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