Oregon Conference Constituency Session
Portland, Oregon
Powered to Serve: Members in Ministry was the theme of the Oregon Conference Regular Constituency Meeting held on September 20, 2009. The meeting began with 489 duly elected delegates present. This was the first time that Oregon has used electronic voting devices which made voting very efficient and precise. The president report included both a look back at the Lord’s leading in the past four years as well as a look forward to the goals and objectives for the next four years.
All of the recommendations from the Nominating Committee were approved with large majorities. Those elected were: Al Reimche, President; Dave Allen, Vice-president for Administration; Jon Corder, Vice-president for Finance; and John Gatchet, Vice-president for Education.
The constituency voted some major restructuring items that had been recommended by the Constitution and By-laws Committee. The conference has been functioning as an unincorporated association, but after the vote on September 20 it has become a Religious Not-for-Profit Corporation. In addition it was recommended that the various functions of the church operate in a multi-corporation structure. So all of the assets will not be in one corporation and hopefully this structure will provide limits on potential liability claims.
Sincere gratitude was expressed for the generosity of the Oregon Conference church members who provided over 138 million dollars of tithe over the past four years. However, reflecting the difficult financial environment, tithe income decreased in 2008 and continues to do so in 2009. This is necessitating adjustments to general expenses and personnel.
The electronic voting devices made it possible to do some polling of the delegates on all sorts of topics related to the ministries of the Oregon Conference. It was interesting and helpful to see the tabulations on peoples perceptions of their church.