General Board approves Haiti mission, announces committee to study property.

The General Board, meeting in Elgin, Ill., Oct. 15-18, approved a denominational mission in Haiti; announced a Stewardship of Property Committee to study use of its properties and buildings in Elgin and New Windsor, Md.; approved a budget for 2005; and approved a shift in relationship with the American Baptist Churches USA among other business. The theme for worship and business was taken from the annual report for 2004, "Bound Together, Finely Woven." Donna Shumate led the meetings as chair. Ken Hunn, executive director of the Brethren Church, brought the Sunday morning message.

"I have the call of introducing Christ to those around me," said Doug Diamond, board and Mission and Ministries Planning Council (MMPC) member who introduced a proposal for mission in Haiti. The proposal from MMPC is the fruit of lengthy exploration with Church of the Brethren districts, congregations, and individuals already at work in Haiti. Two Church of the Brethren fellowships reportedly have been planted there, said Merv Keeney, executive director of Global Mission Partnerships--a development that MMPC learned of in conversation with two districts, Haitian Brethren congregations, and Haitian Brethren leaders in the US and the Dominican Republic. Other Brethren efforts in Haiti have included wells programs, health ministries, short-term mission trips, and work camps, Keeney said.

The denominational mission in Haiti will be a new model for the church, Keeney told the board, and will be "Haitian-led," he said. "This brings two parts of our church joining together in mission to a third place," he said as he outlined the plan for Haitian Brethren leaders from the US and the DR to lead the mission.

"It sounds like we can either get on board with what God is doing or step back," said board member Doug Price during discussion of the proposal. "The church is at work.... I for one want to really affirm this and am eager to vote yes." The proposal was approved after discussion of staffing, budget, and the board's financial responsibility, and after a few moments of silence and prayer.

An initial announcement of a six-member Stewardship of Property Committee, an ad hoc committee appointed by the Executive Committee, was met by calls to diversify the committee to include women, ethnic minorities, and members from the western US. Later in the meeting, a special session was held to process the concerns. Shumate announced that two more members would be added to the committee and called for suggestions of names.

Since the meeting, the final make up of the Stewardship of Property Committee has been announced: D. Miller Davis, of Westminster (Md.) Church of the Brethren; Fletcher Farrar, Springfield (Ill.) Church of the Brethren; Dale Grosbach, Messiah Church of the Brethren, Kansas City, Mo.; Wanda Haynes, Columbia-Lakewood Community Church of the Brethren, Seattle, Wash.; Ivan Patterson, Bear Creek Church of the Brethren, Dayton, Ohio; Marianne Rhoades Pittman, Good Shepherd Church of the Brethren, Blacksburg, Va.; Dale Roth, University Baptist and Brethren Church, State College, Pa.; and David Sollenberger, representing the General Board. The group will hold a first meeting by Jan. 2005 and will report to the General Board in March 2006.

A 2005 budget for the core ministries of the board totaled $5,376,410. The board chose to adopt a budget with a small income over expense of $49,210. The parameter originally set for 2005 represented a $199,000 reduction; the final budget approved is a reduction of $248,000. The board also approved budgets for its self-funded units, most of which have zero-based budgets. When adding these in, the full scope of the board's ministries is represented by a total gross income in 2005 of $9,025,110. The reduction means that two vacant staff positions in Congregational Life Ministries and Information Services will not be filled.

An encouraging giving report came from Ken Neher, director of Funding and Donor Development, that overall giving to the ministries of the board is up 23 percent from this time last year. That figure encompasses a dip of 1.3 percent in congregational giving to the board's core ministries as well as a gain in individual giving and a sharp increase in giving to two of the board's special funds, the Emergency Disaster Fund and the Special Gifts Fund. "But by far the largest increase in unrestricted income was in our bequest gift category, where estate settlements have rebounded from two years of very little activity," Neher said.

The board approved a recommendation from the Committee on Interchurch Relations, which has made a two-year study of the "observer consultant" relationship with the American Baptist Churches USA. Brandy Fix, CIR member and pastor of Wabash (Ind.) Church of the Brethren, brought the recommendation that the relationship continue "because we find that it is of great value." In a move to more meaningfully relate with the American Baptists, CIR recommended that the position of observer-consultant be shifted from the General Board to CIR. The American Baptists are considering a similar shift in their structure, Fix said.

In other business the board appointed Dale Minnich and Ken Wenger to its Audit and Investment Committee; heard reports; recognized employees; held conversations with staff in ministry areas; and approved polity revisions to be considered by the 2005 Annual Conference. A variety of small revisions were approved, mostly to bring the polity up to date.

A change in the nominations process for the board also was made, initiated by staff who discovered a mathematical "glitch" that will create a vacancy of a district representative every eight years beginning in 2005. The board approved a proposal brought by Annual Conference secretary Fred Swartz to fill the vacancy with an "at-large" district representative nominated by the board. The nomination will be submitted to Annual Conference for its approval.

Source: 11/05/2004 Newsline