There were more “important “ agenda items this year than last year and this was the last Annual Council before the General Conference Session. Consequently attendance was better than usual.
The major items were the Abortion statement, Tithe parity, Policy revisions and additions, Church Manual revisions and additions, China Union Mission becoming an attached union to the General Conference and the Non Compliance warnings/reprimands.
Each day began with an hour long worship. The remainder of the morning was primarily reports from various departments and agencies of the Church like Hope Channel, Mission to the Cities, AWR, Special Needs Ministries, Auditors report, etc. There was one such item detailing the new Church Strategic Plan for the next quinquennium called I Will Go. I am writing a separate article about that.
The afternoon was used for voting policy items. Both morning and afternoon meetings began with a song and prayer session.
Abortion Statement
The Abortion statement was well debated but generally accepted and approved with few changes. It was certainly an improvement over the previous guidelines but still a disappointment to many.
Tithe Parity
The tithe parity item was on the agenda because the NAD had requested an acceleration in the already declining % that NAD contributes to the GC. They want to contribute the same amount as the other Divisions, parity.
They also requested the GC to check any other policies that uniquely identified the NAD for “different “ treatment than the other divisions. Well, the parity was approved with NAD decreasing from 5.85% over 4/5 years down to 3% and all other Divisions increasing over 10 years from 2 to 3%.
What backfired for NAD was the review for parity in the other policies, which ended up with the NAD senior officers no longer being co-officers in the GC. The NAD President is still a GC Vice President like all the other Division presidents, but he is no longer on the GC administrative Committee (ADCOM). The NAD secretary is no longer an associate secretary in the GC and the NAD treasurer is no longer an associate treasurer of the GC. All of the NAD conference presidents are no longer invited to the GC Executive Committee, so can no longer speak or vote. NAD wasn’t happy. The discussion had been a pity party for NAD.
There were a lot of mainly minor revisions and additions to the Policy book and Church Manual because of required preliminary approval by the Annual Council so they can be put on the 2020 GC Session for final approval.
China
The removal of the China Union Mission from the Northern Asia Pacific Division, with it becoming directly attached to the GC already had preliminary approval at Spring Council, so was passed fairly quickly at Annual Council. The change was made partly due to the fact that the China Union Mission has approximately one out of every 5 people in the world in their union, making this union quite unique. In addition, due to the fact that the Church cannot be organized in the traditional way in the country of China, it necessitates a different approach to having the members in China being fairly represented and legally operate within their national laws. This is more easily accomplished with their being more independent and not under another Division.
Compliance
“Sometimes cutting off dead branches is the only way you can keep the tree alive” (Nicole Williams).
The Non-Compliance agenda item, of course, had the greatest interest. There was significant discussion, as you would expect. The majority of the comments were naturally from North America and the Northern European countries, because this is where the 6 non-compliant unions are located. The comments from those areas were very predominately against warning/reprimand. No surprise there.
I think there were only two individuals from North America and/or Europe, both lay members by the way, that spoke in favor of warning/reprimand. I was one of them. There were a few others from Africa/Inter America/Asia that spoke in favor of warning/reprimand.
Originally the two US Unions were to be reprimanded because of ordaining women and the four European unions, warned for manipulating the credentialing/ordination process by not ordaining men or women, and giving men and women ministers the same ministerial credentials. The downgrading from reprimand to warning for the two US Unions was the result of an amendment proposed by a delegate from Europe (Victor Marley)
Some speculate why elder Wilson does or doesn’t do certain things at times like these, but you need to realize that he can’t do whatever he likes. He is very constrained by the Adventist version of Robert’s Rules of order. He literally has an attorney sitting right next to him dictating how actions proceed.
The amendment was approved, putting all six Unions on the same level of warning. The individual making the amendment felt it was unfair for the two US Union presidents to be held personally responsible when the four unions in Europe were only generally warned.
Once the amendment passed, the vote to warn the two US Unions passed easily. The difference between reprimand and warning, I don’t think, is terribly significant. The third level of consequences for noncompliance voted at the 2018 Annual Council, is removal from the GC executive Committee. That is significant. That means those Unions would have no voice or vote in the world church. The GC Executive Committee doesn’t have the authority to remove a Union President from his position at the union, only the Union constituency can do that.
Two speeches were allowed, giving the two US union presidents a chance to give their side of the story in defense of their actions. It was insulting to my intelligence.
They both stated that because their constituents voted by a large margin to ordain women, that they had no choice but to allow it (Exodus 32:22-24). Well, they are the ones that put women’s ordination on the agenda to vote. It was their choice. The constituents don’t make the agenda.
When Conferences later requested to ordain women, they could have refused, based on the policy. They didn’t. When the constituency voted to ordain women, they could have resigned, they didn’t. They made all the choices and were in complete control. They are responsible, hence the recommended personal reprimand.
These rebellious Unions kept saying that if Annual Council voted this warning, they would be splitting the Church apart and driving our young people from the Church. They couldn’t be further from the truth.
Mrs White clearly states in the Testimonies vol. 3 in the section on Church Authority, that without discipline, the church would fragment. This is the opposite of what these errant Unions are saying. Discipline keeps unity. If we don’t reprimand these Unions we are sending a signal to our young people that they can do whatever they want, and the Church won’t say anything. The other lay person I mentioned that spoke in favor of reprimand was a young woman.
The two US Union presidents cried foul, claiming they hadn’t been communicated with, hadn’t been notified, hadn’t had a chance to give their side etc. etc. etc., all ridiculous posturing trying to stall the process yet again. It reminds me or Iran and North Korea and their varied approaches to stall, distract, confuse, re negotiate, etc. while they continue to go one doing what they want. The Unions had been communicated with personally and in writing multiple times. These Unions have been ordaining women for 7 years (24-years if you begin at 1995). With all the hype for the last year Annual Councils, how could they possibly claim they were caught off guard?
I think an Oscar should have been awarded to Dave Weigley for his attempts to garner sympathy after telling us that he really needed to finish up so he could go watch the baseball playoffs. I think he thought he was being funny, but it was pretty pathetic in my opinion.
The Real Problem is The NAD
The obvious problem is the fact that the NAD didn’t communicate the GC information properly to the Unions because the Division was in agreement with what they were doing, so they didn’t reprimand them.
Now What?
How the GC administration will proceed from here is the big question. If all six Unions reversed direction and came into line with the world Church, that would be the end of it, but you and I will both be shocked if that happens. It’s anyone’s guess what the four European unions will do. It will probable be in unison. I think everyone expects the two US Unions (Pacific and Columbia) to continue ordaining women with impunity. If that’s the case, it’s my understanding the Unions would have to next be reprimanded, which I think only Annual Council can do, before moving on to removal from the Executive Committee. The point is, I fear this is going to be a painfully slow process.
So where do we go from here? As I mentioned before, nothing is going to happen quickly. The Adventist Church is a large bureaucracy with many policies that govern its every move. With all eyes focused on every step that the GC makes, they have to be very careful. You can’t have corporate mentality when you watch this process. They can’t just fire people or order people to do things. Things move democratically and carefully.
We all need to pray for God to give our leaders great wisdom to know how best to approach the next step in the process to bring about a result that will not only correct wrong doing but heal wounds for the sake of the church.
Pray hard, and stand tall for God.
“Sometimes cutting off dead branches is the only way you can keep the tree alive” (Nicole Williams).
Harold Butler has worn many hats over the years. Some of those hats include:
U.S. Army 1969-71
Missionary former Far Eastern Division 1975-88. Hong Kong and Singapore.
Johns Hopkins University/Hospital full time 1988-91, part time 1991-2008.
General Conference Global Mission 1991-96
Private business practice 1996-2017.
Harold retired in 2017 and lives with his wife in Maryland and spends the winters in Florida.