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New International Executive Council In Session

CLEVELAND, TN—The 2008-2010 edition of the Church of God International Executive Council (IEC) is meeting in their first session since being elected at the 72nd Church of God General Assembly last month in San Antonio, Texas.

The IEC is composed of the Council of Eighteen, a body of ministers elected by the General Council, and the five-member Executive Committee. Also included is the moderator for the Full Gospel Church of God in South Africa, Anton van Deventer and the national overseer of Indonesia, Jacob Nahuway. The Executive Committee is comprised of Raymond F. Culpepper, general overseer, Timothy M. Hill, first assistant, Mark L. Williams, second assistant, David M. Griffis, third assistant and Wallace J. Sibley, secretary general.

According to the MINUTES of the Church of God, the Council of Eighteen must include at least nine pastors and two representatives from outside the United States. Several of the members are newcomers, having not served on the Council previously. These include M. Thomas Propes, overseer of South Carolina, Mark Walker, pastor of the Mount Paran North Church of God, Chattanooga, Tenn. pastor of City Church, Michael Chapman and Jentezen Franklin, pastor of Free Chapel in Gainesville, Ga., and Free Chapel Orange County, Calif. Former two-time General Overseer R. Lamar Vest is also a first-time member of the Council of Eighteen. Vest now serves as executive vice president for the American Bible Society.

The two Council of Eighteen members from outside the United States are also newcomers to the Council and include Nick Park, pastor of Solid Rock Church in Drogheda, Ireland, and David Munguia, president of South American Seminary in Quito, Ecuador.

Remaining members of the Council of Eighteen who are returning for a second consecutive two year term or have served previously on the Council include T. Bryan Cutshall, H. Loran Livingston, William E. Isaacs, David C. Cooper, Tony D. Scott, Donald M. Walker, Grant McClung, Oliver McMahan, Fedlyn A. Beason, David E. Ramirez and Gary W. Sears.

The IEC meets September 10-11 and will remain for a Leadership Conference scheduled for September 12 and 13 in Cleveland which will involve all state overseers, youth and Christian education directors, Board of Church Ministries members and spouses.

(PHOTO: Seated, left to right: David Griffis, Tim Hill, Raymond Culpepper, Mark Williams, Wallace Sibley. Council of Eighteen, front row, left to right: David Munguia, William Isaacs, Loran Livingston, Lamar Vest, Fedlyn Beason, Jacob Nahuway. Second row, left to right: Gary Sears, Mike Chapman, Tony Scott, Jentezen Franklin, Nick Park, Thomas Propes, David Cooper. Back row, left to right: Oliver McMahan, Bryan Cutshall, David Ramirez, Grant Mcclung and Donald Walker.)