Meeting Minutes List

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Ecumenical Relationships Commission (via teleconference)
July 28, 2026, 9:00 a.m., U.S. Eastern Time
Members present: David Duggan, Scott Field, Patti Molik, Bishop Carolyn Moore, Debbie Smalley, Zak Vakadewatabua, and Vatroslav Zupancic. Also present: Teresa Marcus and Lauren Yates. Not Present: Han Koh, Ed Murphy
Bishop Carolyn Moore called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m., U.S. ET.
Opening Prayer and Devotional: Bishop Moore asked each one present to answer, “How is it with your soul?” As we waited for Zak Vakadewatabua to arrive, we each answered and shared our hearts. Then Zak gave a devotional centered on Luke 9 and encouraged us to be ‘all in’ for Jesus – not like the Hokey Pokey where one has one foot in and one foot out. Zak then led us in prayer.
Minutes: The minutes of the 6/17/2026 meeting were unanimously approved.
Budget Report: David Duggan reported that the 2nd quarter financial report has not yet been released by the GMC. He will forward it to the group as soon as it is received.
Prayer Initiative Update: Lauren Yates provided an update on the prayer initiative sharing that the prayer group for the ERC is using the 40 days of prayer initiative for the General Conference. Yates highlighted ongoing prayers for a deeper connection with the Roman Catholic church, Bishop Moore’s sessions at GC, evangelical events in Croatia, the persecuted church, the curriculum project, the upcoming General Conference in Johannesburg, the new conferences in Fiji and Venezuela, the churches in New Zealand and Australia that are considering joining the GMC, Patti’s and Ed’s health concerns, and the spiritual attacks of members of our group.
ERC Curriculum Project: Scott Field gave an update on “Holiness in Community: A Step-by-Step Guide for Building Local Partnerships with other Christ-followers." He reported the status saying the process is in Step 4. The translation process is beginning with digiculties in translating some theological terms. The Tamil and Hindi translations are hoping to be added. The 6 sessions have been going through the reading
teams. The curriculum will be available at General Conference to download through a QR code. The hyperlinks for the 5 introductory videos are being added. The webpage has been designed with a portal to load the curriculum. The promotional brochure has been designed and is in the queue for printing and then to be put into the delegates’ packets. There is a need for a promotional campaign to take place after GC including podcasts and information to be sent to Conference Superintendents. Field requested that an honorarium of $3,000 be given to Kyle Jones who provided video production work for all of the videos for this project. The group unanimously agreed to authorize this gift.
Connectional Updates: Zac reported that there are 5 additional churches in Australia who are discerning whether to join the GMC. Currently there is one GMC church in Australia.
General Conference Business: Teresa Marcus reported that we have received RSVPs for the ERC luncheon at GC from the US people invited but not from the guests on the list from Costa Rica and Korea. We will wait for the 7/30 deadline and then contact them individually.
New Business: Bishop Moore reported on the “Summary of Progress” document that she submitted to be used by the next ERC. She stated that she is completely convinced that our emphasis should be on the role of the local church with an awareness of alliances in other parts of our world. Bishop Moore shared her vision for the next commission to balance local church engagement with support for regional and international church associations, emphasizing that this approach would maintain the group's original mission while providing broader denominational support. Field added that there are resources available which highlight events around the world for local churches who are isolated to use in networking and supporting one another. The ERC can publicize the 20-plus names of the associations listed in the document by Bishop Moore as well as making the new curriculum available worldwide.
Marcus reported that the new ERC will begin work on November 1, 2026.
The next meeting of the ERC will be sometime after General Conference possibly in October. Members will be notified and the group discussed inviting the newly elected ERC members to this meeting for a debriefing and orientation.
Bishop Moore closed the meeting in prayer.
The meeting adjourned at 9:58 a.m. EST US
Minutes submitted by: Debbie Smalley, Secretaryze this text with bullets, italics or bold, and add links.