God, the Original Parent God doesn’t have any grandchildren. ~ E. Stanley Jones
Conference Potpourri GERALD D. CHRISTMAN
Aloha, Hawaii Conference Ohana, The Hawaii Conference Executive Committee addresses some agenda items that are similar to those of church boards and business meetings, such as approval of the previous meeting’s minutes, a review of financial statements, financial planning and so forth. These agenda items may be routine, but are, nevertheless, important. This report will look at some additional actions voted at the Hawaii Conference’s most recent Executive Committee meeting.
Re-issuing of Credentials and Licenses
MADONNA TAUEU As I tread the footsteps of the late Feryl Harris, I sense her impact and how much people loved and miss her. I read her correspondences regarding plans and concerns for Hawaii’s children. Feryl mentioned being grateful for time to expend her God-given energy for others, particularly for children. We laughed about the stamina required to keep up with little ones, and contemplated the attentiveness of God in all of His children’s lives, including adults. Whether we are childless, parents, or even grandparents, we are each considered the children of God. Why is this? I suppose it represents how close God wants to be with each of us, from conception to death. Anywhere along the continuum of life, God is our Father, and our Father wants to parent us as we grow-up. In children’s ministries, we do not serve only children, but also their parents and families. It takes a collective effort to point our children to the original Parent, Abba, our God. We must keep in mind that even as we point our young ones to Him, we ourselves never outgrow being parented by Him as long as we choose to be His child.
Credentials and licenses are issued to fulltime Hawaii Conference employees. Both credentials and licenses are issued for designated periods and they expire at the end of the calendar year when constituency meetings are held. Both credentials and licenses serve as ecclesiastical or conference endorsements; they are granted to pastors, teachers and other conference employees. Credentials or licenses authorize employees to serve in their designated ministries.
Executive Committee Size A request was made at the last constituency meeting to re-evaluate and to potentially increase the size of the conference’s Executive Committee. A comparative analysis of other North American Division conferences has, subsequently, been made. Executive Committee sizes in North America seem to mostly vary between 12 and 27 members. Many conferences with twice the membership of the Hawaii Conference have between 17 and 23 members. Conferences eight or more than 10 times larger than Hawaii’s membership (such as Texas and Southeastern California) have 25 or 27 members on their committees. The Hawaii Conference’s bylaws presently stipulate the maximum size of the Executive Committee to be 20 members. Our conference is, without a doubt, small, with membership hovering around 6,000. It appears that our churches, compared with sister conferences, are well represented on the conference’s
Executive Committee level. The Executive Committee, as a result, voted to recommend to the conference’s Constitution and Bylaws Committee that the Executive Committee continue at its present size.
Financial Audit Review Hawaii Conference finances are audited annually. The conference received an “Unqualified Opinion” in its latest annual audit. An “Unqualified Opinion” is the best or highest rating an institution can receive; it is given when auditors conclude that Financial Statements are reliable. It is sometimes called a “Clean Opinion,” in that auditors believe that the presented Financial Statements give true and fair financial views without any significant reservations. I believe it is appropriate to here recognize Treasurer Gary Johnson and Assistant Treasurer Bie An “Fong” Tija for their excellent management of conference funds. I solicit your prayers for Gary Johnson and his family as he, at the time of this writing, continues undergoing medical procedures in Portland, Ore., in his battle against cancer. I close with a quote that challenges me: “Often our plans fail that God’s plans for us may succeed” (Ellen G. White, Ministry of Healing, p. 473).
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