VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 7/7/09)—At the Saturday business session of the American Baptist Biennial meeting in Pasadena, CA, delegates narrowly defeated the by-law changes brought by the General Board. 377 delegates voted in favor of the changes and 217 opposed them, with 20 abstentions. Two-thirds of the delegates present are needed for by-law changes to be accepted.
“It was a very narrow vote,” said A. Roy Medley, ABCUSA General Secretary. “Just over 63% voted for the changes. We’ve asked the delegates to give us suggestions and critiques. Now, we’ll take that information into consideration as we continue to work on the new structure.”
The proposed changes would have reduced the number of representatives to each mission board and allowed them to work with more autonomy, creating a leadership pool from which they can choose board members with needed gifts and skills.
Under the proposal, the Biennial meeting would have become a Mission Summit, focusing on a current national and/or international need. After the Summit, a smaller Mission Table of representatives from the boards and staff would then have strategized how the information and concerns from the Summit would be integrated into the work of the denomination.
During the session, five delegates spoke about the amendments:
Rev. Curtis Price, pastor of Wedgwood Community Church in Seattle, WA, affirmed the amendments, noting the decision-making developed by the Evergreen Baptist Association. As an ethically diverse region, they have developed a process that allows all members to have a voice. Price noted his belief that the proposed structure would have presented the denomination with the same opportunity.
Dr. Grant Ward spoke against the amendments on behalf of Central Baptist Church in Wayne, PA. He noted their concern about provisions in the proposed by-laws that would have set a higher threshold to rescind past policy statements and resolutions than it took to enact them in the first place, which would have made it more difficult to vote on statements and resolutions the church believes to be contrary to Baptist principles.
Dr. June Totten of Claremont, CA, also spoke against the by-law amendments, saying that she believed them to be unfinished and unclear. She was also concerned that, by changing the current representative structure, the denomination would have been altering the very provision that encouraged the diversity it prizes.
Dr. Michael Harvey of First Baptist Church, Worcester, MA, advocated developing a “process in which the important issues of society can be talked about with respect for every person.”
Dr. George Hancock-Stefan of Central Baptist in Atlantic Heights, NJ, was also opposed. He was concerned that the restructure would have violated our heritage of congregational polity, and would have led to an organization top-heavy with paid staff and special groups. He also shared his feeling that the proposal was unfinished and not ready for a vote.
These and other comments will be considered as national and regional staff continues to develop a new structure for the denomination.
“There are several things in the proposed bylaws that we can already begin to implement,” said Medley. “The 2011 Biennial will continue to be planned as a mission summit, and General Board meetings will be more like a mission table. We have already begun the practice of having a representative from the caucuses meet with us, and we can move forward with establishing the leadership pool.”
During the next two years, Medley concluded that, “the program boards will have the time to fully flesh out the proposed changes in their by-laws for delegates to see and study before they meet in 2011 in Puerto Rico.”
American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.
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