RMCNews Page 7

RMCNews – Denver, Colorado … Personnel changes at the Rocky Mountain Conference were among the agenda topics discussed during the RMC Executive Committee meeting on February 23. Ed Barnett, RMC president, expressed his appreciation to Eric Nelson, vice-president for administration, for his many years of service in the conference. “This will be the last time Eric Nelson will be meeting with us, since he is retiring at the end of March. Eric will be missed by me personally, and by many church members, ministers and educators,” Barnett said.

The committee voted Doug Inglish, director of Planned Giving and Trust Services to become the new vice-president for administration. Mary Lynn Green, associate of Doug Inglish, was voted to replace him as the new director of the department. Inglish and Green will transition into their new roles effective April 1.

In the President’s Report, Barnett expressed gratitude to members of the church for their faithfulness in giving during 2020 as it was “a tremendous blessing during that difficult year.” He also shared that Colorado Springs Central church had 44 baptisms in 2020. “God is richly blessing Mike Maldonado in his ministry and church,” he said.

Campion Academy principal, Don Reeder reported that the school has had to shut down several times due to COVID. However, enrollment remains strong at 139. The committee was informed that Campion Academy is considering the sale of approximately 17 acres that are not contiguous to the campus. This will be referred to the Property and Trust Committee for further review. Funds from the potential sale will be used to build up the school’s endowment fund.

Diane Harris, recently appointed director of Education, shared that “all of us need to show our support for our teachers by emails, texts and gestures of appreciation. They are working so hard,” she said. Harris welcomed Paul Negrete as the new associate education director. Negrete has occupied multiple roles, including head principal for the last 11 years at San Gabriel Academy in Southern California. He will join the department on July 1.

Reporting on finances for the fiscal year 2020, George Crumley, RMC vice-president for finance, said the conference total tithe was $17,383,356 and the base tithe which does not include windfalls, amounted to $16,993,817. “Total tithe was down by 4.35% when compared to 2019, which was a large windfall year, and base tithe was down by just .03%. Because of the faithfulness of our members and special appropriations from Mid-America Union and the North American Division to assist during COVID, the conference showed an unaudited gain of $339,867,” Crumley said.

In view of the gain, the committee approved a proposal of a special appropriation to return $197,000 to schools and academies. This will help them with their financial challenges faced during the COVID pandemic. Following the vote, Harris expressed appreciation for the committee’s support of education ministry in RMC. Seventy thousand dollars will be shared equally between Campion Academy and Mile High Academy. The elementary schools will receive $3,000 per full-time conference teacher with a cap of $25,000 per school.

Additionally, the 2021 revised budget was voted. “It is a balanced budget, but at this stage, does not include a July 1, 2021 cost-of-living pay increase for workers,” Crumley said.

In his final report about current state of pastoral positions in RMC, Eric Nelson stated that the following positions were filled:

• Boulder’s senior pastor is Geoff Patterson from the Forest Lake church in Florida;
• Golden, Denver West and Lakewood Fellowship will be covered by Nathaniel Gamble;
• Leadville will be covered by John Davidson, Cañon City pastor;

He also shared the following open positions:

• Castle Rock is seeking a part-time minister;
• Colorado Springs South is also seeking a part-time pastor;
• Campion is searching to fill an assistant pastoral position.

Assisting conferences with filling pastoral positions, the North American Division will begin posting pastoral positions on a central website in the near future, Nelson commented.

It was voted that Montrose Hispanic company be designated a fully-recognized church.

The committee voted that RMC will use the title “vice-president” only for the two executive officers–vice-president for administration and vice-president for finance. Departments will use the title “director.”

Doug Inglish informed the committee regarding trust accreditation for the recent Property and Trust audit which resulted in RMC receiving the highest rating possible: A-3. “This means that future audits will be on a three-year cycle. We appreciate the work of the Trust Department team that enabled this to happen,” he commented.

Following the meeting, Ed Barnett commented: “It is obvious that God is blessing around the conference and yet we always face challenges as well. I praise God for the faithful members that we have.”

–RMCNews

RMCNews – Denver, Colorado … The RMC Executive Committee voted on February 23 to accept and approve the nomination from the RMC Administrative Committee of Mary Lynn Green to replace Doug Inglish as Planned Giving and Trust Services director, effective April 1, 2021.

Green brings a vast experience of church employment in many institutions, including the General Conference. She has worked for RMC the last five years, most recently serving under Inglish as associate director.

“I have prayed a lot about this opportunity and am willing to take on this new responsibility because I feel it is the work Jesus wants me to do at this time. It is an honor to be part of this ministry,” Green said.

Green also added that building relationships is a vital part of the department she is about to lead. “When we first become acquainted, our clients place trust in our team to help guide them to create the best plan for their future with respect to their own priorities and for their loved ones. In this process, we become more than acquaintances and they feel like family to us. This trust [they place in us] and the relationship [we build] are a privilege that we don’t take lightly and it is clear to me that our team members care for each person we help and love the work we are called to do.”

Doug Inglish, vice-president elect of Administration, commented on Green being named as his replacement, “I am so pleased that Mary Lynn was chosen to be director of Planned Giving and Trust Services. Having worked with her for nearly four years, I am fully confident in her skills, her mastery of Trust work, and most of all, her leadership. The Rocky Mountain Conference will be well served by Mary Lynn and her department.”

Green is thankful for a dedicated team, “built under the leadership of past directors who were committed to excellence.”

For Green, prayer is at the center of her hopes for the department.

“Prayer is a foundation stone of all our interactions and we will seek [for] and rely on divine guidance to enable us to accomplish our goals. Our plans are to continue serving with excellence, to remain in touch with our current clients while assisting new clients, and make sure we have the right technology to best do this.”

Green, a Missouri native, attended Union College and began her career at Boulder Memorial Hospital.  She and her husband live outside of Denver, Colorado. They are the proud parents of two sons Tobias 21 and Yanni 24.

–RMCNews; photo supplied

RMCNews – Denver, Colorado … Douglas Inglish is the new vice-president of administration effective April 1, 2021. Meeting in a Zoom conference on February 23, the RMC Executive Committee received and accepted the nomination of Inglish by RMC’s Administrative Committee to fulfill the remainder of Eric Nelson’s term. Nelson, who announced his retirement in January, will leave his position on March 31, 2021.

Inglish, who has served as RMC Property and Trust Services director for the last four years, is looking forward to returning to a position where he will use his pastoral skills.

“A pastor is a lot of things: an evangelist, a teacher, a counselor, and more. While I enjoyed all these roles, I was especially drawn to the administrative aspects of pastoring. It is perhaps what drew me to accept opportunities to serve at institutional churches and on various committees at the conference and union level, and eventually work as a departmental director,” Inglish said.

“When I came to RMC, my focus narrowed somewhat and I find that I have been more isolated from opportunities to mentor pastors and work with churches than I enjoyed as a senior pastor and as the personal ministries director.”

Inglish graduated from Andrews University in 1982 with a history major and a political science minor, and went on to serve as boys’ dean at Ozark Adventist Academy for two years. He left church employment to pursue other work opportunities, but returned to teaching a few years later. After a year of teaching, he was given the opportunity to go into full time ministry as a pastor where he spent the next 25 years serving rural multi-church districts, multi-pastor metropolitan churches, and churches associated with Adventist institutions, including Sunnydale Academy and Minnetonka Academy.

Prior to coming to RMC, Inglish served as the property manager and director of Trust Services, Stewardship, and Personal Ministries for the Minnesota Conference.

Inglish recognizes the scope of the position he is about to undertake.

“It is always exciting to consider a new direction in ministry, but when it becomes apparent that speculation is becoming reality, it is very sobering and extremely humbling. Eric Nelson makes it look easy, but I have worked with several people in his position and know it is challenging, so I am very grateful that he is coaching me and will be available as I face new responsibilities,” Inglish said.

Ed Barnett, RMC president, is confident of Inglish’s ability to step into the Conference administrative position. “Doug has been in ministry for over thirty years and he has worked in at least four conferences. He has worked in two conference offices as director of Trust Services. He has a good feel for how things work in a conference. I believe he will be able to step in and be a real asset to the Rocky Mountain Conference,” he said.

Following the vote of the RMC Executive Committee, Inglish commented: “I am looking forward to returning to aspects of ministry that I have missed, but with the awareness that I am untested at this level of ministry, so I appreciate the support of others and rely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit,” Inglish commented.

Inglish, a native of Indiana, has been married for 39 years to his wife, Susan. They have two grown children. Their daughter Chelsea is the youth pastor at Madison Campus Church in Madison, Tennessee, and son Joshua is a graphic designer in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

–RMCNews; photos by Rajmund Dabrowski