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UPC Elections¾Day OneBy Kent d Curry It was perhaps the most eventful election day in the history of the United Pentecostal Church (UPC). Freedom Hall, at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, played host to 3,136 voting ministers (compared to 2000’s 1,230 voters) who came to elect the next General Superintendent and Foreign Missions Director, while also voting on a host of other national leadership positions. Nathaniel A. Urshan had announced his retirement after 24 years of service as the General Superintendent and Harry Scism had announced his retirement after 25 years of service as the Foreign Missions Director. The meeting was called to order at 10:19 a.m. (EDT), but because this is an official business meeting, the usual moments of reading the minutes and official letters had to be dispensed with before voting for General Superintendent began at 11:41 a.m. A bit of background: while the ballots were being collected and taken to the tabulating committee, different UPCI divisions share their missions with the restless, collected ministry until the results are announced. At 12:37 p.m., Bro. Urshan announced the top three candidates:
These were the expected nominees, though many didn’t expect them in that order. For some reason, Conference scuttlebutt always had Bro. Jones in second-place, but the leader rotated between the other two depending on who was speculating. Voting commenced on the three nominees as a sea of cell phones suddenly lit up the building. After the votes were collected by the ushering team, this proved to be the point where everyone headed to the concessions for food. In a great moment of gender comeuppance, the line to the men’s rest room stretched far into the hallway (for the first time in my memory). It was not until 1:09 p.m. that Bro. Urshan announced (without giving the vote totals) that Bro. Tenney had been eliminated, but no one had achieved a simple majority. Bro. Urshan described the totals as being “very close.” As Tom Foster of Dallas shared news of the 800 soul revival at his church, Paul Mooney, head of the tabulating committee, approached Bro. Urshan in the back. While Bro. Foster’s story was interesting, no one in the auditorium was watching him any longer. It was four of the longest minutes I have ever lived through. (Though I’m happy about the Dallas revival.) At 1:40 p.m., two full hours after starting, Bro. Urshan asked everyone to stand, then said, “We have a general superintendent to announce and his name is Kenneth Haney.” At this point, both Bros. Haney and Jones appeared from behind the black backdrop curtain, with Bro. Jones congratulating Bro. Haney as he approached the podium. While Bro. Haney is not a world-renowned speaker, he spoke with a powerful, humbled elegance. “I stand here in fear and trembling…” was how he began. He acknowledged the other nominees and their talents, before stating for the record, “I am totally…dependent on God and my brethren.” (The “and my brethren” almost seemed an afterthought as he seemed overwhelmed by the initial announcement.) He then shared a short history of his interaction with past General Superintendents, including Howard Goss (who visited his home often when Goss preached in the area because Bro. Haney’s father was a pastor), A.T. Morgan (who ordained him in 1957 at “the Frasier Park campground), Stanley W. Chambers (who was a source of strength as he held the National Youth President’s position before his father died and he left to take the church) and then N.A. Urshan (who led the Apostolic movement into a realm of evangelism). It was a powerful, unique history that somehow made Bro. Haney suddenly appear as the inevitable General Superintendent. Now, he would be leaving California (again) and moving to St. Louis (again) after many successful years overseeing a huge church, a bible college, radio station, and numerous daughter works (among other accomplishments). “All I know is my life is in the hands of God,” he shared. Then he pledged to do his best, before adding, “I do believe this is our finest hour.” The
cheers proclaimed the same. After the initial votes for Foreign Missions Director were completed, a series of officials began explaining that due to the time (it was now 2:05 p.m. and all the voting was originally planned to be over by 3 p.m.), most other positions would be voted on at the nominating level. The votes would then be safely secured until the morning, when the tabulating committee would begin counting again. It was 2:36 p.m. when Bro. Urshan announced the leading candidates for Foreign Missions Director:
Bro. Rodenbush then withdrew his name from the voting. At 3:02 p.m., Bro. Urshan announced Bro. Bruce Howell as the new Foreign Missions Director. “I give God the honor and the glory for what he has done,” he gushed. He then explained that he hadn’t been raised in church, but at his (unsaved) mother’s funeral in February, he found a Bible given to the grandmother he never knew. It was from the Herrin (IL) UPC and he suddenly realized that grandmother must’ve been praying for him. He honored Bro. Scism, while sharing that he “never thought this would happen.” He lauded the abilities of Bro. Drost, then stated, “There’s only one thing I can think of¾souls that need the Holy Ghost.” After proclaiming it in Spanish, he ended with, “Be careful! Here come the Pentecostals!” He then gave a long, strong hug to Bro. Scism, hugged Bro. Haney, shook some hands and almost missed Bro. Urshan as he walked from the platform in a satisfied daze. The vote for Assistant General Superintendent (Western Zone) was anti-climatic. Most of the ministers had left by the time, at 3:32 p.m., Bro. Urshan announced the candidates:
Bro. Mangun then declared support for the current and future administrations before withdrawing his name. Another round of voting commenced before Randy Keyes was declared the victor at 3:59 p.m. His speech is set for Thursday morning. All the other positions will be decided on Thursday. ã
2001, ninetyandnine.com -------- Kent Curry is an executive editor of ninetyandnine.com.
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