– During my years as president, one of the great highlights is always Council. I love it, and I’m excited to invite you to participate with us again this year and join me as we talk about what’s ahead.

The ministry description of the president of The Christian and Missionary Alliance opens with this sentence: “The president is the spiritual leader and chief executive officer of The Alliance.” Now, it has many bullet points that follow that as to how that is lived out, but I love the way that Alliance leaders positioned those words. Spiritual leadership preceding executive leadership. Both are important, but before we carry out executive, administrative functions, things that are necessary for an organization, first and foremost we’re spiritual leaders that need to be led by the Spirit of God Himself. And so that’s the way I’ve tried to function in these years, honoring that sentence of the job description. And as we come to a moment like Council, that is particularly significant and influential in my own thought process. How do I lead this moment, called Council, through the lens of spiritual leadership and organizational leadership?

Now, some of us may think in terms of, well, the spiritual times are like the evening services when we read God’s Word and worship and preach, and that’s true. But I don’t want us to segment, separate the spiritual from the business/organizational. Because I believe that those afternoon business sessions are very spiritual as well, that as we enter into those times, whether it’s the morning reporting, the afternoon business, or the evening worship, that we do everything with this sense of we are the people of God who are called to carry out the work of God. And so may we enter into these moments coming with hearts of anticipation, expectation, and dependency on Him, that our own spirits would be receptive and open to what He wants to do in and through us.

A significant business discussion will be regarding our Statement of Faith. You’ll remember that we’ve been in this multiyear journey of taking a look at our historic document. It was written in the 1960s; it served us well for decades. But in recent years, we felt it would be prudent for us to take another look at it—under the authority of God’s Word, not changing any of the essentials of what we believe—but is our language appropriate for the day in which we live, and is there any way or ways that it can be strengthened? And so it led to a robust conversation that took place from event to event, and Zoom call to Zoom call, and on we went through the years. It resulted in some changes being made in ‘21 and ‘23 Councils.

Remember, we have two Councils to approve any portion of the Statement of Faith, one for it to be approved and the other for it to be ratified. A section of that was taken care of already. In ‘23, we were able to handle more of the Statement of Faith and have a section of that approved, and now in ‘25, those points need to be ratified. Those points are: 1.5, our statement on [the] human condition. 1.9, our statement on the Church. 1.10, our statement on eternal destiny. And 1.11 on the return of Christ. Those have been approved, need to be ratified, and cannot be altered in the form that they were approved in 2023.
The remaining point of our Statement of Faith that still needs to be addressed is 1.7 on sanctification. This had been tabled at the last Council, sent back to the Theological Issues Committee and to the Board, and through them they are now bringing to us this revised statement on 1.7. If approved at this Council, it would need to be ratified in 2027 and then all of our work on the Statement of Faith would be complete. Here’s how that statement reads: “It is the will of God that through Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit who indwells us, each believer be sanctified wholly, filled with the Holy Spirit, separated from sin, and fully dedicated to God, thereby receiving power for holy living and effective service. This is both a decisive point of complete surrender and a progressive experience through which Christ is formed in the life of the believer by the Holy Spirit following conversion.”

As I compare this refreshed statement with our existing one, I find it significant that we’ve now inserted Christ our Sanctifier into our sanctification statement and that some of the language, which many people stumbled over through the years, has been strengthened in such a way that doesn’t change our fundamental belief, but makes it more understandable to more people. As you’re aware, another significant aspect of business at this Council will be the elections—a new president, new members to the Board of Directors. I’m eager to see what will result and am trusting that God’s will will be done as we sincerely listen to God together.

Interestingly enough, while we’re doing those elections, at that same Council, we need to approve the election Bylaws that were considered at last Council, but we did not have time to fully endorse. And so I’ve asked Gary Friesen, our general counsel, one of our vice presidents—a trusted leader in this denomination who understands all things related to [the] Manual and Bylaws and processes—if he would explain to us what it is that we will be addressing by way of election Bylaws at this Council. Here’s Gary.

– I’m holding in my hand a copy of the 1917 Manual of The Christian and Missionary Alliance. It’s about a quarter inch thick. We were a much smaller group of people at that time and operated under very simple procedures. It’s no surprise that the Manual contained only six words about the presidential election: “The president shall be elected triennially.” That means every three years. This was probably sufficient when we were small and everyone knew each other, but that’s no longer the case. We soon outgrew that system.

Over the decades, the president’s role has become increasingly complex, yet we had far stronger procedures to elect local pastors, district superintendents, and other key leaders than we did for our own president. As a result, Council altered presidential elections based on three ideas. The first was that technology now exists for remote voting, making it possible for licensed workers and lay delegates anywhere in the world to participate in the election of their president. The second idea was to provide nominee information in advance. By releasing it well before Council, we could offer a greater depth and quality of information that would prepare our delegates to make a more prayerful and thoughtful decision. The third idea was to strengthen the whole process by making it more in keeping with the significance of the presidential role.

Based on these ideas, Council implemented changes in time for the presidential election in Nashville at Council 2021. Overall it was a success, but based on what we learned from that experience, a package of refinements was brought to the last Council in Spokane, when the unexpected happened—we ran out of time before those refinements could be considered. Council then voted to adopt the refinements for Council 2025 only. So we are operating under those temporary refinements for elections at this Council.

So at this Council, we will now consider this package of refinements for ongoing adoption. They’re grouped into three major categories: timing, process, and standards. Let me explain. First, timing. Council previously created a 24-hour period for offsite voting to accommodate international time zones. Since then, we’ve learned from our experience that simultaneous voting is actually preferred, so this refinement will match the timing of offsite voting with onsite voting. Second, process. A Presidential Search Committee will be created that, in presidential election years, will actively begin gathering nominee names at least nine months before Council. The window to accept nominations will close six months before Council to allow careful and in-depth vetting. And then, 45 days before Council, information on the nominees eligible for election will be published. Publication occurred this year on April 11th. Third, standards. Currently, the only official qualification standards for a Board member or officer nominee, which includes the president, are that they be a member of an Alliance church and that they give their consent. This category will require that those in these significant leadership positions have the same qualifications that we expect of our official workers. These include: to affirm the Statement of Faith and other statements contained in the Alliance Manual; to live a life empowered by the Holy Spirit, be above reproach, and embody a Christlike lifestyle, character, and attitude; to accept and live in accordance with the Alliance mission, objectives, governance, and values; to personally contribute to the Great Commission Fund and to lead their church or organization to engage in the Alliance mission; and finally, to have proven ability to meet the requirements of the position.

In 1917, it took only six words to describe how to elect a president. Our mission remains the same, but the size and scope of our movement has grown. Join me in Columbus as we consider how to be better positioned to proclaim All of Jesus for All the World.

– Thank you, Gary. My friend has a great ability to take that which is complex and bring it to us in understandable terms.

I hope you feel more prepared now for the business section of Council. And just a reminder that 30 days before Council, all the written documents will be available to you. April 11th, the names were made public as a result of the nominating committee. April 18th is the last day to register for Council. I encourage you to get on that. We still have room for you, but please register this week. And in May, you’ll receive an invitation for a special online Council prayer gathering. I hope you’ll join us for that as well.
All of this in preparation for us to gather again together this year at Council to do what I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, spiritual leadership and executive leadership. Godly people seeking the Lord together for what He wants to say to us, what He wants to shape and do in us, how He wants to minister through us, and then organizationally leading the denomination where we’re going next as a family. We’re His. That’s the theme of this Council, that simple word that expresses our posture and our desire to be His people, His Church, His Bride, serving His purposes in His name for His glory, advancing His mission. Let’s join together Alliance family, because we truly are His and His alone.