May 7 the General Conference of Elders chose four Council members to serve the next three years. Bob Dick and Richard Thompson were returned to the Council, and Bill Eddington (international) and Richard Pinelli were added as new members. Tony Wasilkoff and Mario Seiglie will leave the Council as their terms expire June 30.

Following are brief biographies of the new members.

William (Bill) Eddington

Bill Eddington and his wife, Rae, live in Melbourne, Australia, and have six adult children.

He was baptized in 1970 and ordained as an elder in 1975. Since that time he has served the Church in many capacities—counseling, preaching, giving Bible studies, baptizing, acting as a Festival coordinator and a Festival elder and conducting weddings and funerals. He currently assists Australian Southern Region pastor Barry Williams and pastors a small congregation several hours' drive from Melbourne.

He has been a member of the Australian National Council since 1997 and chairman since 1999. He also serves on the Pastoral and the Policy and Planning Committees.

Mr. Eddington gained considerable experience in sales, logistics, strategic planning and human resources during his years of employment with several major companies and the state government of Victoria. For several years in the early 1980s he was a member of the governing council of the state's premier teacher training college, chairing the staffing and legislation committees. He is now retired.

He has never been employed by the Church and feels that his outside employment experience, noncareer Church involvement and hands-on knowledge of the operations and needs of a UCG IA international area may provide a different perspective during some Council discussions.

Mr. Eddington said, "This will be a new experience for me, and I look forward to making an effective contribution to the workings of the Council of Elders and the Church generally."

Richard Pinelli

Richard Pinelli was born and reared in Chicago, Illinois, going through what he describes as a normal childhood and finishing grade 12. He then went to and graduated from Ambassador College.

He married his wife, Mary, in 1960, and they were transferred after graduation to Vancouver, British Columbia. They worked in Canada pastoring in 12 church areas for 23 years. They moved back to the United States in 1984 where they pastored three areas before the church split in 1995.

He has been a pastor for 43 years and has 12 years of experience as a Feast coordinator, 14 years as a regional pastor, two years as Ministerial Services operation manager in Canada and 10 years as operation manager for Ministerial Services in United.

Currently Mr. Pinelli serves as coordinator of ministerial development programs, focusing on training the trainers of future ministers. Mr. Pinelli has mentored 36 trainees in his career and is very enthused about his new job and about serving on the Council.

"I appreciate the opportunity to serve on the Council at this time," he said. "I have worked with the Council closely for 10 years when I worked in Ministerial Services as well as with the home office administration. I hope this experience will be helpful in my time on the Council." UN