Dr. Harold Bare on The Power of the Executive Committee to Ignore General Assembly Policy

GUEST BLOGGER, Harold Bare, Ph.D., pastor of Covenant Church in Charlottesville, VA
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My thoughts are shared today after 40 years of study and research on Church of God executive structure. These efforts to study and research have been made with the desire to bring about a more positive and effective structure.
The propositions presently being entertained by [...]

Heart Check: The Final Examination

Weeks ago, I wrote concerning the heart of the Church of God and I wrote about our “Heart Song.” I guess for me, that’s where I’d like to end up…one final examination of our heart.
Yesterday, I drove to Cleveland and met with Julian Robinson, the Director of the Business and Records Department. I [...]

A Question of Loyalty and Love?

OKAY, here’s the deal:
Unfortunately, when you are “defenDING” something it can be misinterpreted as being”defenSIVE.” And from a debate standpoint, the degree to which an observation or viewpoint can be proven to be subjective (defensive)…then the validity of that viewpoint is diminished substantially. What a masterful shift is accomplished at that point.
For years there [...]

Missional Resurgence Meeting: About the Location

One thing that really excites me about our location for the Missional Resurgence Meeting is the location, the San Antonio USO. The staff there has been exceptional in providing a space where military families can eat for free and gather while visiting in the City of San Antonio. They’ve also gone [...]

COG World Missions: Souls for Sale. CHEAP!!!

For the last few years in particular, I have been told by several members of the Executive Council of how “wasteful” Church of God World Missions is with their funding. I have been told and read that World Missions, “spends the entire allotment of the 2½% ‘in Cleveland,” and that one of the primary [...]

Nick Park, COG National Overseer of Ireland: “A Church Divided”

GUEST BLOGGER: Nick Park, National Overseer of the COG in Ireland and pastor of Solid Rock Church
In 1995 I was a struggling Church Planter in Drogheda, Ireland. Our Church had no money, no building, and a grand total of 21 members – most of whom were unemployed and living off Welfare. Brother Doug [...]

The Discussion the Church of God Desperately Wants

In an earlier article, I had written regarding perspectives on a meeting I had with the Church of God General Executive Committee.  I want to share with you another of the concerns I communicated in that meeting. In several forums, I have well established my concern that the recapturing of credibility and trust become our [...]

Tony Scott on The Dynamics of the Council of 18

GUEST BLOGGER, TONY SCOTT, pastor of The Church on Strayer

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For many reasons it is wise to believe that the Church of God, like many other denominations, stands at a critical crossroad. Do we continue the path dictated by our history or do we chart a new path, create new paradigms, and become innovative [...]

Fred Garmon on Implementors and Formulators: The Problem of Establishing a Shared Vision

GUEST BLOGGER: Fred Garmon, PhD, Executive Director of People for Care and Learning.
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Tom Sterbens called me and asked me a question pertaining to Leadership philosophy and possibly why it was that a large percentage of the 2006 General Assembly agenda was voted down.
ANSWER:
There is a fundamental, nevertheless, typical organizational problem that occurs when [...]

The COG Executive Committee Didn’t Create Our Present Situation

Where are we at this moment concerning Church of God discussion on MissionalCOG?
Let’s make a brief list, face it, get angry if necessary, get over it, and get ready for a Gospel solution that honors the Mission of Jesus in our denomination, the lives of our members, pastors, and every single one of our administrators.
Here [...]

COG: “It’s Just the Same old Song…”

“The way things have been are the way things will be….they’ve been this way too long to change now.” What does that say about us? Do we just sound like a broken record? Are we just becoming a bunch of whiners? We say…”It’s Just the same old Church of God song…nothing will [...]

Tom Sterbens’ Response to His Meeting with the Executive Committee on Wednesday, July 9, 2008

I have delayed this communication since meeting with the General Executive Committee due to the fact that I felt there were two or three people I needed to speak with before responding. They are people who help me check my heart. One of them is a spiritual father to me, John Nichols. [...]

Tom Sterbens Meeting with the Executive Committee

Tom Sterbens will be meeting with the Executive Committee tomorrow morning at 10:15.  I’m inviting you to pray that it will go very well.
Also, Matt Boyd’s most recent correspondence with Dr. Walker requesting clarification about the appropriateness of the Executive Committee’s decision to withhold the budget and annual detailed audit report from him and other [...]

Welcome to MissionalCOG

If you are new to MissionalCOG, I want to say welcome. Feel free to browse the blog and participate. You can find out a bit more about MissionalCOG here. Our list of contributors can be found here. If you’d like to register for our email newsletter, you can do so by clicking [...]

Report from Special Committee – #1 of 5

I will be posting excerpts from a report by a member of a special committee on a Church of God Reform initiative. This committee was appointed by the Executive Committee and was to report back to them findings and recommendations. This particular member forwarded a copy of his recommendations to this special committee.
I will [...]

The Possibly Lost Potential of the EHM Budget

Annually, over $13,000,000 is given to the Evangelism and Home Missions Budgets on the state/regional level for the express purpose of “new field work and in the case of an emergency, small church assistance.” This is mandated by the General Assembly Minutes in response to the missional directive of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20.
It is [...]