Assembly held last week in San Antonio. Unfortunately for me, I've been on the road and have had only limited internet access. (But Claudia and the kids are happy that I'm more accessible.) In a quick round up, here are my thoughts
- As usual, San Antonio was a great place to visit. This year, our kids enjoyed SeaWorld while I was voting forever for the Council of Eighteen.
- Speaking of the Executive Council, I (Tom) had 14 votes in the first round. (Somebody had to be desperate in finding names/numbers at the end of the list. )
- Although all five members of the Executive Committee were eligible for reelection, three new faces were elected (Mark Williams, David Griffis, and Wallace Sibly) and three members were bumped off (Dennis McGuire, Orville Hagan, Paul L. Walker). Such a rotation without the occasion of term limits was unheard of in our history (at least as far back as I can remember). The new Presiding Bishop is Raymond Culpepper; the first assistant is Tim Hill.
- The agenda item regarding the restructuring and realignment of the budgets (including that of World Missions) was sent back to a committee. A new proposal is yet to be developed, but budget cuts will be more spread out throughout all departments, not just World Missions.
- An item to allow women to participate in the Pastor and Church's Council (in local churches) was defeated. Thus we are maintaining the position that a woman can pastor a church, but she cannot participate in its church council meetings. I suspect that many churches will simply ignore the minutes, or simply go around them by creating an alternative elders and/or deacons board.
- The ministers decided, however, not to defrock fellow clergy who teach, preach, or publish anything contrary to the denomination's declaration of faith. However, the church reaffirmed its pentecostal heritage and doctrine.
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