VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS)- On March 3rd and 4th at the Mission Center in Valley Forge, in their first meeting of the present biennium, the General Board Executive Committee voted to decrease the number of General Board meetings from twice a year to once a year. The decision was reached in response to financial considerations and is in keeping with the 2003 Core Values of the Representative Process whose two primary values are "Representation" and "Living within our budget". This reduction will produce an estimated savings of $100,000 for 2007. In order to accommodate the additional workload this change will create, the June meetings will include an extra day and will now run from Tuesday, June 20 to Sunday June 25, 2006 (with the Biennial Program Committee meetings beginning on Monday, June 19). The General Board will also have one additional session and the program boards two additional sessions. ABC President, Rev. Dr. Arlee Griffin Jr. noted in his letter to the General Board that we are facing a number of giants including declining United Mission giving and organizational misalignment. "But," he added. "We saw the Lord alive and at work in our mission, and we reminded ourselves that Biblically, the giants always lose."
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches, USA Mission Resource Development http://www.abc-usa.org/