RMCNews – Denver, Colorado …  Ten days after the 2022 Constituency Session, RMC Executive Committee met for its orientation meeting, August 30.

At the outset of the business meeting, Mic Thurber, RMC president, who was reelected by the session, welcomed new members placed on the committee during the constituency meeting.

Thurber gave an orientation to the new members explaining how the committee functions and how to relate to actions the committee takes, as well as how to share what was voted without identifying committee members’ specific comments. Members of the committee “always feel free to have a thorough discussion,” he said. He also spoke about Executive Session and what type of items we will process there and the need for strict confidentiality.

Since it was the first meeting of the newly elected committee, he took time to review the constituency meeting itself. “As this was meant to be a brief time to review it [the Constituency], I told the committee that we’d take more time in future meetings to discuss ways we can suggest to the by-laws committee how to improve things for the next constituency meeting,” Thurber explained.

With this being the first meeting with newly appointed committee members, considerable time was spent on Conference finances. The focus was more on “how we have gotten to where we are, how funds are used and can be used, and how we work within North American Division Policy to best fund ministry in the Rocky Mountain Conference,” Darin Gottfried, RMC vice president for finance, presented.

He commented after the meeting, “it was an interactive time where members were able to ask a lot of questions, which was enjoyable for me as the treasurer. It is great to see members interested in the finances and where we are going as a church and it makes me excited to see what this committee can do over the next five years.”

Gottfried gave updates on how conference income and expenses are doing in relation to our budget for the first six months of 2022.  More than nine million dollars in tithe has come into the conference for half of the year with gross tithe being up 2.36% over 2021.

Base tithe, which excludes any one-time windfall tithes and is used as a basis for the following year’s budget, is down by 1.84% from last year. With inflation being at a 40-year high, time was spent discussing what this means as the Conference builds a budget for 2023 and tries to keep up with fast-growing expenses.

Giving to RMC Advance has decreased by about 8% from last year. “I am hoping that this offering can grow as it goes to help in many needed areas.”

“At present, the Conference is sitting in a very good financial position,” Gottfried said. “We have a gain through the month of June due to several positions not being filled. Our gain is expanded by receiving over 600k in donations that were not anticipated through our budget. This Conference has been blessed and I continue to thank God for our members’ amazing commitment and support as we move forward,” he concluded.

The committee considered suggestions for improving the Constituency Session. These suggestions included education for pastors on the meeting’s process, providing methods for delegates to add motions or agenda items before the meeting is called to order, and expanding the representation of Hispanic members.

The committee voted to fill its existing vacancies by inviting Randy Fuelly (lay person SW Region) and Anton Kapusi (pastor SE Region).  An additional opening was presented because of the resignation of Stephanie Melendez, a lay representative from Fairplay, Colorado, and the committee gave an enabling action to the administration to ask Ana Alvarez from the Colorado Springs Hispanic Church. She accepted the position.

Doug Inglish, RMC vice-president for administration stated that “those names are being withheld until we can communicate with them to determine which is able to accept the position.” This supports the action of the Constituency Session to bring another member from a Hispanic church onto the committee. During the meeting, Linda Kelly’s resignation was announced. The RMC administration will research suggestions for another lay person to serve on the committee from Wyoming.

As is required after a constituency session, all employee credentials were voted, with a correction for Lisa Cardinal, whose credential was changed from ‘commissioned’ to ‘ordained’. The committee also approved recommendation to the Mid-America Union Conference for the ordination of Pastor Nathaniel Gamble.

The Administrative Committee and the K-12 Board were given a delegated authority for the next quinquennium, and the Campion Academy Board was named and delegated authority for the next quinquennium.

The appointment of Departmental Directors for the quinquennium will take place after the administration has had time to research and make recommendations.

A subcommittee was appointed to craft a policy for recommendation to the committee regarding the treatment of employees who personally disagree with the new RMC policy regarding the ordination of women. Until such policy is adopted the committee approved the administrations suggestions for how it will relate to such employees:

  • No worker will lose his or her job because of their personal view on women’s ordination.
  • No pressure will be brought to bear from administration for a worker to change his or her view on women’s ordination.
  • No worker will be kept from any normal advancement opportunities because of their personal view on women’s ordination
  • No potential worker who is otherwise appropriate for a given position when coming into our conference will be denied it by conference administration based on their view on women’s ordination
  • Attendance and participation in fellow pastors’ ordinations has always been voluntary in Rocky Mountain Conference. That practice will continue.

Diane Harris, RMC director of education, shared an encouraging report about the state of education in the Conference. She said that all 17 teacher openings, including six at Mile High Academy, have been filled. Presently, 80 teachers are serving 836 students in RMC’s 18 schools.

Following the committee deliberations which ended in mid-afternoon, Vanessa Alarcon, a committee member from Boulder since February 2022, shared her reflection: “As a millennial in our church, it’s been an incredible opportunity to represent part of our lay membership in complex decision-making.  No matter the amount of questions or comments the committee has, I have appreciated the administration’s commitment to address it all.

I wish more of our constituency could see how much prayer and careful consideration goes on behind-the-scenes,” she commented.

The next Executive Committee meeting is scheduled for October 11.

–RMCNews