Since 2005, this year was again my turn to attend the General Conference of Elders Convention in Ohio, U.S.A. To take this rare opportunity to visit our daughters and their respective families, my wife Lorna and youngest daughter, Meryl came along. We left a day after the Philippine Youth Summer Camp to arrive there a day earlier so we can devote time to fast for the Convention. Thus, we left May 13 and arrived back June 5 in time to prepare for the Sabbath and Pentecost.

The GCE Conventions

The United Church of God, an International Association, conducts an annual convention for its elders to upgrade the various areas of their ministerial calling, through workshops, presentations, and to also help decide on the many business matters relevant to the Work of God at this time. On a personal level, it affords the rare opportunity for elders to have time together to build acquaintances and friendships among its over 470 elders.

The theme this year was: “Going on to Perfection—Increasing Spiritual Maturity.” This is in the context of the never ending quest for all true Christians to look to Jesus Christ as our Example. The main convention was schedule May 17-19, 2008, and held for the first time at the King’s Island Resort & Conference Center at Mason, Ohio, about an hour’s drive north from downtown Cincinnati.

International Meetings

Prior to the convention proper, it is the usual schedule for elders from the International areas (those working outside of the United States) to meet earlier. Thus, an evening get-together for such elders started Thursday, May 15. The following day, Friday was an International Luncheon, followed by a meeting with UCG President, Clyde Kilough. Focused on were the many challenges affecting God’s Work in the international areas; chief among them is the lack of trained manpower, and what is being done about them.

Saturday Activities

With my wife and daughter, we were honored to be invited by Mr. & Mrs. Clyde & Dee Kilough to a formal Sabbath dinner at their home in Ohio, together with Dee’s parents (King & Virginia Finlay) and Grace Fenstermacher (an elder’s widow); all having just arrived for the conference from their home in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The following morning, we were privileged to visit again the UCG Home Office at Milford, Ohio. In the afternoon we had Sabbath services at the Kings Island Resort which was hooked up live to about 90 congregations, about 400 other video connections, and over 50 audio connections to an expected audience of about 5,400 members. By that Sabbath, 196 elders and 146 wives, or a total of 342 have already been registered. The inspiring sermon that day was delivered by Clyde Kilough, on the topic “Increasing Spiritual Maturity.”

That Saturday evening, we (including Mr. David Baker), were invited by David Evans (who works at Ministerial Services at the Home Office), and his wife Marguerite for dinner. Their daughter, Briana is quite a girl now, and was busy helping serve and take pictures. There were about two dozen of us coming mostly from various international areas, and we were seated close to David’s parents: George and Elizabeth Evans.

Sunday Schedules

Sunday was a full day, which included the introduction of new elders, balloting, key note speech by UCG Chairman Robert Dick, followed by International Reports from: United Kingdom by Peter Hawkins; Ghana by Melvin Rhodes; Canada by Anthony Wasilkoff; Asia by our David Baker; and the Caribbean by Stanley Mather. This was followed by a Tribute to Deceased Elders and Wives who died within the past year.

After lunch, we had inspiring addresses from the following UCG Officials: President Clyde Kilough; new Treasurer Jason Lovelady; Ministerial Operations Manager Jim Franks; Media & Communications Services Manager Larry Salyer; and finally from Chairman Robert Dick.

Before the adjournment of the afternoon session, the ballot results were announced. The following were newly elected to the Council of Elders: Paul Kieffer (International slot); Darris McNeely, and Robin Webber, while Aaron Dean was re-elected to the Council. At the end of the day’s activities, I was called upon to lead in the closing prayer.

Monday Activities

Monday was devoted to workshop sessions on the following topics: What Strategic Planning Is All About?; Elders’ Wives Workshop; The Spiritually Mature Congregation; Pitfalls to Godly Wisdom; Ministerial Calling—Maturing Relationships; Planning for Loss; and Information Services (Computer and Internet based). Apart from Strategic Planning where all attended, each elder or wife had the option to attend two of the workshop sessions.

That Monday evening, we were among those invited for a dinner hosted by Gary & Barbara Antion. (Mr. Antion is connected with Ambassador Bible Center, while his wife is employed at the Home Office. As their custom is, they always love to host dinners.)

Travel to Wisconsin

Apart from those members of the Council of Elders, Regional Pastors in the US, and key employees, the rest of us were now free to proceed to our subsequent destinations.

Thus, on Tuesday, we proceeded with our itinerary and flew to Milwaukee where we were met by our daughter Laurie and her husband Jeb Mortier at the airport. On the way to their home, we dropped by Cabela’s, reputed to be the largest outdoor and sports shopping mall ever. It was an educational experience to see the very wide array of all the stuff and gadgets they have from fishing baits, to rifles, to power boats, etc. Also were dozens of stuffed wild animals set in the background of their natural habitat. They have lots of deer that are as big as our carabaos, not to mention the even bigger elks, moose, elephants, etc.

We enjoyed being with our children and their two children (also our two grandchildren), plus our in-laws in Jeb’s side, all of whom are also UCG members; plus their pastor Daniel Dowd, and his family. I had the privilege of speaking again to the Oshkosh congregation to update them about the work of God in my pastoral region, aided by PowerPoint presentation slides.

Onward to Colorado

After a week of visiting in Wisconsin, the following Tuesday, we proceeded to Colorado. We were met at the Denver airport by our daughter Cheryl and her husband David Rogers (who are happily expecting their first child about Feast time).

Denver airport is unique not only because it is about 5,000 feet above sea level (f.a.s.l.), but it also has probably the most unique roofing structure among airports in that it is shaped like dozens of Indian tepees or steep mountains. Then we proceeded to Colorado Springs with a higher elevation of over 6,000 (f.a.s.l.) where our children now reside.

There are many tourist attractions because of the mountainous terrain. Among the places we visited was the “Garden of the Gods” with its hundreds of giant red-rock formations jutting skyward. At another time, we went to Pike’s Peak at over 14,000 (f.a.s.l.) – much higher than our Mt. Apo at over 10,300 (f.a.s.l.). We had to wear very thick clothing because even in those summer months, there was still lots of ice on the mountaintops and strong wind. Visiting those places was made convenient because roads have been built to reach the peak and we rode in David’s car. We met other tourists who arrived at the peak by train! Those trains have been designed to incorporate wheels and rail with gears so it can climb!

We were also able to visit the Denver museum featuring some dinosaurs like the Tyrannosaurus Rex; Egyptian mummies, various ancient artifacts, moon rocks and meteors, etc. Our experiences were too numerous to mention in this short article.

One highlight in Colorado (in coordination with their pastor, Larry Neff, and with the help of GN Managing Editor Scott Ashley in Denver), was my opportunity to show them a glimpse of God’s Work in Mindanao to the Denver congregation in the morning, and the Colorado Springs congregation in the afternoon. It was obvious that the brethren were greatly inspired, and according to our daughter, it was still the talk of the congregations even after we left.

For more details about the recent UCG Convention and other developments, you may conveniently read them from our UCG website and publications.

Finally, I would be remiss if I failed to pass on the greetings of everyone we met who had been to the Philippines at one time or another, who expressed their love and regards to everyone who know them. Of course, the names are too numerous for me to mention here, but I believe you all know who they are.

© 2008 United Church of God, AIA - Pilipinas