Report of the
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors of the Bible Fellowship Church held four regular meetings to attend to corporate business related to Annual Conference, to agencies, and to the churches.
The Board provided oversight, advice and assistance in respect to fiscal, legal, and property acquisition in the following areas:
Annual Conference: medical insurance, administrative budget, Pinebrook Junior College property, Pinebrook Bible Conference
Churches: Newark Mission, New Jersey: Ocean County Mission, New Jersey
Discussions continue with Bethany BFC, Hatfield, PA., and the Haitian congregation now renting property formerly occupied by Emmanuel BFC, Philadelphia, toward the end that these facilities be purchased by the Haitian congregation.
Large proposed premium increase in costs of health insurance, difficulty in finding a plan that is able to serve all the churches in various states and regions, and the growing difficultly of direct administration by the BFC led to a decision to appoint Robert H. Carr Jr., employee benefit advisor, with C.SS Marketing Group, Inc. plan administrator for the BFC pastors’ health insurance plans. The Board of Directors is working with Mr. Carr in the estab-lishment of premium payment policy and procedures. One of the benefits of this new arrangement is that changing policy in the health insurance industry makes it likely that the best cost for benefit choice of plan will differ from location to location, thus making the services of an organization such as this one which Mr. Carr represents invaluable in identifying the best insurance choice for a given church. It should also be noted that this will not add to the cost of churches because insurance companies chosen to serve the client will pay the administrator. Although Mr. Carr and C.SS Marketing Group, Inc., is the first point of contact, James A. Beil will still represent the Board of Directors as liaison with Mr. Carr and he will also be available to you should you conclude your concerns are not being adequately addressed by our agent.
During the year representatives of the Board of Directors and the Board of Church Extension met to work on formulation of bylaws for the Fund to Promote Church Extension which would be satisfactory to both boards. Progress has been made on the project with initial results of the work having been reported to the respective boards in February. It is expected that the two boards will be ready to present a proposal to the 117th Annual Conference.
Once again, with regret, we report that the sale of the Pinebrook Junior College property has not been consummated. The Basile Corporation continues to be committed to purchase of the property and has joined with the BFC in support of a published opinion by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection favorable to our interests. In a less favorable development Upper Saucon Township has entered the conflict in opposition to our interests. Efforts by the Authority and Township to force the Department of Environmental Protection to modify its finding have thus far failed, but the Authority and Township are now seeking to have the courts take up the matter. The Board of Directors and Basile have also entered a civil action in Lehigh County Court in an effort to gain relief. Most recently the county court has rejected a request by the Authority and Township to quash our suit. While every decision during the year by Department of Environmental Resources and the Court has been favorable to us, those opposing our interests have chosen to appeal at every turn. We cannot predict when or how all this will end, for it is in the hands of the Lord. Continue to pray that He will grant relief, and that we will not allow these aggravating circumstances to divert us from our goal of serving Him with integrity and joy.
During the 115th Annual Conference resolutions were approved whereby we committed ourselves to join together as churches to pay off debt associated with liquidation of the Pinebrook Junior College property over the next several years. The plan is based on each church contributing 1% of total offerings reported in the 1998 yearbook toward this effort each year. The figure does not change from year to year since the figure reported in 1998 (1997 income) serves as the base figure. It is also requested that money sent to the Financial Secretary to pay off the debt be in a check, or checks, separate from checks sent toward the administrative budget.
When Pinebrook Junior College closed, one of the obligations which remained was from a loan to the school by Mrs. Margaret Krigor. During the past year Mrs. Krigor forgave all principal and unpaid interest associated with this loan. We praise the Lord for this most generous contribution, and we encourage the churches to fulfill their commitment to join together in liquidating remaining debt over the next several years.
All funds are deposited in the Farmers First Bank, Lititz; and, First Union Bank. Accounts were audited by Mr. Charles Albert.
We recommend the 116 Annual Conference adopt the following:
1. Resolved, that the rate of mileage reimbursement for conference business be $.22 per mile.
2. Resolved, that the administrative budget for January 1, 1999 to December 31, 1999 be adopted.
3. Resolved, that the administrative budget for January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2000 be approved for submission to the churches for their pledges.
Pledges for the 2000 administrative budget shall be received by the financial secretary by September 1, 1999.
Board of Directors: James A. Beil, President and Hospitalization Secretary; Carl C. Cassell, Vice-President; David J. Watkins, Secretary; Horace A. Kauffman, Financial Secretary; Robert W. Gehret, Treasurer; Bert N. Brosius, Raymond R. Dotts, Randall A. Grossman, L. James Roberts, Jr.