Last November, delegates representing Church of God (Seventh Day) conferences from around the world met in Nigeria for the International Ministerial Congress (IMC). There they ended the IMC by replacing it with the Church of God (Seventh Day) International Federation. The primary purpose of the IMC was to foster doctrinal harmony among its member conferences and coordinate their evangelistic efforts. The focus of the newly founded International Federation is, in addition to doctrinal harmony, a global church administration.
The bylaws of the Interational Federation (IF), perfected and adopted in Nigeria, provide for an IF board of directors consisting of three elected officers (president, secretary, and treasurer) and an additional four elected board members. The three elected IF officers are Robert Crawford (president, England); Bryan Cleeton (secretary, United States); and Chip Hinds (treasurer, United States). The four additional elected board members are Whaid Rose (United States), Daniel Flores (United States), John Klassek (Australia), and Gustavo Hultgren (Argentina).
As was the case with the IMC, affiliation with the International Federation is voluntary, and it comes with certain responsibilities. With the IMC, these included agreement with its bylaws, including the official doctrinal statements of the IMC, and participation in its financial support. The affiliated conferences of the IF have similar responsibilities. One improvement, however, is that the financial responsibility of each IF-affiliated conference is specifically stated: 1.5 percent of the tithes and undesignated offerings received at the conference level of each conference and one annual conference-wide offering for the IF, like the IMC Sabbath offerings we have been encouraging for many years. As a result, the financial obligation of our General Conference may amount to less than we have voluntarily been giving to the IMC for years! (Don’t worry. If you love to financially support the work of our global church, nothing prevents us from giving more than we are obligated to give.)
Since the end of the November IMC meeting in Nigeria, the Church of God (Seventh Day) is truly a global church!
— Loren Stacy
GC President
