VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS)-The General Executive Council (GEC) met June 25-26, immediately following the proceedings of the ABCUSA General Board. The primary purpose of the meeting was to examine ways of improving the ministry functioning of the denomination by surfacing and assessing potential modifications and renovations. During an earlier meeting this year, the GEC had identified four areas of concentration for potential transformation within the denomination, namely denominational leadership, denominational structure, representative process, and relevance to local congregations.
The members advanced their previous work by reviewing input from the General Board, new survey data from the grass roots level (from over 2400 respondents), information from a May Summit meeting of ABC Officers and Staff, as well as specific change proposals, authored by the GEC members themselves, in the four areas of concentration. Working in small groups and reporting out to the larger body, the GEC members asked three questions of each proposal: (1) What additional information or clarification do I need to fully understand this proposal? (2) What assumptions underlying this proposal should be/can be challenged? (3) What are the potential unforeseen positive and negative consequences of this proposal? The meeting was facilitated by Dr. Tricia Jones, a communications and organizational development professor at Temple University. Dr. Jones has also worked with the GEC in prior discussions.
During the next meeting of the GEC, scheduled for September 25-27, the GEC members intend to make recommendations to the General Board in the four areas of concentration; the ABCUSA General Board will receive this information after the September meeting, for consideration and processing in its November meeting.
Prior to their September meeting, GEC members who authored proposals plan to rework each proposal using the feedback received at their June meeting. All members of the GEC have agreed to further advance their work over the summer by assessing specific sections of the newly revised proposals looking for synergies that have the potential of becoming proposals at the September meeting. The criteria to be used for evaluating each revised proposal (as well as their component parts) will include criteria surfaced by members of the GEC itself as well as criteria surfaced by the General Board and its Executive Committee at their recent meetings in June. The process may also include further data gathering. Members of the GEC agreed to these future processes by consensus.
This current work of the GEC has been prompted by several factors, including a strong desire to advance the mission that God has given to American Baptists, to build upon the work of the "Seek It" vision, to respond to the needs of 21st century congregations, to attend to financial concerns, and to address current conflicts within the denomination.
The American Baptist General Executive Council is comprised of the Executive Ministers of the Regions; the Executive Directors and two Associate Executive Directors from each of the National Boards (Ministers and Missionaries Benefit Board, the Board of National Ministries, and the Board of International Ministries); the Executive Directors of the Ministers Council, American Baptist Women's Ministries, the American Baptist Historical Society, and the American Baptist Assembly; and the General Secretary and Staff of the Office of the General Secretary.
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches, USA Mission Resource Development http://www.abc-usa.org/