The Council of Elders held its regular February meeting at the home office from Monday, Feb. 13 through Thursday Feb. 16, 2023. Ten Council members met in person, along with staff from Church administration, while members Brian Shaw and Scott Ashley participated via video link.

On Monday, President Rick Shabi gave a report to the Council, as did Operation Managers Peter Eddington, Barry Korthuis and Steve Myers. Chairmen of the Council’s standing committees also gave reports. The Council approved the Strategic and Operation Plans and annual budget to be ratified by the General Conference of Elders at its annual meeting in May.

A significant amount of time was devoted to discussing presentations from the Doctrine Committee and Appendix C of a new paper on the Hebrew Calendar was approved. The Council and administration also reviewed results of a survey of Church members. The Council also authorized the formation of a Nominating Committee that will examine the General Conference of Elders’ procedures for choosing men to serve on the Council of Elders. The majority of men to serve on this committee will be men in the GCE who are not currently serving on the COE, with the goal of making recommendations for improvements.

Serving on the Council of Elders entails many hours of hard work. While each member must contribute, collaboration involves accepting revision and modification of an individual’s work for the sake of accomplishing what is best for God’s Church. This group continues to set a terrific example of this.