CARY, N.C. — The Executive Committee of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s board of directors endorsed a policy that provides guidance for how future search committees will conduct their work when filling vacancies for the role of executive director-treasurer (EDT).
During an online virtual meeting held Tuesday, April 15, members of the N.C. Baptist executive committee gave their unanimous support for the policy, which will now go before the state convention’s full board for consideration.
The policy, which was drafted by state convention officials and approved by the N.C. Baptist Articles and Bylaws Committee during a virtual meeting held Thursday, April 10, outlines various requirements and responsibilities that are intended to aid in the search and selection of a candidate to fill the position of executive director-treasurer.
Those responsibilities include, but are not limited to, developing a candidate profile, establishing the means to receive recommendations and applications, conducting interviews, and performing background checks before ultimately recommending a candidate for consideration.
State convention leaders said the policy is based upon current best practices for conducting executive leadership searches.
“Our committee has looked over it in detail and believe that this is a document that will be helpful for future searches,” said Jacob Reed, chair of the Articles and Bylaws Committee, prior to the Executive Committee’s vote to affirm the policy. Reed serves as children’s minister at Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville.
The N.C. Baptist board of directors voted last fall to authorize the N.C. Baptist human resources staff to develop the policy based on proposed changes to the state convention’s articles and bylaws regarding the EDT search process that were ultimately approved by messengers at last November’s annual meeting.
The bylaw changes added specificity regarding how an EDT search committee would be formed, along with an overview of the committee’s roles and responsibilities. The accompanying policy provides details about how those roles and responsibilities would be carried out.
The current bylaws call for the EDT search committee to recommend a candidate to the board’s Executive Committee. The Executive Committee would then recommend that candidate to the full board or request that the search team present another candidate for consideration.
After the board nominates a candidate for consideration, messengers would have the final vote on the EDT candidate at either an annual meeting or special-called meeting of the convention.
The Executive Committee’s endorsement of the EDT search policy is the latest step in what has been a multiyear examination and review of the bylaws related to selecting the state convention’s chief executive officer.
Following Todd Unzicker’s election as EDT in 2021, the appointed search committee at that time asked the Articles and Bylaws Committee to consider updates to the search and election process because the committee believed the bylaws were vague and outdated for the needs of conducting a modern executive search.
The previous bylaws gave little guidance related to how the EDT search process should be conducted other than to say “the Board shall nominate a person to the Convention for consideration.”
The full board will give final consideration to the EDT search policy during its next meeting, which is scheduled for May 19-20 at Fort Caswell on Oak Island.
Other business
In other business, the Executive Committee approved a minor change to one of the state convention’s personnel policies related to medical insurance for staff to ensure compliance with provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
Additional updates
The Executive Committee also heard updates on the ongoing response to Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina and on financial giving through the first quarter of 2025.
N.C. Baptists on Mission is operating six rebuild centers across western North Carolina that serve as bases of operation for ongoing recovery work in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which struck the state in late September 2024. Volunteers working out of those sites have completed work on more than 200 homes in the region and are in the process of rebuilding 250 more, said Tim Etheridge, president of N.C. Baptists on Mission.
Etheridge said N.C. Baptists on Mission’s goal is to rebuild 2,000 homes over the next five years.
“God is providing and great things are being done in His name,” Etheridge said.
N.C. Baptist officials also shared a financial report with Executive Committee members.
Through March 31, N.C. Baptist churches have contributed more than $6.6 million in Cooperative Program giving, which is up about $59,000 or nearly 1% over the same period in 2024.
In year-over-year comparisons, contributions to special offerings are also up through the first quarter of 2025.
Through March 31, giving to the North Carolina Missions Offering (NCMO) totaled nearly $418,000, which is up nearly 42% or more than $123,000 through the same time period in 2024. NCMO supports disaster response and the 19 different ministries of N.C. Baptists on Mission, as well as church planting and other missions mobilization efforts.
Moreover, gifts from N.C. Baptist churches in support of North American and international missions are also up through the first quarter of 2025.
Nearly $555,000 has been given to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American missions through March 31, which is up by more than $47,000 or nearly 9.3% ahead the same time period in 2024.
More than $9.2 million has also been given to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions through March 31, which is nearly $952,000 or 11.44% ahead of the same time period in 2024.
