Editor’s Note: When the BGCT Executive Board met on Tuesday, September 28, they affirmed the guiding documents (see page 6) but postponed a decision regarding the governance structure. The board will gather in a called meeting on October 26 to vote on the restructure. The delay is intended to give members time to consider the proposal while allowing Executive Board staff time to respond to concerns raised at the initial meeting.

A streamlined Baptist General Convention of Texas decision-making structure and an emphasis on accountability are the key ingredients in a historic proposal to reorganize the convention.

The proposal—to be implemented through an amended BGCT constitution— would eliminate five major BGCT governance groups and bring their responsibilities under authority of the convention’s Executive Board.

It also would trim the Executive Board from 234 members to less than 100, while mandating the board reflect the BGCT’s geographical, racial and ethnic, gender, age and ecclesiastical diversity.

A special strategic planning committee, named by BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade, developed the recommendations. The reorganization would mark the convention’s first major structural change in five decades.

According to the governance proposal, the BGCT would eliminate the Christian Education Coordinating Board, which acts as a liaison to the universities and academy affiliated with the convention. The Human Welfare Coordinating Board, which relates to the convention’s child care, aging care and health care institutions, also would be eliminated.

Duties currently assigned to the coordinating boards would be delegated to a new Institutional Relations Committee of the Executive Board.

The proposal also recommends disbanding the State Missions Commission, which supervises work of the Executive Board’s missions and ministries staff. Supervision of these tasks would be assigned to the Executive Board’s new Church Ministries Committee.

The proposal suggests renaming the Christian Life Commission the Christian Life Group, which will continue to address public policy and ethical issues. According to the proposal, “advisory groups throughout the state” could be formed to “provide input, feedback and ministry involvement” for areas of work previously administered by commissions and committees.

In addition, the governance proposal would do away with the free-standing BGCT Administrative Committee, which serves as the convention’s personnel and budget committee. A new Administrative Committee of the Executive Board would take up those duties.

A new Executive Committee would “plan, coordinate and monitor the general progress” of the Executive Board. The committee would be comprised of the chairperson and vice chairperson of the Executive Board, the president and two vice presidents of the BGCT and the chairperson of each Executive Board committee.

The Executive Board would respond to its new duties by expanding its operational framework. Instead of meeting three times a year for a half day each, the board would conduct three two-day meetings. The new oversight committees would meet one day, and the full Executive Board would convene the next day.

The new structure is designed to increase accountability to the convention by centralizing authority—which previously had been dispersed—in the Executive Board.

The reorganized Executive Board would be comprised of 90 members—three each from 30 geographic/population sectors across the state. Each sector would be comprised of about 50,000 resident members of BGCT-affiliated churches.

The Executive Board also would include the BGCT’s president and two vice presidents. Presidents of Woman’s Missionary Union of Texas, Texas Baptist Men, Baptist Student Ministries and Hispanic Baptist Convention—all of which have been members of the Executive Board—will be ex-officio members of the new board, as will presidents of “any other convention recognized fellowships” and the convention recording secretary.

The membership structure would depart from the current guidelines, which provide for at least one member from each of the 113 district associations affiliated with the convention.

But the new structure still would ensure representation from all across the state. With the sectors allocated according to resident church membership, representation would somewhat resemble legislative districts. High-population counties would include more than one sector, while low-population counties would be grouped geographically to create a sector.

The smaller Executive Board—with its committees that would oversee specific convention operations—responds to a frustration expressed by many current and former board members: The sheer size of the current board and the limited scope of members’ participation in the governance process has translated into limited accountability for the board.

Executive Board membership would be reserved for “members of churches that are supportive of the Baptist General Convention of Texas,” the proposal notes.

When the Executive Board is fully functioning, members will be divided into three groups, with each member serving a three-year term but one-third of the members’ terms expiring annually. Members would be eligible to serve a second three-year term, but they would be ineligible to serve for more than six years consecutively.

Unlike the current Executive Board policy, the convention would pay travel expenses for board members to attend meetings.

Still, the new arrangement is expected to save money, since the convention would not be paying travel and other expenses for meetings of the eliminated coordinating boards, commissions and committees.

October 2004