Delegates take steps to streamline World Missions structure
Delegates take steps to streamline World Missions structure
Delegates at this year’s convention spent a lot of time discussing synod structure and the changes proposed by the Synodical Council. Among those recommendations was a plan to streamline the Board for World Missions, comprised primarily of administrative committee members, from 13 to five members.
“The administrative committees were both the advocates for their field and the decision makers as to [which fields] got the money,” says Dan Koelpin, administrator of the Board for World Missions. “That was the conflict of interest. They found it very difficult to do the cutbacks.” According to the proposal, none of the men on the newly restructured board would be members of an administrative committee; the committees, however, would continue to function independently and provide a grassroots input.
This proposal was endorsed by the Board for World Missions and adopted by delegates. With the new five-man structure, the board will be able to visit different regions of the world and make more objective judgments. “This will make it easier for us to use our limited resources in the best possible way,” says Koelpin. “Flexibility and strategic movement are very important in our globalized world. . . . The ability to redeploy means that the board can take manpower positions and give them to the fields that really need them instead of every field being weakened by equal reductions.”
In addition to changing the structure of the Board for World Missions, delegates adopted bylaw changes in several areas, including the Board for Parish Services. No changes were made in the calling process of administrators of the areas of ministry, and delegates resolved that no bylaw changes were needed to initiate annual reviews of the president, administrators, boards, committees, and other personnel.
“The administrative committees were both the advocates for their field and the decision makers as to [which fields] got the money,” says Dan Koelpin, administrator of the Board for World Missions. “That was the conflict of interest. They found it very difficult to do the cutbacks.” According to the proposal, none of the men on the newly restructured board would be members of an administrative committee; the committees, however, would continue to function independently and provide a grassroots input.
This proposal was endorsed by the Board for World Missions and adopted by delegates. With the new five-man structure, the board will be able to visit different regions of the world and make more objective judgments. “This will make it easier for us to use our limited resources in the best possible way,” says Koelpin. “Flexibility and strategic movement are very important in our globalized world. . . . The ability to redeploy means that the board can take manpower positions and give them to the fields that really need them instead of every field being weakened by equal reductions.”
In addition to changing the structure of the Board for World Missions, delegates adopted bylaw changes in several areas, including the Board for Parish Services. No changes were made in the calling process of administrators of the areas of ministry, and delegates resolved that no bylaw changes were needed to initiate annual reviews of the president, administrators, boards, committees, and other personnel.
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