Each trustee of the International Mission Board, including the new trustees elected by the SBC last month, has been assigned to serve on a regional committee as well as one of the five major committees --- Administration, Finance, Mission Personnel, Mobilization or Overseas. Those trustees serving on the Trustee Orientation Committee will serve on three committees.
I have not been assigned to serve on any committee for 2006/2007. In addition, the previous Chairman stated his intentions to keep me from attending the Forum or Executive Sessions (closed door meetings), and the new Chairman, John Floyd, has publicly stated his intentions to do the same.
I have been told that to bar a trustee from attending a meeting where all trustees are convened, without Southern Baptist Convention approval, is a violation of the bylaws, and possibly the law. However, rather than making an issue of this, I am choosing to abide by the wishes of the Chairman and will not attend the Forums and Executive Sessions until such a time I believe it is essential to do so or I am asked, whichever comes first. I am hoping that most of the business that is conducted, except for those issues involving security matters, will be in the plenary (or public sessions).
I am going to list the Chairman of the various committees, appointed by Dr. John Floyd. But before I do, I will list the new Executive Committee of the IMB. They act as the Board in between meetings and will control the direction of the Board meetings by setting the agenda.
The Executive Committee of the International Mission Board for 2006/2007
John Floyd, Chairman of the Board
Chuck McAlister, Chairman of the Overseas Committee
A.C. Halsell, Chairman of the Finance Committee
Steve Hill, Chairman of the Administration Committee
Kyle Cox, Chairman of the Mobilization Committee
Paul Chitwood, Chairman of the Mission Personnel Committee
John Russell, Vice Chairman of the Board
Sam Morgan, 2nd Vice Chairman of the Board
Sharon Tillery, Secretary of the Board
Subcommittee Chairmen of the International Mission Board
Bill Sutton, Chairman of Central and Eastern Europe
Jerry Corbaley, Chairman of South Asia
Winston Curtis, Chairman of Northern Africa and Middle East
Bill Sanderson, Chairman of East Asia
Doug Merck, Chairman of Pacific Rim
Joe Washington, Chairman of West Africa
Clint Henry, Chairman of Western Europe
Bill Hickman, Chairman of Central Asia
Steve Swofford, Chairman of Eastern and Southern Africa
Mike Butler, Chairman of Middle America and Caribbean
Jeff Ginn, Chairman of South America
These men (sorry ladies, no women chairs) meet every Board meeting with the Executive Committee meet every Board meeting on Monday in what is called "The Chairmen's Council."
So . . .
Our next International Mission Board meeting will be Monday through Wednesday, July 17-`19, 2006 in Richmond, Virginia. There will be no appointment service at this meeting, but the trustees will meet with the staff during their regular chapel service on Wednesday morning.
I always enjoy going to Richmond because it means an opportunity for me to visit with the missionaries at the Missionary Learning Center and to stop in and say hello to all the staff in Richmond. Rachelle will be accompanying me to this meeting as she did in Albuquerque.
In His Grace,
Wade
27 comments:
Wade,
I'm praying for you. It sounds as if the new leadership is just a replica of the old (on the BoT). I hope that the Lord will move in a mighty way. I hope that they are convicted of their actions.
Keep up the good fight.
Tim
Tim,
I think it would be best to give the new leadership a new, fresh slate for the year. It's too early to draw any conclusions.
Wade,
Your strength gives me hope and an example of grace. Thanks!
You're right. I'm sorry. It is just upsetting to see that the new chair isn't letting you in. Please, remove my first post, and this one as well.
Tim
WADE,
I pray that the IMB Board Members and Leadership would show HONOR to GOD, as You have displayed on every POST on your BLOG. If they display the same GRACE and TRUTH that you have displayed GOD will be HONORED. My prayer are with you and YOURS.
A Brother in CHRIST
Dear Friends,
I tried to go to the last one, but couldn't make it. I don't think I can go this time, either. But I urge anyone who can, maybe several of your who live near Richmond, to attend and report.
Love in Christ,
Jeff
I sincerely hope they will change their minds about having you work on these committees.
I have a question regarding the chairman of the BoT. My question is how is the Chairman of the BoT chosen?
Is he chosen by the Board itself or is the Chairman nominated by a comittee that is directly or indirectly chosen by the President of the SBC?
Also, how are the other "officers" of the BoT chosen?
As a "guy in the pew" I'm not on top of this stuff.
The bottom line to my question is this: What linkage is their between the current (or future) makup of the BoT -- and its officers -- and the President of the SBC? As far as I know the President of the SBC is the only person in this chain that is directly elected by a democratic system.
What authority do they have to keep you from doing what you were elected to do, if the Convention did not act on the matter? I don't get it.
So, in violation of their own bylaws, they can keep you off standing committees and out of executive session, but no one cares? I understand you not fighting against this for your own defense. I commend your desire to trust God. It just seems that someone else (another trustee, perhaps?) would see that they are violating their own bylaws (if that is the case). It would be appropriate to seek clarification on that issue. That would be wonderful to know for sure. If they are, the fact that no one has addressed this continues to be troubling and continues to lower my "trust" in the "trustees."
I guess the only bylaws that really matter are the ones about Wade Burleson blogging about Board of Trustee activities.
Wade,
We will keep you in prayer, our church is concerned about this issue because, at the risk of being too honest, we have several key leaders who have a "private prayer" language and are very upset by the boards actions in that regard and their treatment of you as a result.
If you are not allowed to attend those meetings, and if you are correct about that being in violation of our by-laws, then brother please, for the sake of our convention, seek out Godly wisdom in how to bring this before the convention for possible discipline of those involved.
By-laws ought to mean something or we are in real trouble.
We are praying for you, brother, even if you ripped me off on the essay contest.
Alan,
Interesting enough, there are no bylaws against blogging. Only rules, and properly so, against violating confidentiality. You will not find me doing that, though some have tried their best to make it seem as if I have.
I'm really not a sore loser, but twice I tried to introduce a motion in Greensboro asking the convention to vote on reinstating you to full responsibilities as a IMB Trustee. The first time it was ruled not in order because your motion was still on the floor.
The second time, my point of order was "not well taken" by the chair.
It remains my opinion that the churches in Oklahoma and the IMB missionaries from the state of Oklahoma are not being properly represented.
So, I am sincerely asking your advice. Do we just wait until the IMB BoT acts upon the decision in Greensboro to refer your motion to them, OR do I begin to press the issue at the state and national levels of SBC leadership?
I have to agree with Alan Cross.
If what the IMB BoT is doing to against the by-laws and possibly the laws, then someone needs to step up to the plate and confront them about it.
Maybe that someone isn't you, but I hope there are more than a few trustees who can be found trustworthy and who will find out the truth behind whether or not the Chairman can legally do this.
Of course, if the IMB BoT can break their own by-laws/rules, how do they expect any respect from missionaries or that we'll even listen to what they say? Fat chance. Everyone on our team is fed up with the childish behavior we see coming from some of our trustees (yes I'm refering to past and present chairmen of the BoT).
Wade,
On the issue of confidentiality - Do you think the real problem is that even though there is no actual requirement, there is some implied expectation of confidentiality for the supposedly non-confidential sessions of the board? People used to doing things the "old school" way aren't used to "business" being discussed publicly and I think that's where some of the bias against blogging has come from. However, legally, I would think that unless there is an actual rule, pledge, non-disclosure agreement, or whatever to abide by concerning the meetings, then the doors are open.
Brother Wade,
Just keep walking in the grace of our Lord. There is nothing more needed right now than more grace.
OKpreacher
Wade, Dr. Floyd answered a question, during the IMB report, concerning trustees being denied fulfilling their responsibilites as a trustee and he stated that, as far as he knew no trustee is in any way being prevented from serving fully as a trustee (this is not an exact quote). I am a bit confused with that answer and your not being given a committee assignment while all other trustees were given committee assignements.
Paul
Clif,
I didn't get a chance to thank you at the convention, but I really appreciate what you did.
It is really bizarre that your motion was ruled out of order "because Wade's motion deals with your issue" and then the committee recommended "my motion" to go back to the very people who keep me off the committees.
Sometimes it feels like "Who's on first."
Chris,
I think you nailed the issue.
However, good leadership does not rest on "status quo" but is active and continually looking for ways to improve and advance.
Bottom line for me is simply this:
What are the reasons for passing the new policies?
I asked that question my first meeting as a trustee and I still am asking that question.
Paul,
I am as confused as you.
As an IMB field personnel, (currently in the US, but definitely on the payroll) I find it interesting that only 7 of our 89 trustees have ever served on the mission field. I would LOVE to see a resolution that mandated at least 20% of the trustees must have served on the field. I love the IMB and feel things are continuing in the right direction (trustee issues aside), it is very dicouraging that "armchair QB's" are making decisions that are affecting those in the trenches.
IMB Personnel,
I have no problem with 20% of our IMB trustees being former missionaries. However, I am not so sure that it should be mandatory. Unlike you, I do not feel that pastors, staff members, and church members are merely "armchair QB's" that "are making decisions that are affecting those in the trenches." You might need to rethink that harsh evaluation - pastors, staff members, and many church members are "serving in the trenches" too. Is not the IMB an entity of the SBC, which is made up of churches that are composed of pastors, staff members, and church members? God bless!!!
In Christ,
JLG
Wade
How many of the Standing committee members have served before and perhaps Dorcus, Benn or Ville Rice(!) could do one of those analyses of what church they all come from. Will Dr Floyd continue appointing people who have servd forever?
My dear brother, Wade -
For the last 10 years I've steered clear of all SBC issues because my deep feelings about the cognitive/spiritual dissonance between words and actions of people I desperately wanted to respect because of their position had begun to overwhelm my day to day effectiveness in my local ministry. While I've stayed deeply involved in South Carolina Baptist ministries (not politics)along with my church work, I reopened my eyes to national issues recently when I saw the crawl across the bottom of the CNN screen that the SBC was having it's first contested presidential election in more than a decade. (My first convention was Dallas, 1985, I think, and my LAST was Atlanta, 1991.)
I have followed the broad outlines of the IMB discord but, again, until recently, had avoided indulging a huge personal weakness of allowing my reactions to the personalities of the "main characters" to overtake my deep desire to maintain a Christlike attitude toward all involved.
Without any other comment, I want to thank you for giving a fantastic example of maintaining the fulcrum point between being a doormat and a bulldozer. I believe that "The Fulcrum" could be another name for the Lord we love, worship and share...Jesus Christ, son of the living God.
SBC Pastor
Have you ever walked in the shoes of a Missionary?
Soft Answers to Rough Questions
A Pastor in Waco was once questioning some little boys on the meaning of Mat_5:5 and asked, "Who are the meek?" A boy answered, "Those who give soft answers to rough questions." We shall do well to remember this child's definition. The one who has wisdom in his head and heart does not need to shout at others. Wisdom speaks softly and persuasively, instead of impelling and forcing. Through the use of our tongues people will know whether we are wise or not. As that great theologian, Charles Hodge, said, "The doctrines of grace humble a man without degrading him and exalt him without inflating him."
A Brother in CHRIST
Charles,
Kind words gratefully received.
Thanks,
wade
Wade,
One thing that has always bothered me is that the BoT for a long time have seemed far more interested in compliance than character. While I had no problem with the BFM 2000 I fail to see how my signing it measured my character.
I am disappointed to see that "the new boss just the same as the old boss." The politically minded on the BoT certainly don't represent the SBC churches. Sadly, the apparently uninformed churches don't have a clue about the goings on in Richmond.
I know that I remain overseas solely because of obedience to God. However, it would be so much better to know that I have the support and not the suspicion of the BoT.
Thanks from another time zone
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