ADJOURNED
SESSION OF THE 80TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE
of
the
BIBLE
FELLOWSHIP CHURCH
FOURTEENTH
MEETING
Saturday
Morning, April 4, 1964
The opening
hymn, "I've Found a Friend" was sung, led by LeRoy S. Heller and C.
E. Kirkwood offered the opening prayer.
The Chairman,
T. D. Gehret, read from Peter's first Epistle, Chapter 4, verses 4 to 7 and
pointed out the Christian essentials in the light of the return of our Lord.
The Roll was
called.
Resolved, That
Alien C. Musselman, Harold D. Zuck and Harold W. Greist
be recognized as delegates from their respective churches and be seated in the
Conference Bar.
Resolved, That
a District Superintendent for the Allentown District be elected and the
informal ballot be used in nominating the candidates; the three highest to be
the candidates and elected according to the FAITH AND ORDER.
T. D. Gehret
was elected.
Resolved, That
a District Superintendent for the Bethlehem District be elected and the
informal ballot be used in nominating the candidates; the three highest to be
the candidates and elected according to the FAITH AND ORDER.
A. L. Seifert
was elected.
Resolved, That
two Vice District Superintendents be elected and that the informal ballot be
used in nominating the candidates; the five highest to be the candidates.
John H. Riggall
and Earl M. Hosler were elected.
Resolved, That
we elect a Director of Church Extension according to the FAITH AND ORDER.
William A.
Heffner was elected.
T. D. Gehret
was elected chairman, A. L. Seifert, Vice Chairman and N. H. Wolf, Secretary of
the next Annual Conference.
Report of the
Board of Directors of Berean Bible School:
On behalf of
the Board of Directors of Berean Bible School, I submit the result of the
election for President of the Berean Bible School.
At our regular
Board Meeting held on Saturday, February 1, 1964, Rev. Jansen E. Hartman was
elected for the school year June 30, 1964 to June 30, 1965.
Respectfully submitted,
W. B.
Hottel, Secretary
The Report was
received and the action of the Board was ratified.
Resolved, That
we suspend the rules and meet at 1 o'clock.
Adjourned with prayer by Richard H. Kline.
Fifteenth
Meeting
Saturday
Afternoon, April 4, 1964
The meeting was
opened with the singing of "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name" and
James G. Koch led in prayer.
The minutes of
the previous meeting were read and approved.
The report of
the Government Committee was considered and the following resolution presented:
Whereas,
Believing the principles of Church Government as set forth in the Government
Committee Report are Scriptural, therefore,
Resolved, That
the Government Committee proceed to prepare legislation according to these
principles.
The above
Resolution was rejected.
Whereas, There
is an obvious difference of opinion as to what is a truly biblical form of
church government, and,
Whereas, A
report presented by the government committee advocates a particular form of
church government, and
Whereas, Many
would like to study a paper presenting other forms of church government which
purport to be scripturally derived, therefore, be it,
Resolved, That
the Chairman appoint two other brethren, who, with himself, shall comprise a
nominating committee to present to this Adjourned Session, seven (7) names to
comprise a study committee which will prepare a paper presenting the biblical
basis for an alternate form of church gov-
ernment.
Said paper is to be circulated and studied, and at a future session of Annual
Conference analyzed.
The Resolution
was adopted.
The Chair
declared a recess.
Business was
resumed at 3:20 P.M.
Report of the Allentown District to
Organize the Camp Meeting Committee:
The churches
of the Allentown District and the Church Extension Churches located in
Millersville, Wernersville, Walnutport, and Binghamton, N.Y. shall comprise
this camp to be held in Mizpah Grove, Allentown, June
27 to July 5, 1964.
Officers: John
E. Golla, Chairman; N. H. Wolf, Recording Secretary; James G. Koch, Financial
Secretary.
T. D.
Gehret, Chairman
Daniel
G. Ziegler, Secretary
Report was
adopted.
Report of the Bethlehem District to
Organize the Camp Meeting Committee:
The churches
of the Bethlehem District and the Church Extension Churches located at
Belvidere, Trenton, N.J., Finesville, N.J., Miller
Heights and Macungie shall comprise this Camp Meeting to be held in Mizpah Grove, Allentown, Pa.
Officers: John
H. Riggall, Chairman; David E. Thomann, Secretary; Earl M. Hosler,
Financial Secretary.
John H.
Riggall, Chairman
David E.
Thomann, Secretary
Report was
adopted.
The following
Committee to Study Church Government was elected:
John H. Riggall, Robert W. Smock, R. C. Reichenbach,
Richard H. Kline, James A. Beil, Frank L. Herb, and
Earl M. Hosler.
The Chairman
appointed the Committee on Statistics: Willard E. Cassel, John E. Golla, LeRoy
S. Heller, John Dunn, Donald T. Kirkwood and Robert F. Johnson.
Report
of the Board of Directors Budget Committee
Following is a
budget for the Conference Year 1964-1965 proposed in anticipation that the
procedures recommended at pages 41 to 46 of the 1963 Year Book, and approved at
page 46, will receive final approval at Conference in October.
This proposed
budget will be submitted for approval, or amendment, if and when the approved
procedures receive final approval. It is submitted here with the recommendation
that the procedures to be completed, between October and adjourned session, be,
in this instance, completed between this session and October, 1964. This
preparation would permit installation of the budget system at the beginning of
the 1964-1965 Conference Year.
If your church
has already submitted its subscription toward this budget, your next move will
arise when the Budget Committee circulates to all the churches a statement of
the total amount subscribed. If your church has not made a subscription toward
this budget, we urge that you do so not later than May 1, 1964. Address your
correspondence to Byron C. Cassel, 747 Hillcrest Avenue, Glenside, Pa.,
Secretary of Budget Committee.
Proposed Budget
1.
Publication and Printing $
1,200.00
2.
Conference Entertainment Expense 650.00
3.
Beneficiary Fund 900.00
4. District
Superintendents' Support 13,000.00
5. Travel
Expense Allowance for District
Superintendents 3,200.00
6. District
Superintendents' Parsonages
(see footnote 1) 5,850.00
7.
Ministers' Retirement Fund 4,350.00
8. Moving
Fund 2,500.00
9. Travel
Expenses of Administrative
Boards
and Committees 1,000.00
10.
Incidentals 500.00
11.
Contingencies 500.00
$33,650.00
Budget
Committee
Daniel
K. Ziegler
James G.
Koch
Byron C.
Cassel
NOTE 1: This suggestion includes $2,100 for operating
expenses and $3,000 for debt reduction, Total debt on District Superintendents'
Parsonages as of Oct. 1, 1962 was $27,244.87.
Resolved, That
action on this report be postponed till the next Annual Conference in October,
Roy A. Hertzog,
Missionary from Monaco, addressed the Conference and told us of the Trans World
Radio and its world-wide ministry.
Adjourned at
4:10 p.m. with prayer by A. L. Seifert.