Stephen Hatfield and I serve as co-chairs for a Baptist General Convention of Texas committee known as the Future Focus Committee. This committee was formed as a result of a motion made from the floor of the 2007 Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting in Amarillo. The motion which created our committee reads:
I move that the officers of the BGCT and the officers of the Executive Board appoint a study committee of no more than 25 members to consider the shared vision of the BGCT.
The committee would meet after the new Executive Director has been selected and make reports to the Executive Board at their regularly scheduled meetings. A final report will be made no later than the 2009 Annual Meeting.
The committee will study, analyze and project income for the BGCT and address relationships between the BGCT and its institutions.
The purpose of this committee is to determine the best use of resources to win Texas and the world to Jesus Christ and to encourage and support the ministries to which God has called us.
I move that the officers of the BGCT and the officers of the Executive Board appoint a study committee of no more than 25 members to consider the shared vision of the BGCT.
The committee would meet after the new Executive Director has been selected and make reports to the Executive Board at their regularly scheduled meetings. A final report will be made no later than the 2009 Annual Meeting.
The committee will study, analyze and project income for the BGCT and address relationships between the BGCT and its institutions.
The purpose of this committee is to determine the best use of resources to win Texas and the world to Jesus Christ and to encourage and support the ministries to which God has called us.
Stephen and I began meeting with the Baptist General Convention of Texas president (Joy Fenner) and executive director (Randel Everett) in March. This was within Dr. Everett’s first couple of weeks of employment as the new executive director.
In our first meeting, Dr. Everett presented us with a set of three questions to determine the mission and values of our state convention. What is the Baptist General Convention of Texas passionate about? What does the Baptist General Convention of Texas do better than anyone else in the world? What does the Baptist General Convention of Texas do that duplicates what others do as well or better than we do?
Stephen and I asked Dr. Everett to present these same questions to the full Future Focus Committee at our first meeting in May 2008. This began a lively exchange of ideas which could be categorized as our “dreams” and our “fears.”
One topic we have addressed numerous times in our committee meetings is the way church people in Texas view the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Sadly, many people do not understand our historic Baptist polity which places the local church at the top of the decision making process and organizational chart. As a result, many people equate the Baptist General Convention of Texas with the building which houses the Executive Board Staff in Dallas.
The “Baptist Building” in Dallas is not the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The Baptist General Convention of Texas is a fellowship of cooperating churches who together accomplish the work of evangelism / missions, Christian education and advocacy for the “least of these” among us.
In November 2009, the Future Focus Committee will make our final report to the annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Our final report will contain a new vision for the future. This new vision will contain a clear description of our values as well as changes in the methods we use to implement our values. This final report is not complete. We have defined our vision and our values in our first three meetings. We will devote the remainder of our time to work out the details of implementing our vision and values for the future.
On Monday, November 10, Stephen Hatfield and I will make a recommendation from the Future Focus Committee to change the name of the Baptist General Convention of Texas to the Texas Baptist Convention. This recommendation has been reported in at least two news articles:
http://www.baptiststandard.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8752&Itemid=53
http://www.bgct.org/texasbaptists/Page.aspx?pid=5581&srcid=178
We believe Texas Baptist Convention describes who we are and the way we often describe ourselves in informal conversations. We call ourselves “Texas Baptists” and even used that terminology as the title of the sesquicentennial history of our state convention!
We also believe changing our name to the Texas Baptist Convention provides us with an opportunity to forge our own unique identity not tied to any national organization. As the Texas Baptist Convention, we can provide a mechanism for all Texas Baptist men, women and churches to cooperate around our shared vision and values regardless of national affiliation.
This proposal is not the sum total of the Future Focus Committee’s accomplishments. It is one part—the first step—of a broad strategy which is currently being worked out in detail. The full details will be presented in our final report at the 2009 annual meeting. Our goal is to have this final report in written form before the September 2009 Executive Board meeting. This will ensure enough time for our report to be printed and reviewed by all messengers before the annual meeting.
The name change will be presented on Monday, because it requires two votes at consecutive annual meetings before it can be implemented. Therefore, we need to begin the process of changing the name at this annual meeting in order to adopt the complete report at the 2009 annual meeting.
Stephen Hatfield and I urge all Texas Baptists to participate in the 2008 annual meeting in Fort Worth to voice your point of view and to vote your conscience. Since, this name change will require two votes at consecutive annual meetings, we will not actually adopt the name change until next year. An affirmative vote on Monday does not change the name of the convention. However, a negative vote on Monday prevents us from adopting the name change as a part of the Future Focus Committee’s final report in 2009.
4 comments:
Thank you for the work you have put in on this committee so far. The news reports have left us with the impression that after the first series of meetings, the only thing you had done was consider a name change. I'm glad to hear it is a lot more than that.
Communication is a big issue in the BGCT at the moment. I live in a major city, have access to three computers, read both state convention newspapers and the blogs, and I still find out things have happened after the fact, because our officers, committee and board members do not report on their actions. I think a full report on everything your committee is considering, what your ideas and dreams and goals might be, and perhaps as many specifics as you can provide at this point, would be in order. It would be a first for a BGCT committee, at least in the more than 20 years I have been associated with it, to have been that open at a convention meeting. The M.O. in the past seems to have been that as long as the important people know, who else matters. I hope that changes.
This is good news. After all, we can't all be Baptist Generals in the Lord's Army.
Andy,
I would echo what Lee said. My first reaction to the name change was less than charitable, but your presentation along with the handout was informative. I particularly liked the link between name changes in the biblical narrative and new stages/visions. That alone put the name change in a whole new light for me. I don't know what it means that only 1700 messengers were present when the annual meeting was held in one of the largest metroplex areas in the state, but it means something. We need to seriously consider significant change to step into the 20th (I mean, 21st) century.
Todd Pylant
In other business, messengers:
--Gave initial approval to a constitutional change that would provide the potential for increased representation at the annual meeting by small churches that give generously to the BGCT.
Why does this leave a bad taste in my mouth? Perhaps it's just remnants of my lunch?
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