Annual Business Meeting–2000
by Gail Bedell

The business of Zerubbabel is people, and on the weekend of March 31-April 2, the people of Zerubbabel gathered at the home of Page Prewitt in Boone, NC to fellowship, review the accomplishments of the past year, and to disce4rn the mind of Christ for the ministry in the upcoming year. As always, the business meeting was an opportunity for people from around the country and across the ocean whose lives have been changed by the truth of Galatians 2:20 to come together for sharing, fellowship, exhortation, and planning. In the opening remarks by Page Prewitt, we were charged as bearers of the knowledge of God’s ultimate purpose of intercession through His purified vessel, to read Rees Howells, Intercessor and see where we fit in.

The formal business meeting included reports on the past year’s accomplishments, extensive discussion about all aspects of the ministry, and direction for the upcoming year. Tommy Prewitt began the business meeting on Saturday by explaining the role and responsibilities of corporate trustees and our need to elect new trustees. After some discussion, Christ Anderson, Tommy Prewitt, Brett Burrowes, Colette Burger (now Varanouskas), and Marian Kinahan were accepted as the Zerubbabel Trustees by unanimous affirmation.

Fowler Cooper presented the financial report, explaining the variations between last year and this. Annual expenses include conference costs, the publishing costs (The Intercessor; Z-News, and publishing costs for Zerubbabel Pres), office/computer expenses, maintenance and landscaping expenses for our buildings, taxes and insurance, and other miscellaneous ministry expenses. Once again, the year’s expenses were completely met by contributions.

A highlight of Sheryl Trethewey’s Book and Tape Ministry report was the addition of two new audio tapes now available through The Intercessor: Page Prewitt’s series of talks from Camp ’98, and Scott Prewitt’s teaching from the book of Philemon. Also under discussion was the reprinting of some of the Norman Grubb pamphlets to replenish the dwindling supply, and the suggestion that donors to Zerubbabel Ministries be mailed a free pamphlet. The Zerubbabel Press report, given by Sanda Cooper, showed continued growth and activity in 1999 for the publishing arm of the ministry. The efforts of the past year to prepare Norman Grubb’s last book, Yes, I Am, for re-publication culminated in the announcement that the book will be available in early summer. God Unlimited is currently being scanned and slated for publication by the end of 2000.

Major improvement was made in 1999 in establishing connections with potential book distributors. For the first time, Zerubbabel Press was represented at the Christian Booksellers’ Convetion when book distributor Dick Sleeper took Zerubbabel Press flyers and sample copies of Who Am I? and The Law of Faith to two of the CBZ conventions. In addition, Zerubbabel Press was listed on the web site of Barnes & Noble, making Norman’s books avail-able to web browsers. Finally, one of the year’s most rewarding accomplishments was the purchase of multiple copies of The Law of Faith by Norman Grubb’s beloved Worldwide Evangelization Crusade (WEC) to sell in their bookstore at their headquarters, Bulstrode, in England.

Looking ahead for this year, a committee was selected to discuss the key issues and formulate some proposals for setting up a Zerubbabel website. As the Internet becomes a major tool available to us to share our message, creating a website to make Zerubbabel Ministry and Zerubbabel Press tapes and publications more readily accessible has increasingly become a priority.

The Intercessor magazine published four 36-page issues in 1999 distributed to readers in the U.S., Canada and Europe. There was no significant change in the expense of publishing and mailing the magazine and, once again, the cost of publication and mailing The Intercessor was covered by contributions. Each donor receives a personal note and receipt. This year four of the magazine’s editors attended a seminar in grammar and proofreading in order to maintain high standards of technical quality.

Becca Glaser’s report on computer activity underscored the vital importance of maintaining and improving our computer capabilities. In order to better serve our customers and donors, an outside consultant was hired to expand and combine the Zerubbabel databases into one database that can be used to automate recording orders, print receipts for books and tapes, and track inventory. On a negative note, the Zerubbabel office was not immune to the frustration and delays caused by computer viruses, but we were thankful to have technical support people available to minimize the effects of the "bug."

In order to improve the quality of audio and video tapes offered through the Audio/Video Ministry, two acquisitions were made in 1999: a new cord-less remote microphone was donated to produce better quality audio tapes, and a digital video camera was purchased and used during the Summer Camp ’99 workshops and Bible studies. The video camera has the added capability of producing quality images that can be used on a future web site.

In the Youth Ministry Report, Scott Prewitt reviewed the 1999 outreach to young people. Summer Camp ’99 involved much greater coordination and integration of adult and youth activities. The schedule was well-planned, yet flexible, allowing for spontaneity.

A discussion over the change in focus of Z-News (shifting from targeting younger readers to targeting youth aged 13-25) brought surprising results. Everyone agreed that the articles and format of the 1999 issues were excel-lent, demonstrating the maturity of the Z-News editorial staff. However, since a new crop of younger children needs to be encouraged by a youth magazine, it was decided to advance several of the Z-News editor/writers to The Intercessor staff. This will effectively make use of the valuable perspective and talents of seasoned youth editors through Intercessor articles relevant to both parents and young adult readers. Meanwhile, Z-News, under Dacia Trethewey’s direction, will return to its earlier format and focus on Bible-based articles and activities for children aged 7-12.

Finally, Virginia Brown reviewed the area conferences and fellowship weekends that were held in 1999. There was a thoughtful discussion about the venue of conferences for the upcoming year. The British Fall Conference was scheduled for October 20-22, 2000, with other conference dates and locations to be announced.

As the adults discussed the events of last year, the issues of the present, and our direction for the remainder of 2000, the youth leaders were once again combining Bible teaching and just plain fun to make a memorable weekend for the children. Both groups of young people enjoyed lessons, discussions, and activities relating God’s truths from the Bible to their lives. Throughout the business meeting, whether we were discussing ministry details or the more important business of people’s hearts, God clearly demonstrated His presence, power, and direction–not from afar but through those in His body who dare to believe–and live daily from–the truth that "the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God"