations: Brian Magnus, chairperson; Gary Dilley, Director of Global Ministries; and Francisco Raudales, Honduras.

After some discussion it was agreed that the following countries would be invited as observers to the next General Conference in 2005: Mexico, Philippines, Haiti, Guatemala, El Salvador, India, and Costa Rica. We made it clear that this invitation is at their own expense since the International Executive Committee does not have funds to help with their transportation.

Discussion focused on setting the next meeting and determining how we want to facilitate the next meeting. After considerable discussion, it was agreed that our first possibility may be a chat room discussion of some type, and the second possibility would be email.

We then turned our attention to the rough draft of the covenant statement, which was worked on yesterday. After some additions and changes, we agreed on the final wording of the covenant and asked each national conference leader to sign the covenant before we left the meeting. (See addendum.)

Chairperson Brian Magnus will set the agenda for the next General Conference and he will work out the details with Bishop Hirschy as the plans for the US National Conference are developed.

Following some discussion on possible changes in international documents, it was moved and seconded that any proposed change to the international documents must go through the International Executive Committee. Motion carried.

It was moved and seconded that any changes of the national conference documents should be sent to the chairperson of the International Executive Committee for distribution to the Executive Committee members. Motion carried.

The next meeting of the International Executive Committee was set for May 11, 2004. This meeting will either be some kind of a chat room discussion or email. The suggested time frame is for 9:00 a.m. for Jamaica and Canada, 8:00 a.m. for Indiana, 7:00 a.m. for Honduras and Nicaragua, 2:00 p.m. for Sierra Leone, and 8:00 p.m. for Hong Kong.

Gary Dilley was asked to contact Paul Coy about obtaining information on the churches in the Philippines.

The June 11, 2004 meeting consisted of discussion items, primarily surrounding the upcoming U.S. referendum on joining with the Missionary Church and it's implications for the other National Conferences.

The following items were adopted at the meeting of February 16, 2005:

• That the covenant signed by the international leaders in 2003 should be updated and signed at each General Conference.
• That the International Executive Committee unanimously recommend to the General Conference that Mexico be accepted as a United Brethren National Conference.
• That the International Executive Committee unanimously recommend to the General Conference that the Looking Unto Jesus Church in the Philippines be accepted as a United Brethren National Conference.
• That each National Conference bring a list of the changes to their official governing documents that have been made during the quadrennium for approval by the General Conference.