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The Executive Board of the Canadian MB Conference is coming to Gathering 2004 with a new model of governance. Govern, according to the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, means “rule or control with authority; conduct the policy and affairs of (an organization, etc.).”
The reasons are given in the proposal in the Convention Report book. It states that the current structure “reduces the Executive Board to receiving reports and management activities.” Strategic vision setting and planning, giving authorization to perform the work, and holding staff accountable for achievement is “actually prevented,” as the Executive Director is “limited to a liaison relationship” with other executive staff. The new model will “enable the Executive Board to concentrate on prayerfully discerning direction from God with input from the churches.” This will “free Conference staff to exercise leadership with their departments within a context of appropriate direction and accountability.”
What are some advantages and disadvantages of this model?
Following are some of the possible strengths:
- It will allow more Canada-wide thinking and visioning. Executive Board members will be able to look at the needs of the big picture, rather than being concerned only with the agency they represent. Clarity of mission should result.
- Similarly, this model will, it is hoped, break down regional thinking so that provincial differences will be lessened. It could strengthen connections between national and provincial conferences.
- The Executive Board can be more representative of ethnic, gender and age demographics in the Conference, rather than of ministry agencies; members-at-large will be elected by the constituency.
- The gifts of board members can be better given to strategy and policy-setting than to “hands-on management.” Again, the bigger picture will be in view.
- The shift to policy governance ensures that decisions in the ministries can be made on the basis of prior, established guidelines, rather than on a case-by-case basis.
Following are some of the concerns:
- This model is based on a business model with a hierarchical structure: a CEO, managers, staff, customers. How does a covenant community fit into this? It seems to be in direct opposition to our traditional congregational polity.
- It may be difficult in this model to champion the less glamorous, non high-profile ministries of our Conference.
- Staff will be hard-pressed to find a broad, consultative base for their ministries if there is no board behind them. They will need to find people who are interested in specific ministries to advise them.
- According to this plan, the Executive Director, with one administrative assistant, must authorize and hold accountable executive staff, who in turn authorize and hold accountable their staff for accomplishing ministries. This seems like too much responsibility, work and power invested in one person.
- Communication and information flow to the constituency may be a problem. Will the press be allowed in the Executive Board meetings? In the current model, the Council of Boards functioned as Conference-in-Interim, and the reports and discussions were carried in the periodicals.
- How will change happen in executive and management staff if, God forbid, there is incompetence?
This model will not save money. There will need to be more frequent meetings of the Executive Board in order to do sufficient visioning, and the committees that advise the ministries will need to meet on a regular basis.
These positives and negatives, and perhaps others, will need to be thought through, prayed through and discussed thoroughly before a decision is made. Come to Gathering 2004 and help make the decisions that will determine how our Conference is governed in the years to come.
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