Window on the World

From Randal Dick,
superintendent of missions

Europe pioneers new era

ST. ALBANS, England—Pastor General Joseph Tkach arrived at the Westminster Diocesan Pastoral Centre, July 16, to preside over the launch of the European Council of National Directors and to commission Donat Picard as the first denominational director for Europe.

The ceremony was the culmination of a process that took more than 18 months. The change is part of a more detailed process that is designed to modify the church’s administrative structures worldwide. This is intended to reflect the spiritual transformation of the WCG and to enable us to find more effective expression for the gospel day-to-day in our congregations around the world.

Mr. Tkach wrote to the members and ministry in Europe: "We have moved forward in recognising that we are all part of the ‘royal priesthood’ (1 Peter 2:5–9). Individually as well as collectively we are the ‘temple of the Holy Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 6:19). We all have spiritual gifts for the edifying of the church.

"Good management dictates that decision-making should be as close to the point of action as possible, and that there always be a balance between empowerment and accountability. These values need to be reflected in all of our decision-making. This means that our goal is to implement a form of government that allows for full empowerment to Christ and wisely maximises the spiritual giftedness of all members, as the Apostle Paul explains in Ephesians 4."

The process for this transformation began nearly two years ago when John Halford, European regional director, recommended that the leadership of the region had matured to the place where the national directors of the WCG in Europe could administer the responsibilities of the regional director.

Mr. Halford suggested that when the time arrived for him to leave his role of regional director, the national directors should be formed into a council. This would provide both administration and functions of governance from within Europe. His ideas agreed with discussions already taking place in Pasadena as to how we could create the ideal balance of local empowerment and appropriate accountability. The aim was to center the preaching of the gospel at the local level.

The pastor general approved a request to conduct preliminary discussions to explore the possibilities. Mr. Halford assembled the European full-time ministry at a former monastery, now a retreat center, located at the foot of the French Alps, near Annecy, France. This initial conference took place from Nov. 30 through Dec. 4. The findings of the group were sent to headquarters for approval.

The work group assembled for a second time at Annecy from Feb. 8 through 11. This time, they worked out how to frame a process for shifting church administrative responsibility from the regional to the national level.

It was determined that accountability would be placed in the hands of one of the national directors. He would serve a fixed term as the representative of headquarters in the region. This role came to be known as European denominational director.

The work group also took the general guidelines provided by Pasadena and framed a set of recommendations for the job description of the national directors. These recommendations were once again forwarded to headquarters for review.

In April, the full-time ministry in Europe gathered for a third time at Annecy, along with denominational representatives, myself, Charles Albrecht, business manager for Church Administration, and Ron Kelly, church controller, and his wife, Norva, who were on holiday in the area at the time.

This time, the group a) worked out criteria for funding European governance; b) determined the length of term for the office of European denominational director; and c) determined how to select one of the national directors to serve as European denominational director. On April 19, Donat Picard, national director of France, was presented to Dr. Tkach for confirmation as the first European denominational director. Mr. Picard will serve a term of three years.

Those participating in this development process included John Halford, regional director for Europe; Jacqui Eve, assistant to Mr. Halford and secretary for the proceedings; David Silcox, national director for the United Kingdom; Jesse Korver, national director for the Netherlands; Donat Picard, national director for France; Jacques Brunet, regional pastor for the French West Indies; Gerard Claude, national director for Belgium; Santiago Lange, national director for Germany and Austria; Carl Aas, national director for Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Estonia; Daniel Bosch, national director for Italy and representing Switzerland; Pedro Rufian, national director for Spain; Jose Ribeiro, national director for Portugal; and David Stirk, Andrew Silcox, Olivier Carion and Anthony Goudie, who serve as district superintendents in the United Kingdom.
       Jacqui Eve

The European structure of government consists of three components: administration, governance and mission. Of the three, the Great Commission (mission) is by far the most important. Administration and governance provide the means for us to to do the work of God effectively and in unity.

Administration: Headquarters believes that those who live and work in a particular country will make the most appropriate strategic decisions as to how best to spread the gospel in the most effective manner agreeable with culture and local best practice.

That is why administrative responsibility is being given to the national churches, delegated through the office of national director. He will serve as the chief spiritual officer in any particular country. The national director and his team will be responsible for refining our denominational vision for local use, and in creating effective methods locally for preaching the gospel. The national director is also responsible to headquarters for the spiritual well-being of the congregations in his area.

Governance: The role of government includes two primary functions, neither of which is administrative.

First, the European denominational director is responsible for communicating denominational policies throughout the European re- gion. In a similar way, he provides assurance to headquarters that the national directors are following denominational objectives.

Second, this form of government is designed to provide assurance to headquarters, on behalf of the members, that we are continuing to use legal, ethical and appropriate means to achieve its stated objectives. The European denominational director will provide the monitoring and feedback required to fulfill this function.

Dr. Tkach envisions in time a body that will serve in a similar fashion and which will determine worldwide policies that will shape and guide the denomination. This plan calls for the European denominational director, during his term of service, to be a member of that council, and bring to it the perspective of the European situation.

Taken together, such communication from leaders based all around the world can only enrich the deliberation and decisions made by such a council. Headquarters will also communicate broad policies for Europe that will help define the desired relationship between the national churches.

Mission: The administrative function and the function of government are designed to be low-key. They are designed to focus the maximum amount of energy to serve Christ in preaching the gospel and in making disciples. One of the first tasks of the European national directors, when meeting in council, will be to analyze which national churches have reached spiritual critical mass and which have not.

Spiritual critical mass is defined by two criteria: self-sufficiency in finances, and leadership. First, to propagate the gospel, adequate financial resources are needed to support the operations of the church. Ideally, extra money would be available to support the sending of leaders to establish new groups.

Second, each area must have enough effective leadership to provide a proper climate to support growth. It is important that there be the ability to produce new leadership to support future growth—and even to export leadership to other areas when necessary.

The European national directors will analyze their situations according to these criteria, and determine whether they have reached critical mass. Each will determine either a) what they need to achieve critical mass; or b) what they might have that would help someone else achieve critical mass.

The combined resources of the group will, it is hoped, be sufficient to enable the entire region to achieve critical mass much faster.

Europe is a difficult area in which to propagate the gospel. We all understand that Christ came to save the lost, and that Europe has many who are lost. The question is how best can we respond to his will, and to act appropriately. These questions will be the primary focus of the leaders in Europe. God willing, the new system of government will enable us to focus more and more on the essential issues.

EUROPEAN LEADERS—European directors with John
Halford, Joseph Tkach, Jacqui Eve and Randal Dick.
[Photos by Nancy Silcox]

Copyright © Worldwide Church of God, 2002