Greetings,
We are at a point where I need to communicate to everyone the business that the Council of Elders has been discussing over the last several months.
From the beginning we have operated as an unincorporated association which was registered in Orange County by Steve Andrews to get things rolling. Although the name “The Father’s Call” is readily recognizable from the website, the business of the Church has been conducted under the association’s name – “Church of God – A Family Community”.
We have spent a great deal of effort and time seeking God’s will in the matter of Church governance. We believe the Father has been leading us to learn how to operate differently as a reflection of His family style of governance. Time has been spent in prayerful consideration, fasting and many discussions among the council and external legal counsel to consider the change from an unincorporated association to an incorporated entity. We are now at a place where this transition can take place.
In setting up the new incorporated organization we focused on two key things:
- The business operations of the Church will be managed separately but in complete support of the spiritual administration of the Church. As previously, the Council of Elders will oversee the support and nourishment of the Church as we are led by Jesus Christ. The ecclesiastical (spiritual) aspect of the Church will function via the Council of Elders (Cliff Veal, Marshall Stiver, Bill Hutchison and Brian Orchard). The business operations will report to the council but will have no control over the spiritual direction and decisions in the Church. The responsibility of the Church is to care for those that have been called into a relationship with the Father and to preach the gospel. Business operations are required in order to do that, but the business concerns should always be secondary to the spiritual purpose of the Church. This helps to ensure that business concerns will not override the spiritual responsibility of the church. Within the business operations will be the offices that incorporation requires. This means that the president, secretary and treasurer, ( Matt King, Mike McKinney and Bill Welch respectively) all report to the council and the council operates above the administrative roles.
- Decisions of the council will only then be implemented when there is unanimous agreement among council members. I want to be careful here to point out two things. Firstly, we are not going to vote on decisions. We will discuss and come to agreement on how to proceed on various matters as we see Jesus Christ leading us. Secondly, the agreement must be unanimous. While it is not usual for most organizations to operate this way, we feel it is important, as we believe Christ will make His direction clear. If there is not unanimous agreement on a decision or course of action, then we will need to continue to seek Christ’s lead and our Father’s will through prayer and fasting until we are agreed to what the decision should be. We are fully confident that our Father will provide that direction through His Son.
Although there is an ecclesiastical group and a business group, these two will work together very closely and there will be much communication between them. One member of the council will be on the administrative committee in order to facilitate this close cooperation between the two. We are seeking a family style governance where each submits one to another in the fear of God.
Because of the new incorporation, we set up the new organization with a different name “Church of God – The Father’s Call.” While this name will probably resonate with those who visit the website, we should recognize the fact that the Church’s name will always be the Church of God.
The incorporated entity is being set up to primarily handle the administrative functions of the Church and will enable us to operate more clearly and legally as a Church and as a result we will be able to benefit from protection and formal statuses granted to churches. While we ultimately look to our Father for protection and to fulfill all of our needs, we would be remiss in not taking advantage of the benefit that a more formal status provides.
Steve Andrews is in the process of closing down the Association. We expect that it will be closing sometime shortly after the Feast of Tabernacles. After it is closed he has undertaken to transfer all funds and assets that remain in the association to the Church of God – The Father’s Call. As a result of the new incorporated entity we will establish a new bank account at our current bank, Wells Fargo. The P.O. Box remains the same.
I would also like to take this time to thank you for your continued prayers and support as we move forward in doing the work our Father has given us to do. What has become more clear than ever is that only when we as a people continue to fully submit to His will and the leadership of Jesus Christ can we become a powerful tool to glorify our Father and His purposes.
Warm Regards,
Brian Orchard