The United Church of God–Canada recently had a series of meetings in Toronto, Ontario, that were extremely profitable.

The Canadian Media Team, led by David Palmer (who was stranded in Vancouver, British Columbia, because of weather conditions, but nonetheless was able to be hooked up via telephone), met all day on Nov. 28. Paul Wasilkoff, Canadian webmaster, also stayed home because of ill health, but was able to participate via telephone.

We are pleased that we are getting steady responses from the Beyond Today television program from across Canada. The cost per response continues to drop and the Christian Channel and Vision are working on giving the Church some additional free promos. We also have ongoing Google ads on the Internet, for which we have allocated about $1,000 per year.

The Ministerial Services Team, led by Robert Berendt, met Nov. 29 to work on conflict resolution, a task that had been passed down to them by the National Council. They also discussed leadership development and dealt with some administrative matters.

Canadian National Council

The National Council meetings were held from Wednesday night, Nov. 29, to the end of Friday afternoon, Dec. 1. Some council members had left temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius (-22 Fahrenheit) in exchange for +18 Celsius (64 Fahrenheit) in balmy Toronto.

Ed van Pelt gave some encouraging statistics. UCG–Canada is close to 10,000 in Good News circulation. Income has been strong. We ended October 11.3 percent ahead of budget. Holy Day offerings were 6 percent above budget. Mr. van Pelt said the Canadian office anticipated sometime in December distributing its one-millionth item of outgoing mail since 1999. Sabbath attendance continues to grow, with the highest being 627 on April 8. Our highest Holy Day attendance was 715 on the First Day of Unleavened Bread.

The council approved an updated job description for the director of operations. They also approved a Discipline and Termination Policy, a Sexual Misconduct Policy and Youth Protection Guidelines, a Registered Sex Offenders Attending Services Policy, a Web Site Policy, as well as approving an Employee Agreement form. These have become necessary as a part of risk management and insurance needs.

We also had an update on a study being conducted for online donations. The council also passed the Operations Plan and the best budget that we have ever proposed. These will have to be ratified by the Canadian National Conference on March 4.

Keith Stoner was in attendance. He has been a longtime member and elder of the Church as well as an attorney. He spoke on risk management.

During the meeting on Friday, there was a lengthy power outage. We had to move upstairs into the lunch room where natural light made it possible to resume the meeting.

The council also approved the agenda for the National Conference, which will be held by teleconference, emanating from the Canadian national office in Toronto.

The Canadian National Council had time for discussion on what are the biggest issues we face organizationally, what issues can we least afford to neglect and what action plan do we need to address these issues.

Graemme Marshall and Richard Pinelli gave split sermons in Toronto on the Sabbath. The attendance there was 111. Other services were held in Hamilton and Kitchener, Ontario.

Canada-wide Ministerial Conference

Saturday evening, Dec. 2, began a Canada-wide ministerial conference. That evening, we had 20 elders and 16 wives as well as several guests in attendance. Mr. Pinelli, who looks after mentoring out of the UCG home office, spoke on sound doctrine.

The next day, there were 22 elders, 18 wives and four guests in attendance. Mr. Pinelli spoke on "Working With Your Leadership." He had to leave afterwards to attend a regional meeting in Portland, Oregon.

Mr. Berendt spoke about "The Value of Visiting" and Mr. Palmer covered "Accepting Your Ministerial Assignments." Larry DeLong spoke about "Second-Generation Christians."

After lunch, Anthony Wasilkoff spoke on harmony and Rainer Salomaa's subject was "...Not Self- Willed." Mr. Marshall had handouts and spoke on sermon planning.

The meeting ended with some general discussion before everyone dispersed back to Newfoundland and Vancouver Island and points in between. There were lots of hugs, handshakes and even some teary eyes.

As a ministry and National Council, we solicit your prayers that God will continue to bless our efforts to care for the brethren and to reach out with the gospel message here in Canada. UN