The United Church of God (UCG) would like to recognize Gerald Seelig upon his retirement from employed service to the Church. Gerald has faithfully served in many functions over the 50+ years that he has served the Church. For more than 20 years he served as secretary of the corporation UCGIA, and has served as Banking and Investment Manager for the past several years.

From 1968-1971, Gerald worked in the press/bindery. Then, in 1972, Gerald graduated from Ambassador College and started full-time employment in the accounting department. From 1985-1995, he managed the cash management department. In 1995, Gerald set up bank accounts for United when it first began and began investing excess funds when they were available. From then until January 2024, he worked as the banking and investment manager for United. During this time, he served in several other roles: secretary for the Church (1995-2008 and 2010-2018), Council reporter (2009-2010), doctrinal reviewer (since 2010, for BT Dailies and United News) and member of the Fundamental Beliefs Amendment Committee (since 2020). Gerald was ordained an elder in 1989, serving in the Pasadena, Eagle Rock, Cincinnati East and Cincinnati North, congregations. He was an assistant pastor in Cincinnati North for about eight years and continues to serve as an elder.

Gerald was born near Corpus Christi, Texas, in 1950. His parents and grandparents were founding members of the Corpus Christi congregation in 1954. They later moved to San Antonio in late 1964 and lived there until Gerald went to Ambassador College in Pasadena in August 1968. Even though they were in college the same years, Gerald did not meet his wife Connie until 1974 (at a square dance class). They married in 1976 and still love to square dance. They were blessed with three lovely daughters and have four grandchildren. They had five, but their oldest granddaughter died when she was just over two years of age. Gerald enjoys being with family, gardening and cooking. He is also a railroad enthusiast.

Gerald says “It’s been a pleasure to serve alongside my wife, Connie, in so many different ways for the Church—both in the office, for congregations and members. There have definitely been some rough patches along the way. The biggest lesson I learned is to keep my focus on the head of the Church—Jesus Christ.”

Over the years Gerald has enjoyed many memorable experiences. One was withdrawing and disbursing a very large amount of currency to pay the individual members of the Berlin Philharmonic for the inaugural performance of Ambassador Auditorium. Another was going through the receivership in 1978. One of the things he had to do, along with a coworker, was appear in court for questioning. He was never called upon, for which he is very thankful. Gerald shared, “a group of us were allowed back in our building and we were told that once we left we could not get back in. We were able to process a payroll, accounts payable and other items that needed to be done. We were able to get those items out for mailing through a secret passage.” In January 1986, Gerald was called upon to update the signers on all the Church bank accounts worldwide. That was a huge undertaking—somewhere around 75-100 accounts. This helped him learn to work with the international areas of the Church.

Mario and Caty Sieglie commented, “Gerald has been an integral part of the Spanish Work through the financial services he headed and he has continued to be such a faithful financial coworker of the Spanish Work. I also worked with Gerald as he was the efficient COE secretary for so many years.”

Richard Kennebeck says of Gerald, “You and Connie have always been part of our extended family. Through it all, you modeled strength, hospitality and always mixed in humor. Thank you for the humor, we all need a good dose of that from time to time.” “Thank you for being my friend, my brother, through all these years,” Emma Kennebeck adds.

Victor Kubik shared: “Both Gerald and Connie are people of the highest integrity, faith and honesty. We are so privileged to have worked alongside you.”

Gary and Barb Antion commented: “Gerald Seelig is a dedicated, caring and faithful servant in God’s Church! We have known Gerald since 1978. I came to know Gerald much better when we were serving in the Council of Elders from 1995-2000. He was Secretary and I was a Council member. It is an honor to know someone like Gerald who brings joy and service to others!”

Robin and Susan Webber shared “Gerald has always been known as a ‘Texas Gentleman’—sincere, dedicated, honest and able to hold a confidence. His expertise in caring for people's donations has been most appreciated.”

Roy and Norma Holladay shared “Gerald is a walking encyclopedia of the history of the Church. He can see through falsehood and pretense. He was a tremendous help to the Council of Elders. If he didn’t know an answer he knew where to find it.”

Bob Dick shared, “Gerald's calm faith that God would see us through even the most critical financial times was an inspiration I have never forgotten.”

When asked what he plans to do after retirement, Gerald responded, “First of all, I plan to sleep in. After that, I want to work in my yard. I will have time to work on different recipes and try out new things. I will have time to get with some of my grandkids and just take time to visit with family. Then I will see what other trouble I can get into.”

The home office held a celebration on Dec. 14, 2023 for Gerald’s upcoming retirement. God has blessed the Church to have him as an employee and we now all ask God to bless Gerald and his family in his retirement, that he and they will enjoy many years of health and time with each other. Gerald says: “As I retire, I will definitely miss the camaraderie in the office. It’s a great group of people I have had the pleasure to work with.”