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Kentucky Baptists Approve Constitutional Changes
11/16/2010
LEXINGTON – Messengers to the 173rd Annual Meeting of the Kentucky Baptist Convention voted to amend its constitution to increase participation and efficiency of the KBC Mission Board.
The changes will reduce the size of the mission board, the body that acts on behalf of the convention between annual meetings, from 170 members to approximately 120 over the next several years.
Adam Greenway explains the constitutional changes while KBC President Don Mathis looks on.
Adam Greenway, KBC first vice president and chairman of the constitution and bylaws committee, told messengers gathered at Immanuel Baptist Church in Lexington that the revisions were meant to “right size” the mission board.
“We believe this change is a way to make service more meaningful,” Greenway said, adding that the revisions also would produce a “modicum of Cooperative Program savings.”
The first revision changes wording in Article VII so that the total of mission board members is determined by the number of “resident members” instead of “total membership” in Kentucky Baptist churches.
The second revision, also in Article VII, is designed to give a uniform numerical threshold for the adding of seats to the mission board. For every 5,000 “resident members” in an association, an additional mission board member will be appointed.
“Every Kentucky Baptist association receives automatically one representative on the mission board,” Greenway explained. “This would not change any of that.”
An additional change to the constitution approved by messengers permits members of standing KBC committees also to make reports to annual meeting messengers on behalf of Baptist agencies and institutions.
Greenway also submitted a first reading of a proposed change to Article VI which will be voted on by messengers to the 2011 annual meeting at Florence Baptist Church at Mt. Zion. The proposed change is: The Kentucky Baptist Convention “shall serve and assist the churches in their sovereign capacity by the providing of resources and the facilitating of cooperation so that the Body and the churches may fulfill the Great Commission.”
The Kentucky Baptist Convention is a cooperative missions and ministry organization made up of nearly 2.400 autonomous Baptist churches in Kentucky. A variety of state and worldwide ministries are coordinated through its administrative offices in Louisville, including: missions work, disaster relief, ministry training and support, church development, evangelism and more. For more, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Release prepared by Dannah Prather, Marketing & Media Relations Associate
