Seven separate resolutions were adopted during the 77th Church of God International General Assembly held earlier this month in Orlando, Florida.
The first five resolutions were to show appreciation to leaders and the City of Orlando for a successful Assembly event. In addition to Orlando, the General Assembly passed resolutions of appreciation for General Overseer Tim Hill, the Church of God International Executive Committee, the International Executive Council, and the General Assembly Cabinet, the group which planned and supervised the week of activities that took place July 30 – August 3, 2018.
Resolutions written, debated and passed at the general assembly have traditionally been a path to express appreciation, call attention to cultural issues, or formally support a program, event, or initiative. A Resolutions Committee compiles the documents, which are presented to the General Council for debate, before final presentation to the General Assembly. All seven of the resolutions presented passed both the Council and Assembly.
Resolution #6 was titled “Unity in Finishing the Great Commission.” A portion stated that, “the body of Christ in 2018 has been made aware of the Finish 2030 Movement, a global church network of more than 2,400 Christian denominations encompassing nearly six hundred thousand churches with the goal to double the size of the Church,” and finished with resolve that, “the Church of God makes unity not just a stated value but an actual practice as we network, partner, and cooperate with other Evangelicals and Pentecostal denominations in a kingdom mindset to fulfill and finish the Great Commission trusting that with God’s help and favor such will be accomplished.”
A final resolution dealt with the issue of school violence. As with numerous societal issues addressed in years past, resolutions adopted at the General Assembly serve as a reference point when questions are directed at specific issues, such as abortion, immigration, homosexuality, marriage, and other issues which routinely challenge the deep-held beliefs and practices of the denomination. Other resolutions call for a unified voice of support for combatting cultural ills as they arise; such as school violence.
The resolution explains that, “we observe in the United States that a culture of violence appears to have emerged among our school aged children and among our college students demonstrated in the escalation of reported incidents of bullying and assault and in the most extreme cases, the occurrence of horrific tragic events.” The final portion of the resolution makes a call to action when it states, “we encourage our ministers and laity to engage school and civic leadership to address school violence, to provide safe educational environments, and to encourage a culture of those long-held traits of good citizenship: love, respect and accountability.” The resolution concludes with a commitment to, “teach our students the traits of love, respect and accountability as part of the proper behavior of Christian believers; and that we give diligent effort to support families and parents in our ministries where these traits can be reinforced; and that we commend those students and teachers who have faithfully demonstrated their Christian faith and values in their daily lives in the face of school violence and commit our prayers for divine protection and strengthening for them.”
To read the seven resolutions in their entirety, please visit ga18.org and click on “Items Adopted.” Past resolutions can be found at churchofgod.org and by clicking on the “Beliefs” tab.