RTF Update

From the Restructure Task Force

Over the last two years, a group of individuals called the Restructure Task Force (RTF) have worked under the direction of the Council of Associations to conduct research and make recommendations about the structure needed to position us for success in the next generation. Preliminary conversations led to the development of a set of values that have guided the process:

• Empowered Leadership—Clear understanding of who is empowered to lead.

• A Clear and Flexible Structure—A structure that is clear to communicate and easy to adjust over time as circumstances demand.

• Missional Accountability—The ability to point everything we do back to the mission and vision of the organization.

• Cultural Adaptability—The understanding that what we do must adapt to the different regional cultures to be an effective national and global movement.

The research included a review of data and conducting a series of listening sessions. Many General Baptists provided input through that process and helped to shape the proposals that ultimately were made. The RTF made its first recommendations to the Executive Council of the Council of Associations and to the Council of Associations itself in the fall.

These recommendations empowered the Interim Executive Director to begin restructuring the organization's ministries. They empowered the RTF to make additional recommendations to operationalize the proposals in the organizing documents, especially as they relate to the governance and accountability of General Baptist ministries.

The RTF next met to draft revised constitutions and bylaws of the General Association and the Council of Associations (now known as the Constitution and Bylaws of the Board of Overseers). Legal counsel vetted those revised documents, and then they were shared with the Executive Council of the C/A for input. After input was given and edits were made, an online listening session was conducted to gather wider input. The proposed documents were presented at the Council of Associations’ meeting in May and endorsed there.

At the Summit, the business session, which is the General Association meeting, will take up a series of motions to continue this process of restructuring. The central issues will be votes on the new organizing documents for the General Association and the Board of Overseers. Most of the changes can be made with a two-thirds vote at this Summit. The Constitution of the General Association will require a majority vote at the 2021 Summit and a two-thirds vote at the 2022 Summit to be changed.

If the proposals are approved at this year’s Summit, work will continue developing the revised ministries structure; however, the beginning of the Board of Overseers will not take place until the final constitutional changes are made in 2022.

At its May meeting, the Council of Associations approved a process to be implemented when and if the General Association approves the constitutions and bylaws. Members of the current Executive Council of the C/A will take initial responsibilities as members of the Board of Overseers until overseers from all the regions can be duly elected. That process would be finalized by January 2024.

A website has been created to share the structural changes and the proposed documents: www.generalbaptist.com/restructure