UPCI General Conference Voting - UPDATED (Again)!

Bro. Randy Keyes resigned as Assistant General Superintendent - Western Zone before the United Pentecostal Church International's General Conference this week in Houston, so that position was open.

Earlier today, the nominating ballot's top 3 names were:

Stan Gleason--234 votes

Ron Mullings--229 votes

Anthony Mangum--69 votes.

Mangun then withdrew. Gleason, the District Superintendent of Missouri, then won in the run-off.

Otherwise, all the secretary positions of each division were re-elected, with Michael Ensey moving into the vacated General Youth Division Secretary position.

Resolutions:

1. The Media Missions Division was closed.

2. Word Aflame Publications was moved under the Sunday School Division from PPH.

3. Allow "assistant to the pastor" to move from local to general license in the process.

4. Express appreciation to everyone.

No, I don't exactly know what #4 means, but thought I'd pass it on from my informant anyway.

BTW, this was all electronic voting for the first time, with about 1400 voters.

General Conference: Smart Apostolic Moments

• UGST had the best booth set up in 2009 (though the SuperStore was a great concept) by getting a Smart Car from Detroit and wrapping it in UGST. Smart Car. Smart Christians. Good stuff.
  
• The Sunday night evangelistic service counted over 700 people receiving the Holy Ghost and over 200 being baptized. That's fantastic

A few More Election Tidbits (as related from multiple sources):

• Bro. Kenneth Haney said he was fine with the results, but he asked everyone to pray for his family. Even though he hadn't achieved 66% of the vote in his last 2 reelections, he thought it would be an act of cowardice to not stay in the running in case the brethren wanted him to stay.
  
• Bro. Paul Mooney actually withdrew after the tabulating had begun for General Superintendent, stating he felt a check in his spirit from the Lord to withdraw.
  
• Then, Bro. David K. Bernard revealed that the Lord had awakened him in the middle of the night - an unusual occurrence in his life - and gave him the exact Scripture the Lord had given him when He called Bernard to the ministry - Colossians 4:17.
  
• As one distant commentator said, "That was an Apostolic moment."
  
• And are we bragging if we tell you we predicted there would be a new General Superintendent back in December 2008? (Scroll to the bottom.)

General Conference: Sunday Musings

• At 9 a.m. for the Minister's Meet & Greet Saturday morning, newly elected General Superintendent David K. Bernard stood at the entrance of the Exhibition Hall shaking hands with anyone and everyone. For a man well-known for not schmoozing, it was a nice move.
  
• Most (non-official) estimates put the night services crowd at about 7,500.
  
• Is it a shame or a blessing we don't have commentators who can accurately assess the Haney years? It seems odd that in the years of accessible media, we still make our assessments orally.
  
• Many mentioned that it will be nearly impossible for anyone up for a general election (as opposed to niches like Foreign Missions) to win 66% after 8 years. It's too easy to upset 33% + 1 person. That said, General Secretary Jerry Jones has already disproven that notion at least once.
  
• Again a dearth of young people. Yes it's a Youth Congress year, but 10% or less of the under 25 set is a far cry from just a few years ago.
• Everyone who attended the Wednesday night drama said it was fabulous, but crowd (non-official) estimates were at 3,500.
  
• The Renaissance Grand had the fastest elevators of any recent Headquarters Hotel in memory. (I know that sounds like a small thing, but it's not.)
• It's refreshing to spend time with like-minded believers from around the world, all worshiping God in great services. Sometimes it's easier to focus on what's wrong than what's right. The services were a great reminder on what's working.
  
• Many (most) services featured multiple speakers instead of 1, & many of those speakers used other people as their dramatic examples (a la Youth Congress).
  
• Just because I'm from St. Louis doesn't mean I know of an excellent downtown barber for you
  

Bernard Acceptance Speech

Here is the gist of newly elected UPCI General Superintendent David K. Bernard's short acceptance speech as it was described to me (any misstatements are not due to my sources in attendance, but my misunderstandings):

Bro. Bernard opened by saying, "For the record" I voted for Bro. Haney on the first ballot. This earned him a standing ovation (one of the first of many).

He admitted his wife wasn't thrilled about the forthcoming move from Austin to St. Louis, with his girl a senior in high school and a new (only) grandchild in Austin.

He said the Lord had awakened him in the middle of the night and given him Colossians 4:17 to reassure him for this day.

He added that his style of leadership would be based on Acts 2:42, where he would emphasize Apostolic Identity (in life style and holiness), Apostolic Unity, and Apostolic Revival.

And the General Superindendent is . . .

South Texas District Superintendent David K. Bernard.

Details on his acceptance speech soon!

General Conference: Revote

As of 12:57 p.m. CST, the UPCI nominees were:

David K. Bernard - 886
Jerry Jones - 458
Wayne Huntley - 113

Wayne Huntley then pulled his name.

As of 1 p.m. CST, the ministry will begin voting between South Texas District Superintendent David K. Bernard & UPCI General Secretary Jerry Jones (who placed 2nd when Kenneth Haney was elected 8 years ago).

General Conference: Revote

As of 12:25 p.m. CST, the UPCI is now casting a new nominating ballot for General Superintendent. this means everyone is eligible but Bro. Kenneth Haney.

Election Excitement!

In this morning's Minister's Meeting, UPCI General Superintendent Kenneth Haney was not reelected (due to term limits, he had to achieve 66% of the vote).

Upon a general ballot for candidates, the top 3 nominees were:

Paul Mooney - 660
David Bernard - 469
Jerry Jones - 254


But wait! After a bit of time, Bro. Paul Mooney removed his name from the vote saying his first priority/call was Calvary Tabernacle in Indianapolis!

More news soon!

UPCI General Conference

If you're interested in seeing the services at the UPCI's General Conference this week, go here to get the details about streaming.

If you're attending, drop by and say hi to me over the weekend. I should be ensconced at the Word Aflame Publications booth (next to the PPH booth) most of the time. I'd love to meet you or see you again.