wfn.org | Newsline for March 10 (General Board report)

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Newsline         March 10, 1997  

This is Newsline for March 10. In the news today:  

1) The General Board's Executive Committee announces the new 
      salaried staff positions that will be included in its new
      design. 
2) The General Board approves its 1997 budget and budget 
      parameters for 1998. 
3) Newsline will be produced again on Tuesday as the General 
      Board concludes its meetings.   

1) The General Board's Executive Committee this afternoon
announced the salaried staff positions that will be included in
the Board's structure once its new design goes into effect.  

As part of the Board's Executive Committee report, Kathy Hess,
Board chair, read two lists to the somber crowd that had packed
itself into Room A of the General Offices in Elgin, Ill. The
first list included all of the positions that will be eliminated
by the Board; the second consisted of salaried staff positions
for the new organization.  

The new structure, which will go into effect in July if approval
is granted by Annual Conference delegates during their annual
meeting, will be composed of a leadership team consisting of an
executive director and director/publisher of Brethren Press,
treasurer/director of Centralized Resources, and directors of
Congregational Life Ministries, Ministry, Funding, Global Mission
Partnerships, Volunteer Service Ministries and Brethren Witness. 

Each director will be served by salaried and support staff alike,
although only salaried staff positions were named by Hess. The
move to fill support staff positions of the new organization will
be made as soon as salaried staff positions are filled. Beginning
today and lasting until the process has concluded, the eight
directors are inviting people they have chosen to join their
team. An open search process will be announced for job positions
that are not filled through appointment by the respective
directors. Those who are not invited to fill job positions may
apply for jobs through the open search.  

As of now, the staff structure of the future organization
consisting of the executive director and the eight directors is
as follows:  

Executive director: executive director, administrative assistant,
and coordinator of Human Resources. (The equivalent position in
the current organization, the general secretary, is currently
filled by Karen Peterson Miller. She is serving a one-year term
as interim general secretary.)  

Congregational Life Ministries: director, coordinators of
Congregational Life Teams and coordinator of Youth and Young
Adult Ministries. Also announced were volunteer positions of
Congregational Life Associates. (Glenn Timmons, who currently
serves as executive for Parish Ministries Commission, was named
director of this ministry today.)  

Brethren Press: director/publisher, editor of Publications,
editor of Study Resources and Books, staff for Interpretation,
Marketing manager, News and Information editor, and Business
manager. (Wendy McFadden was named director/publisher of the new
Brethren Press in early December.)  

Funding: director and salaried staff positions yet to be
determined. (Ken Neher, executive of Oregon/Washington District
and a General Board Planned Giving officer, today was named
director of Funding.)  

Global Mission Partnerships: director, coordinator of Emergency
Response and Service Ministry, and coordinator for Global
Connections. (Mervin Keeney was named director of Global Mission
Partnerships in early January.)  

Volunteer Service Ministries: director, coordinator of Brethren
Volunteer Service Orientation, coordinator of Brethren Service in
Europe, and coordinator of Recruitment of Brethren Volunteer
Service/Short-term program. (Dan McFadden was named director of
Volunteer Service Ministries in early December.)  

Finance, Centralized Resources: treasurer/director; controller at
General Offices, Elgin, Ill.; controller at Brethren Service
Center, New Windsor, Md.; coordinator of Brethren Historical
Library and Archives; coordinator of Buildings and Grounds
(Elgin); coordinator of Buildings and Grounds (New Windsor);
coordinator of Information Systems; and coordinator of New
Windsor Conference Center. (Treasurer Judy Keyser today was named
treasurer/director of Centralized Resources.)   

Brethren Witness: This ministry was created by the General Board
over the weekend; its director will be a member of the leadership
team. Hess announced that this ministry, which is under
development, will center on peace, justice, care of creation and
other Brethren values.  

"Please be patient with us as we are deliberate in calling people
to fill these positions for the General Board," Hess said.  

Prior to announcing the new salaried staff positions, Hess read a
list of staff positions that are being eliminated.   

"I want to be clear that these positions are being eliminated
because they are not of the new design," Hess said.  

Jobs to be eliminated effective July 18 are:  
director of District Ministry 
executive of General Services Commission 
administrative assistant of General Services Commission 
editor of Messenger 
managing editor of Messenger/director of News Services 
director of Stewardship Education 
executive of Parish Ministries Commission 
administrative assistant of Parish Ministries Commission 
director of Congregational Nurture 
director of Hispanic Ministries 
co-directors of Ministry 
director of Ministry Training 
director of New Church Development 
director of Outdoor Ministries 
director of Korea (domestic)
executive of World Ministries Commission 
administrative assistant of World Ministries Commission/director  
     of Mission Interpretation 
representative for Africa and the Middle East 
representative for Latin America and the Caribbean 
director of Eco-Justice Concerns/director of Rural and Small 
     Church Concerns 
director of Denominational Peace Witness 
executive director of Center Operations 
director of Refugee/Disaster Services 
director of the Washington Office 
director of Customer Service 
director of Congregational Resourcing (for The Andrew Center)
director of The Andrew Center (goes into effect Sept. 30)   

2) In other news, the General Board today approved its 1997
budget and expense and income parameters for 1998.  

The 1997 budget approved today by the Board calls for a balanced
budget with expenses and income of $6,231,000. The income
parameter approved by the Board today for the 1998 budget is
$5,391,000 in income. The expense parameter is $5,135,000, which
includes $135,000 from "Behold I make all things new"
contributions. The $256,000 surplus the Board expects to have in
1998 will be used to replenish its main budget reserve, which
currently is $1,487,000. Other reserves include $1,088,000 in a
bequest quasi-endowment.  

During today's debate regarding the 1998 parameters, a proposal
was made to increase the income line by $300,000. That proposal
was made by Bill Eberly, Board member, who wanted to include less
money in reserves and more money for program. Lengthy debate
ensued, with Board members closely divided between fiscal
responsibility and increased ministries, at least for the
short-term.  

Eberly's motion was narrowly defeated, and the Board ultimately
approved the preceding 1998 budget parameters.   

3) The meetings of the Church of the Brethren General Board are
scheduled to conclude at noon Tuesday. Tomorrow's Newsline will
include other decisions reached by the Board, and actions and
reports that Board members heard.   

Newsline is archived with an index at
http://www.tgx.com/cob/news.htm. It also may be found at 
www.wfn.org.  

This message can be heard by calling 410 635-8738. To receive
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