The Southern Baptist Convention’s (SBC) Executive Committee (EC) adopted plans to undergo a complete reorganization of its committees and work groups during its Feb. 17-18 meeting in Nashville, Tenn.
The proposal was first introduced in an officers meeting on Sept. 15, 2019, and will go into effect after the SBC’s annual meeting concludes this June in Orlando, Fla.
The EC currently has three committees, each with two to three workgroups:
- Business and Finance
- Cooperative Program
- Administrative
What’s changing
The new structure will eliminate workgroups, change committee names and add one new committee:
- Convention Finances and Stewardship Development
- Convention Missions and Ministry
- Southern Baptist Relations
- Convention Events and Strategic Planning
EC officers will continue to operate as a group that can bring recommendations to committees or the full board.
SBC EC file
Why the change
EC leaders said changes were proposed for the following reasons:
- To increase the number of members engaged in the initial stages of discussion. Deliberation will begin in larger committees, rather than small workgroups.
- To allow more time for deliberation of complex issues.
- To prevent some workgroups from meeting with no agenda items, while other workgroups manage full agendas.
- To allow more cooperation across committees on certain issues.
Significance of the restructure
“Restructuring the internal committees of the SBC Executive Committee allows for improved communication and decision making for the members of the EC,” a spokesperson for the EC told the Biblical Recorder. “By enlisting more decision makers earlier in the process, redundancy of discussions is greatly reduced.”
“It is also our goal for members to have more time to discuss and contemplate issues as there will be fewer meetings as a result of the reorganization. Fewer meetings mean more time for understanding issues related to the important decisions that are made by the EC.
“Empty agendas – something that plagued the previous workgroup-based structure – will be eliminated under the new structure as well.”
Has this happened before?
Yes. Since 1969, the EC has had up to five committees and as few as three, with as many as 10 workgroups. The names and numbers of committees and workgroups have been changed in the past.
