The Pacific Union Conference is made up of seven conferences: Arizona, Nevada-Utah, Hawaii and four California conferences. On Nov. 19, the Union Executive Committee listened to a proposal to approve or recommend an eighth conference. They discussed the proposal and voted not to endorse it.

Creating new conferences is not new in the Pacific Union. California, for example, was once all one conference before being divided several times.

But the new conference proposed Nov. 19, was to be a different kind of conference. Rather than being created by dividing an existing conference, it would have overlapped the existing conferences in the union. It would have featured a black president, officers and departmental directors, and would have included primarily black churches, though others would have been welcomed. Like similar conferences that have been created in other parts of North America since 1944, it would have been called a “regional” conference.

After a devotional by Wayne Shepperd, union vice president, the Union Executive Committee listened to the proposal, which was endorsed by 12 of the 63 black churches in the Pacific Union and presented by Charlie Jo Morgan, Ph.D.

Why were they proposing a regional conference? Because, as stated in the document mailed to committee members before the meeting, African-American “conference leadership would be more relevant, more knowledgeable, more observant, more concerned and, as a result, more capable of nurturing and developing [black] pastors and churches.” A regional conference would provide “concentrated, authoritative counsel and guidance for the black churches and their communities,” which would result in greater evangelism and growth of the black membership in the Pacific Union.

After that presentation, Major C. White, retired Pacific Union secretary, listed reasons for not creating a regional conference. White reported that during more than 50 years of discussion of this issue in the Pacific Union, many black members and pastors have liked the idea of a regional conference, but the majority of black ministers and members have consistently indicated they do not favor the idea.

Why? Without denying that prejudice and racism exist among individuals, White maintained there is no need for a region in the Pacific Union since members and pastors of all ethnic groups participate in the leadership of the church and enjoy full access to all church and school facilities and programs. Further, he pointed out, whatever the advantages of a region might be, the growth of the black membership in the Pacific Union in the last 60 years has exceeded the growth in most of the existing regional conferences.

These presentations were followed by 45 minutes of questions and answers between the committee and the presenters. After the presenters left the room, the committee discussed the issue for about an hour and then voted by secret ballot. Eighty-nine percent voted against the proposal. After lunch, the committee voted a statement of their reasons (see sidebar) for not favoring a region in the Pacific Union and moved to other business.

Regular Business

As usual, the committee voted to approve loans to several churches in the union for building projects: Central California: Burlingame, Clovis; Northern California: Vacaville, Lakeport; Nevada-Utah: Reno, Provo Spanish, Las Vegas Maranatha Spanish; Southeastern California: La Sierra Spanish, Rialto, Loma Linda Filipino, Indio Spanish. They also granted $5,000 from the Capital Reversion Fund to the Paradise Valley Spanish Church in Arizona. The committee also approved a line of credit to the Arizona Conference in the amount of one million dollars for operations.

The committee voted to ordain or commission David Bello, Steve Hamilton, Myronie McKee, Sam McKee and Dennis Ray, all from the Central California Conference, plus Ki-Woong Alex Kim from Southern California.

Further evidence of the committee’s enthusiasm for the Magabook (literature evangelism) training program came in the form of a $7,000 appropriation to the Arizona, Hawaii and Nevada-Utah conferences for their participation in 2004. The 2004 union budget, voted a few minutes later, includes $50,000 to operate the literature evangelism and Bible worker training school in Arizona. And the committee voted an $83,000 subsidy to Pacific Press, which manages the literature evangelism program in the Pacific Union.

Wayne Shepherd outlined a plan for churches and members in the Pacific Union to gear up to provide warehousing services during the next big disaster, such as a major earthquake. The committee appointed Dan Robles to move the plan from concept to reality.

The Budget

One of the most important functions of the Union Committee is to approve the annual budget, and that happens at the November meeting. The budget for 2004 is $28,665,855, down from over $29 million in 2000. One reason for the decline is that the North American Division and the General Conference approved in 2000 an increase in the percentage of tithe that stays in the local conference, and therefore a decline in the percentage that goes to the union, division and General Conference. Since 2001, the union allocation has declined from 10 percent to nine percent, a 10 percent decrease.

So what will the union do with $28.6 million? First, $21.5 million will be passed on to conferences and schools. During the year, for example, La Sierra University and Pacific Union College, the union’s two schools of higher learning, will receive a little more than $3 million each. $352,000 will go to Oakwood College. The $5.3 million that stays at the union will pay for administration, resource awareness, communication (including the Recorder), education, religious liberty, literature ministry, stewardship education, ministerial services and the coordination and development of African-American, Asian and Hispanic ministries.

The committee voted modifications in the constitution of Holbrook Indian School, reflecting the recent changes of ownership and operational responsibilities from the Arizona Conference to the union.

Secretary's Report

In the secretary’s report, Ernie Castillo pointed out that 2003 marked a milestone in the history of the Pacific Union, though not a positive one. For the first time since 1919, the Pacific Union no longer has the largest membership in the North American Division, having been eclipsed by the rapidly growing Southern Union. At the end of the third quarter, Pacific Union membership stood at 209,507, down 306 from the start of the year. Still, during the first three quarters of the year, churches in the union welcomed 11,103 new members through baptism and profession of faith (4,992) and transfers in (6,076). During that same time, members were saddened by the loss of 4,895 through apostasy or simply loss of contact, 1,270 through death, and 5,329 by transfer out.

By Gerry Chudleigh