JEFFERSON CITY—Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Interim Executive Director Jay Hughes explained to staffers March 3 at In-Office Day that the new North American Mission Board (NAMB) strategy is built entirely around evangelistic church planting, and that the MBC will want to partner with that.
He also noted that the previously announced deadline of March 31, when all of the new integrated strategic partnership agreements between state conventions and NAMB were to be signed, is flexible. Hughes said the MBC will strive to have its agreement in place by the April 11-12 meeting of the MBC Executive Board. That is also when the board will look at a proposed budget.
“I think 2012 is the transition year,” Hughes said. “I think 2013 is going to be when the NAMB strategy is completely in place. So we’re considering all options for partnership for 2012.”
Hughes talked about the need to know the “impact” on the MBC “so that we can manage the changes.” NAMB’s current process is dictating a level of change that Hughes thinks is going to be “manageable.” What has yet to be determined is how many of Missouri’s 16 jointly funded NAMB employee positions, secured by the current cooperative agreement of 50-50, will make it into the new structure.
“The challenge for us then is how to make decisions on what next year looks like based on information that is coming slowly and not quite set in concrete,” Hughes said.
The Organizational Study Group (OSG) of the MBC will present its final report to the board April 11. There could be as many as five recommendations, Hughes said, but the report in general will not contain a detailed structure for a new MBC. Factoring into the equation is the uncertainty surrounding the next MBC executive director; a search committee is to be named at the board meeting.
Hughes prefaced his talk to the staffers by leading them through a prayer time that culminated in an exhortation to be more like Jesus.
ALLEN PALMERI/associate editor
apalmeri@mobaptist.org