BIBLICAL STEWARDSHIP OF
RECORDS AND RESOURCES:
DIVISION OF SUPPORT SERVICES
David G. Roebuck
KEEPING RECORDS of ministry, assuring financial accountability, and planning for a secure future are vital but often unacknowledged responsibilities that must be performed well if the church is to reach the whole world for Christ. In the process of inspiring the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit guided some authors to include long genealogical lists and others to note specific numbers of people. Woven within the generations recorded in the first chapter of Matthew’s Gospel are significant aspects Jesus’ heritage, and Luke recognized the importance of recording the number added to the Church following Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:41).
Led by Deacon J.C. Murphy, delegates to our first General Assembly also acknowledged the value of proper records. One of their first actions was a decision to keep records of that and future Assemblies. Today the handwritten minutes of our early Assemblies are preserved at the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center. Regarding local church records, delegates concluded: “Consider it in harmony with New Testament teaching, and advise each local church to make and preserve records of all church proceedings. The Acts of the Apostles as example” (Assembly Minutes). They also recommended that local church deacons bring reports back to the Assembly the next year regarding the use of tobacco and the practice of family worship.
Today, proper records continue to be vital to the ministry of the Church of God and are maintained by the Office of Business and Records. This office, along with the Church of God Benefits Board, is administered by the secretary general as part of the Division of Support Services.
Led by Deacon J.C. Murphy, delegates to our first General Assembly also acknowledged the value of proper records. One of their first actions was a decision to keep records of that and future Assemblies. Today the handwritten minutes of our early Assemblies are preserved at the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center. Regarding local church records, delegates concluded: “Consider it in harmony with New Testament teaching, and advise each local church to make and preserve records of all church proceedings. The Acts of the Apostles as example” (Assembly Minutes). They also recommended that local church deacons bring reports back to the Assembly the next year regarding the use of tobacco and the practice of family worship.
Today, proper records continue to be vital to the ministry of the Church of God and are maintained by the Office of Business and Records. This office, along with the Church of God Benefits Board, is administered by the secretary general as part of the Division of Support Services.
Secretary General
The General Assembly formally established the office of general secretary, now secretary general, in 1924 and elected E.J. Boehmer. Boehmer had been serving as clerk of the General Assembly since 1913, and had been appointed as a full-time general secretary in 1921. The 1926 Assembly added the duties of treasurer, and the office was elevated to an Executive Committee position in 1932. The church held Boehmer in such esteem that he continued to serve until 1946. Over the years, the growth of the Church of God necessitated the development of a specialized staff to assist the secretary general in fulfilling his duties. In addition to his immediate clerical assistance, the Office of Business and Records maintains official records of ministers and congregations, collects and accounts for funds sent to the International Offices, and distributes funds as directed by the Executive Council. |
Providing for Retirement
The 1929 General Assembly appointed a committee to look after and provide for the interest and comfort of aged ministers. The next year the Assembly agreed to create a fund to care for aged ministers and encouraged members to place this fund in their wills. This program became the Aged Ministers Pension Plan into which ministers contributed and from which they could withdraw upon retirement, as funds were available. In 1982, the General Assembly created a Church of God Minister’s Retirement Plan to replace the Aged Ministers Retirement Plan, and enrollments in the former plan ceased. Then in 1994, the Executive Council approved a recommendation to separate retirement funds from the general funds of the denomination. They accomplished this by creating the Church of God Benefits Board, Inc. O. Wayne Chambers was instrumental in bringing this need to the attention of the church and served as founder and first president of the Benefits Board. |
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David G. Roebuck, Ph.D. is director of the Dixon Pentecostal Research Center, Church of God Historian,
and Assistant Professor of the History of Christianity at Lee University.
and Assistant Professor of the History of Christianity at Lee University.