Hugh's News & Commentary

SPECIAL MEMO OF APPRECIATION

FROM: BISHOP RONALD W. CARPENTER, SR.

RE: MIKE GRAY FOR OUTSTANDING SERVICE TO THE IPHC

I am sure most of you have heard that Rev. Mike Gray was elected as Bishop of his home conference in Alabama onSaturday, July 10, 2010, at the Quadrennial Conference business session of the Alpha Conference. Bishop Talmadge Gardner was presiding over the session when Rev. David Stephens, retiring Bishop of the Alpha Conference, stood and asked for the privilege of nominating Brother Gray as his successor. Bishop Gardner granted the permission requested and Mike was nominated for the position. Bishop Gardner then asked four times, “Are there any other nominations?”  None were offered and Mike Gray was elected by acclamation with an eruption of applause!

To be elected by acclamation in a system of church government such as the one employed in the IPHC is the highest of all possible honors that an ecclesiastical body can give to an individual. It happens occasionally when a leader has been in office, rendered exceptional service over a period of years, and is “re-elected” to that same office by acclamation. However, it is rare indeed that a conference body expresses such unity and conviction of the “obvious” will of God for that body of believers that it will elect someone to a vacated office by acclamation.

This is an outstanding testament to the fact that:

· Retiring Bishop David Stephens has done an excellent job in carrying out one of his primary responsibilities which was to prepare the Conference for leadership transition after his 20 years of faithful and excellent service.

· The conference body respected the spiritual leadership of Bishop Stephens when he made the initial nomination.

· The conference body was unified it its purpose to pursue the will of God and felt that Mike Gray was the man upon whom God had laid his hand for the next season of leadership in the Alpha Conference.

· Mike Gray was ordained by God from eternity past and as such has been equipped and prepared to serve as Bishop of the Alpha Conference in this time of strategic transition . Consequently, he will fulfill his destiny by rendering outstanding service in his new office.

· God also has laid his hand upon another person from eternity past to fill the office at the GMC being vacated by Mike. He too has been equipped and prepared for his season of service. We at the GMC must be unified and prayerful for that appointment just as the Alpha Conference was concerning their vote of acclamation for their new Bishop.

Mike was credentialed in the Alpha Conference in 1978 and served faithfully there as a pastor for 25 years. The last 14 of those years were spent in a highly blessed and successful ministry to the congregation of the Celebration Center in Anniston, Alabama. He then was elected as the Assistant Superintendent and served two years in that capacity while also serving as the full-time Missions / Evangelism Director for the Conference. Immediately after the General Conference in 2005, Mike and his lovely wife, Karen, moved to Oklahoma City where he began his outstanding ministry as the Assistant to the General Superintendent and Chief of Staff at the Global Ministry Center. He has served in that capacity for the last five years.

As the Assistant to the General Superintendent and Chief of Staff at the Global Ministry Center, Mike has blessed so many in such an abundance of ways that words would absolutely fail me to express his contribution. Talmadge Gardner had established an unbelievably high standard of excellence during his eight years of prior service in the same office. However, Mike has established his own benchmark of outstanding performance and has served the entire church with great humility, yet the highest possible dignity, distinction, and diligence! He is an exceptional leader who is both greatly gifted and greatly anointed.

I was flying back into town on the same day Mike was leaving Oklahoma City for Alabama to attend the conference session. I wanted desperately to talk with him before he left and knew I could only do so by phone because of our schedules. I called from the airport and caught him just before he left the house. We shared our hearts for twenty minutes and then I said, “You and I both believe in spiritual authority. I felt that as your Bishop, I had to call and speak blessing over your life and release you to pursue the will of God. If you are elected to serve the conference as its Bishop, you will do a great job and will be blessed and honored as you leave the GMC. If you are not elected, then you have a place of service right back here the following week!" We then prayed, wept, and enjoyed a witness of the Spirit as we concluded our telephone conversation.

Mike will continue in his current capacity at the Global Ministry Center until the end of August. He will also assume responsibility as the Bishop of the Alpha Conference on August 1, 2010. Our loss at the Global Ministry Center will be Alpha’s gain. Mike is highly loved and appreciated among the GMC personnel and throughout the IPHC around the world! He will be greatly missed, but we bless him as he goes! We bless him; his faithful wife of 33 years, Karen; and their two children, Leigh Anne Ivey in Gadsden, Alabama, and Kenny Gray in Anniston, Alabama. May this be the best of all possible seasons in the life of Bishop and Mrs. Mike Gray, the Gray family, and the ministry of the Alpha Conference!

[Editor's note: Let me reminisce a little about my association with Mike Gray since 1977:

It has been my privilege to have known Mike Gray since I was a pastor of Good Shepherd Pentecostal Holiness Church, formerly the First Pentecostal Holiness Church, in Birmingham, Alabama. If I recall correctly I was serving on the credentials committee when Mike came up to be licensed as a minister of the Gospel.  He was a member of McComb's Chapel near Pinson, Alabama. I sensed then that God had His hand upon this young man. Over the years I got to know him better and for a brief time he served as my associate pastor. I soon discovered that Mike was a man of prayer, an excellent preacher, and an exceptional administrator.

Our entire family fell in love with Mike and Karen, and their two children Leigh Ann and Kenny. Stephanie used to baby-sit their children. Mike and Karen led successful youth camps at River Springs, and Stephanie thought that Karen was the best girl's counselor in the world.

I found a photo of Mike and me that was taken on the lower level of the new church building we built near Hoover, over the mountain from Birmingham. I think the photo was taken during the Advent season in 1985. I notice I was a lot more trim and had hair. See the photo and judge for yourself. Time has a way of changing things. I wish I was in that kind of shape today. Mike is strong and energetic and will serve well as the new bishop and conference superintendent in the Alpha Conference.

Our family, Melvine, Greg, Stephanie, and I, are here in Orlando, Florida, for Youth Quest. I was able to see and talk with Presiding Bishop Ronald W. Carpenter, Sr. Tuesday evening after the worship service. I asked him for permission to print his letter of commendation for Mike Gray, now Bishop of the Alpha Conference. He graciously granted my request. I, also, learned that he has named Mike Gray's successor and the Council of Bishops approved his appointment. I will allow Bishop Carpenter to make his own announcement and will not preempt his forthcoming announcement.