John Meyer (pictured at right), a GCI elder who lives in Tracy, California, recently was awarded the 2014 Teschemaker Cup.
This award is given annually by the high school that John attended in his hometown, Timaru, New Zealand. The award is given to recognize an individual alumnus for their outstanding international achievements.
Click here to read an earlier Update article about John’s substantial vocational achievements.
This announcement is from Bret Miller, manager of information technology at GCI headquarters.
Perhaps you know someone who has had an online account hacked. Maybe you’ve been hacked yourself. In most cases, hackers manage to get in using your own password. That’s what happened to me when my accounts were hacked. I had protected them with a one-word password that my wife and I were sharing. That’s a very bad idea!
Simple one-word passwords are easy to crack using dictionaries of commonly-used passwords. It might take longer if your word isn’t common, but it’s still a bad idea. I knew it was, but hey, who’d want to hack me? Thankfully, the hackers only intent was to send a link to a malware-infected website to my mailing lists (my apologies to them!).
There’s a story circulating about a guy in the Midwest who had his bank account drained. He thought he was protected—his password included letters, numbers and symbols. But he used the same password on all his online accounts. That made it easier to remember, but the online newsletter he subscribed to didn’t need as much security as his bank. So the hackers managed to get into the newsletter’s server and got the passwords for all subscribers. Then they used those passwords to try to get entry to bank accounts. They hacked this poor guy’s bank account and drained it.
The best practice is to use a different, long and complicated password for each online account. But how do you remember all those passwords? That’s where a password manager comes in. It will generate a strong password, then remember it for you the next time you need it. I have 421 online accounts in my password manager. It would be a nightmare to try to remember all those on my own. But how do you know if your passwords are securely stored on your computer in a password manager? All good password managers encrypt the data using a master password that you assign.
Several password managers synchronize passwords to multiple devices. How can you be sure those passwords aren’t being stolen during synchronization? Again, the passwords are encrypted before they leave your computer and the master password is never stored. Thus the data is inaccessible by anyone who doesn’t know the master password, including the company who makes the password manager. Therefore, it’s vital not to forget your master password!
Which password manager is best? I use and recommend LastPass because it works well for me. It’s free to use on computers, but costs $12/year to use on mobile devices. KeePass is recommended frequently because it’s also free, though I don’t find it works as well as LastPass in Firefox and Chrome, it doesn’t automatically sync, and it requires more knowledge to use. RoboForm has been around a long time and is well-recommended, but not free. Click here for a recent PC Magazine article rating password managers.
Phillip Halford, a longtime GCI-UK employee (now semi-retired) is pleased to announce an addition to the Halford family. A grandson, Ryan Anthony, was born on June 17, weighing in at 8 pounds 12 ounces (big fella!). The mother, baby and father are doing well. The grandparents are over the moon! Phillip is the brother of John Halford who assists with the writing and editing of this and other GCI publications.
Grace Communion Seminary is currently in the process of re-accreditation review with Distance Education and Training Council (DETC). Initial accreditation is for three years, from June 2012 until June 2015. Re-accreditation will be for five more years.
Grace Communion Seminary is now accepting applications for fall admission. Generally, prospective students must already have an accredited B.A. or B.S. degree. Application forms are available on the seminary website, www.gcs.edu. No log-in is necessary. The form can be found on the left side of the homepage under Admissions and Records.
This announcement is from GCI president Joseph Tkach.
Due to ongoing health struggles, Dr. Bernard Schnippert retired on June 27 from his position as GCI’s legal counsel. My prayers are with Bernie, his wife Arlene, their daughters Crystal and Coral and their extended family during this difficult time.
Bernie has had a distinguished, unique and highly responsible career with GCI, serving the church for 42 years in numerous leadership roles. Throughout, he has been a shining example—always growing, studying and learning. His keen intellect has never rested. While employed by the church, Bernie earned a Juris Doctor and a Ph.D. in business administration. He also pursued many hobbies including fishing, ham radio operation and motorcycle restoration.
I express deep gratitude to Bernie personally and also do so on behalf of GCI’s board of directors and worldwide membership. Though most of our members have never seen Bernie in action, they have benefited greatly from his tireless work on behalf of us all.
Thank you Bernie for your unique and outstanding service to the church these many years! Your daily involvement with the church will be greatly missed. We pray that you will be able to rest and in doing so find the peace and healing you need. May God bless and keep you.
Cards of encouragement and appreciation may be sent to:
Bernie and Arlene Schnippert_______________________
If legal issues arise, you may contact Evelyn Dailey in GCI’s legal office in Glendora at legal.office@gci.org or at 626-650-2320. Evelyn will, as needed, coordinate legal needs with outside counsel.
GCI church and district pastor Howard Blakeney recently received an honorary doctor of divinity degree from Cathedral Bible College and Seminary. The degree was awarded in recognition of Howard’s body of work in 17 years of pastoral ministry and his community work. Howard received an earned master’s degree in 2013 and is scheduled to receive an earned doctor in theology degree in 2015.
Howard currently pastors GCI congregations in Marion South Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia.
The following message is from GCI president, Joseph Tkach
I am happy to report that Capin Crouse LLP, our external auditors, recently finished auditing GCI’s financial records for 2012 and 2013. They presented their findings to our Board of Directors on June 12. The report states the following:
In our opinion, the combined financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Grace Communion International and Affiliate in the United States of America as of December 31, 2013 and 2012, and the changes in their net assets and their cash flows for the years then ended in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
This statement means that the auditors have given us a “clean” or “unqualified” report, which is what we always strive for. During the presentation of the report, the auditors also share a “Letter to Management” outlining any suggestions that they may have for changes or improvements. The report did not make any suggestions for improvements. The presenting partner stated, “It is unusual to have a letter to management without any suggestions, because we always try to find something!” He complimented management on the Church’s financial systems.
As outlined in the Financial Management Manual, we ask that our congregations also do an annual internal financial review and an external review every three years. These reviews are vital, for they help insure that congregational finances are handled with proper care so that donors can feel comfort that their donations are used well in support of the gospel.
Any GCI member in the United States may obtain a copy of Capin Crouse’s audit report by sending their request to:
Grace Communion International P.O. Box 5005 Glendora, CA 91740 Attention: Mat Morgan
Greg Williams, who serves as the associate director of GCI-USA Church Administration and Development, was awarded a Doctorate of Ministry (DMin) degree by Drew University on Saturday May 17.
Greg completed a project and dissertation on the topic of mentoring as it relates to internships in Grace Communion International. Greg worked with an Advisory Team that included John Halford, Ted Johnston, Charles Fleming and Mychelle Fleming. It is Greg’s hope that this project will be a gift to the denomination and launch hundreds of young men and women into the ministry of Jesus Christ for years to come.
Greg and his wife Susan, who currently live in Hendersonville, North Carolina, are preparing to move to Southern California where they will serve GCI from that location. Please pray that all aspects of their move go well.
Congratulations to Greg—and to Susan too!
On May 19, GCI elder and former Internship Program participant, Hillary Irusta, graduated from Wake Forest University School of Divinity in Winston-Salem, North Carolina with a Masters of Divinity (MDiv) degree.
Hillary currently serves as associate pastor of GCI’s Centered Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. In August, she will begin a CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) Chaplaincy Residency at Greensboro’s Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital. She is looking forward to opportunities to provide spiritual care to patients, loved ones and hospital staff.
Speaking of her sense of vocation, Hillary was quoted during the diploma ceremony saying, “I’m called into the heart of the Beloved, to live a life pursuing wholeness for myself, neighbors and creation while equipping the church for acts of radical hospitality, justice and compassion in the world.”
Congratulations to Hillary and her family!
We are pleased to announce several recent elder ordinations:
Ronald Ratliff, based on his prior ordination in the American Baptist Church, recently was confirmed as a GCI elder.
In the picture above, Bob Grinnell is being ordained by Birmingham and Good Hope, Alabama pastor Bob Miller (at left), with assistance from Attalla, Alabama pastor Rannie Childress (at right) and Decatur, Alabama pastor Brad Campbell (at rear). Carole Grinnell is at her husband’s side.
