News Bulletin from the General Superintendent
General Conference Report Part 2
More Testimonies
As reported several days ago, the General Conference in Houston was a great success. We are still getting wonderful reports and testimonies. We now have documented that the Conference was viewed on the Internet via 23,000 IP addresses, which includes individuals, families, and entire churches. This means that at least 40,000 people either attended or viewed the Conference. The actual number could easily be two or three times higher. The Conference has generated positive momentum that is propelling us into greater revival and growth. Let me share three testimonies:
Thomas Suey, director of the World Network of Prayer, invited a hotel bellman from Bolivia to attend the Sunday night service. That night Brother Suey decided to move from his seat near the stage to the upper level of the auditorium and "coincidentally" sat near the bellman. During the prayer, the bellman received the Holy Ghost. His wife, who is from Brazil and speaks only Portuguese, also attended and was able to understand the ministry in Spanish. They have now been connected to a UPC church in Houston.
Ken Gurley, superintendent of the South Texas District, reports: "I cannot tell you what General Conference in our district has done. The benefits are many. In our recent board meeting and planning session, one story after another was told about what God has done. It has fired up our leaders and ministers to push forward in revival. We identified fifty cities where we want to start works as soon as possible-two of these were taken in the board meeting. I suspect that as we move through our regional revival conferences and our district conference/ministers retreat we will see most of these applications come in. This has been an amazing time for our district."
On Sunday night, there was a prophetic utterance that God has given us a spiritual breakthrough to overcome doubt and see mighty outpourings of the Holy Ghost in North America.
Elections
A great spirit of unity prevailed throughout the board meetings and business session. We used electronic voting for the first time, which eliminated a day of business. Most current office holders were returned to office with the most significant changes noted below. Other elections and appointments will be reported in the Forward.
Stan Gleason was elected to a one-year unexpired term as assistant superintendent of the Western Zone, after Randy Keyes resigned. We thank Brother Keyes for his nine years of service. Brother Gleason is superintendent of the Missouri District and executive presbyter for the Western Zone.
Michael Ensey, director of promotion for the General Youth Division, was elected as youth secretary. The current secretary, Daryle Williams, was no longer eligible due to age. We thank Brother Williams for his three years of service. A successor to Brother Ensey will be appointed by the General Board.
Robin Johnston was ratified as editor in chief to fill the vacancy caused by the passing of Robert Fuller. Brother Johnston previously served as associate editor, and he recently earned his Ph.D. from Regent University.
Ronnie Mullings, superintendent of the Western District,was appointed by the General Board to fill the unexpired term of executive presbyter for the Western Zone.
Raymond Woodward, pastor in Fredericton, New Brunswick, was elected as regional executive presbyter for Canada, replacing Granville McKenzie, who asked that his name not be considered. We thank Brother McKenzie for his four years of service.
Resolutions
The Conference took the following actions. The full text of the resolutions will be printed in the Forward.
Officially ended the Media Missions Division. (My Hope Radio continues to operate on the Internet under the oversight of Church Administration, the Center for the Study of Oneness Pentecostalism continues to produce CDs and DVDs of conferences, media departments continue to operate in many districts, and an application is in process for the endorsement of a radio ministry project led by speaker Dannie Hood.)
Placed Word Aflame Publications, the department that produces Sunday School literature, under the Sunday School Division.
Approved for "teachers" and "assistants to the pastor" to be added to the list of ministerial offices that qualify someone to upgrade from local to general license.
Reports and Statistics
In the U.S. and Canada, we reported 4,243 churches and daughter works and 9,163 ministers.
In the rest of the world, we reported 30,307 churches and preaching points and 17,879 national ministers in 192 nations, with 104,906 baptized and 104, 344 receiving the Holy Ghost during the year.
The complete financial book will be posted on the new website for UPCI ministers. There will be separate links for the reports of the general superintendent and general secretary. A summary of the financial report will be published in the Pentecostal Herald. Total revenues for the fiscal year were $46,347,613 and total expenses were $45,663,156 for an increase in net assets of $684,457. We have worked hard to reduce overhead and expenses. Consequently our financial situation has improved significantly, with an increase in net earnings of over two million dollars from fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2010, but much work lies ahead.
General Board Highlights
The General Board approved several initiatives. Ministers will receive more information about them in the coming months.
Approved the digital distribution of the UPCI Directory and Manual.
Approved a policy for Preaching Points, which provides a threefold path for church planting: preaching points, daughter works, home missions works.
Approved the establishing of a UPCI-owned insurance agency to secure our organization's life, health, and property insurance policies at lower cost and to prepare for future opportunities.
Approved the establishing of a church loan fund under the United Pentecostal Foundation. The foundation can invest in loan certificates. In turn the loan fund can participate in loans to UPCI churches made and serviced by our lending partner, America's Christian Credit Union.
Instructed the Creative Planning Committee to study the possibility of redrawing regional boundaries in light of our growth.
Referred the twelve recommendations of the Restructuring Committee to the general superintendent and the Creative Planning Committee for study and action. Proposals include ministerial training, an advisory council of young ministers, organizational restructuring, revision of the Manual, a new nomination procedure possibly using electronic means, revising term limits at both the district and general levels, making some executive positions part time, more effective presentation of ministries and services, alternate funding for headquarters overhead, and two initiatives referred to special committees as noted below. No decision has been made on any of these proposals, and it will not be possible to consider all of them immediately, but the work has begun. The Creative Planning Committee will communicate with our ministers about ways to provide input.
Instructed the general superintendent to appoint a committee to study our responses to new technology to ensure that we explain and apply in consistent fashion our historic teachings on holiness in light of innovations. The committee will work on our written explanations, possibly producing a position paper, and is projected to issue a report in 2012.
Instructed the general superintendent to appoint a committee to study proposals for restructuring General Conference. There is a consensus that we need to emphasize preaching, streamline the services, expand the seminars, and continue the Holy Ghost rally.
Seminars and Ministers Session
The new seminars were a great success, with 900 to 1,000 in attendance. The best attended sessions were those for young ministers (190) and women in ministry (170). The ministers session after the business meeting featured a presentation on apostolic identity, unity, and revival. I spoke briefly about our Articles of Faith. The featured speakers and topics were:
Brent Coltharp, district superintendent and pastor in Illinois, "Why I Participate in the UPCI"
Alonzo Terry, pastor in Atlanta and director of Black Evangelism, "Planning for Diversity"
Phil DePriest, pastor and church planter in Tennessee, "How to Start a Daughter Work"
CDs, DVDs, and Books
CDs and DVDs of General Conference services, including the seminars and the ministers session, are available at
www.upcimedia.com. New Apostolic books and Apostolic books converted to various electronic formats are available at
www.pentecostalpublishing.com.
Sincerely in Christ,
David K. Bernard
David K. Bernard
General Superintendent
United Pentecostal Church International
8855 Dunn Road
Hazelwood, Missouri 63042
dbernard@upci.org
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