Monday afternoon (September 16, 2019) at the National Fellowship Meeting featured an all BBFI TOWN HALL event. All missionaries and pastors of our Fellowship were invited and welcomed to participate in the open discussion. I began by stating three things:
- The conversation would revolve around discussion points.
- This meeting was for information purposes. We would not make decisions that day.
- We sincerely desired to hear from both pastors and missionaries.
The first discussion addressed the frequency of our National Fellowship Meetings.
I began this segment with a statement, “At present, we have three official Fellowship Meetings a year. We are proposing a discussion about having just one annual meeting. From my point of view, this had the most complicated ramifications of the discussions.”
For each of the discussion points, I asked a member of our Executive Committee to make a brief statement to act as a discussion starter. In this first case, it was Brian Moore. These are my observations and conclusions from this part of the Town Hall:
- It was generally agreed that one annual meeting would be sufficient.
- The critical question before us is, if we have one annual meeting, should it be in May at BBC or should it be elsewhere in September.
- Mark Milioni, president of Baptist Bible College, stated his support and cooperation with the Fellowship about these decisions.
- Mark Milioni stated his desire to either host the entire Fellowship each May or to host a BBC graduation meeting in May if the annual BBFI meeting were to be in September.
- Jon Konnerup stated his support and cooperation with the Fellowship about these decisions.
- Jon Konnerup stated the Mission Office would determine a way to approve missionaries in the Spring if the annual meeting were to be in September.
Note: Both Milioni and Konnerup have been in previous leadership discussions concerning the possibilities of changing our meeting schedule. Their cooperation, publicly stated and by their own initiative, was an incredible boost to the harmonious tone of the entire meeting.
Other key points made:
- One annual meeting opens up the schedule for other BBFI conferences, seminars, workshops, etc. There could also be regionally specific meetings.
- One yearly meeting would generally highlight pastors and missionaries from within our own Fellowship.
- It is thought other BBFI business during the year could be dealt with over video conference calls.
- There are specific critical issues that will need to be discussed further, such as missionary approval, nominations for national officers, and national elections.
- Our BBF constitution calls for one national business meeting in September. If the meeting were moved, it would require a connotational change.
The second discussion was on missionaries having an official voice in our Fellowship.
My opening statement, “At present, our BBFI allows scarce missionary input. We are proposing a discussion about allowing a much greater missionary voice in our governance, leadership, and future.”
Jon Haley, BBFI First Vice-President (over missions), began this discussion. This topic had the highest engagement from those in attendance. Three possible ideas came forth:
- Missionaries would have the opportunity to vote on all matters like any pastor in the US.
- Several missionaries would be voted into slots that are akin to our State Representatives and would serve on the sub-committees, help make the national ballot, etc.
- A missionary would be appointed to or voted in to sit on the National Executive Committee.
Perhaps, most of our discussion in the town hall revolved around missionaries voting. It is my sense this topic is the most emotionally charged one. Here are some of my observations:
- Several missionaries in attendance weighed on this topic. Some were in favor of voting, and some were not.
- Historically, the reason missionaries haven’t voted is that the BBFI has always defined itself as a fellowship of pastors.
- It was pointed out that during the first few years of the BBFI, missionaries in attendance of the national fellowship meetings did, in fact, vote (as did all in attendance).
- Several missionaries pointed out they would not know what was taking place in the US during their terms on the field and thus shouldn’t vote.
- It was brought out that a missionary on the Executive Committee might find himself in a position of authority over the Mission Office and specifically the Mission Director.
- At present, missionaries sit on the boards of both Boston Baptist and Baptist Bible Colleges. They maintain full voting rights at those institutions.
- At present, missionaries help in the vetting process of new missionaries, and a missionary sits on the Mission Office Advisory Board.
- Any action on this matter would obviously require a BBFI constitutional change.
Finally, we discussed our present State Representative organization.
My initial statement, “At present, our governance is primarily built on a state representative system. The executive committee is to work with the state reps. The BBFI has other groups that perform essential tasks such as college boards and the Missions Field Rep Committee. We are proposing a discussion to change our present state representative organization.”
Sean Sears opened up this discussion and gave a historical report of the governing system of the BBFI from the 1950s until the mid-’70s. At that time, the BBFI had nine directors, with each being elected from a specific region of the country. Several thoughts came forth from this discussion:
- State Rep attendance at our national fellowship meetings is dismal.
- It is hoped that attendance and engagement by the state reps would increase if we had only one meeting a year.
- It was brought up that smaller states could be combined and larger states (such as Texas) could be split into multiple regions.
- It was mentioned there is a 10-region organization recently used for church planting, and that could be the start of a restructuring plan.
- It was mentioned there is a 5-region map on the BBFI website for church planting at present that could be the start of a restructuring plan.
- A constitutional change would be required to move forward with a reorganization of our State Rep system.
Final thoughts
It was refreshing to have a vibrant conversation among the pastors and missionaries. The above thoughts are from my perspective and memory, and they were not intended to be exhaustive but rather an overview.
There is a time for discussion, but there is also a time for action. We are quickly heading towards putting together a proposal that will again need to be discussed and eventually voted on. Please know it is my prayer that these changes will make our BBFI stronger and better suited to reach people for Christ.
As plans are put together, I am considering several principles:
- No one, including me, will be completely satisfied with every single detail of our reorganization.
- We must not be too idealistic, but rather practical in our decision making.
- Unity is a worthy goal because it affects our ability for ministry.
- The purposes of our BBFI overwhelm our preferences in almost every matter.
We closed our meeting by praying for our Fellowship, and that is how I want to close this letter… asking you to pray for our BBFI.