Following summaries explain changes

The Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) Board of Directors is recommending numerous changes to the Convention’s Articles and Bylaws, collectively referred to as the BSCNC’s governing documents, for messengers to consider in annual session Nov. 10-12.

All of the proposed changes are printed in this special insert in the Biblical Recorder, beginning on page B3. Because the changes are extensive, although most are simply condensing, sorting and clarifying, the following four summaries are offered to explain them. This first summary explains those that follow.

The summaries have been written by the BSC communications staff, who ask you to familiarize yourself with them and to attend the 178th annual session “Caring, Sharing, Daring,” at the Special Events Center of the Greensboro Coliseum.

It is important to note that substantial revision of the governing documents has not taken place since 2004 when the BSCNC worked through the process of incorporation. In the years that have followed the BSCNC’s incorporation, other issues have commanded the attention of the Articles and Bylaws Committee and the Board of Directors so that the organizational issues in the governing documents persist to this day. Therefore, the proposed amendments to the BSCNC’s governing documents that will be presented to the messengers of the Convention address several important areas related to the BSCNC’s missions and ministries.

The summaries explaining the proposed amendments to the governing documents have been organized in the following manner:
 
This summary will address proposed amendments to the governing documents related to the new relationship between the BSCNC and the five educational institutions. The new term to describe this new relationship is “affiliated educational institutions.”

The messengers to the 177th annual session of the BSCNC meeting held in November 2007 approved the study of a proposal that introduced a new relationship for the five educational institutions affiliated with the BSCNC. Messengers participating in that convention remember that the new relationship could not be finalized at that meeting because the BSCNC Bylaws require such a proposal to be referred to the Board of Directors. It must then study the proposal and return the following annual session to propose actions necessary to implement any change in a relationship.

During 2008, the Board of Directors assigned to the Articles and Bylaws Committee the task to implement the proposal for the five educational institutions because there are numerous references to the affiliated educational institutions throughout the BSCNC governing documents. The Committee brought recommended amendments to the governing documents to the BSCNC Executive Committee and the Board of Directors. These two groups approved the proposed amendments to the BSCNC governing documents. Now these amendments will be brought to the messengers meeting in annual session. Although some individuals may be anticipating a single motion related to the college/university proposal, the approval of the related amendments to the governing documents will serve as the BSCNC’s formal and final approval of the new relationship with the five educational institutions.
 
The BSCNC describes its relationship to institutions, agencies, auxiliaries, and the North Carolina Baptist Associational Missions Conference, collectively known as other entities, in the governing documents. Proposed changes in the governing documents related to these other entities will be addressed in the third summary. In the past, changes to institutional relationships have often resulted in the creation of additional summaries in the BSCNC governing documents. However, the Articles and Bylaws Committee proposes to consolidate all provisions for these other entities into a single article in the Bylaws.

The third summary will also address proposed amendments to the provisions for the Council on Christian Social Services (CCSS) and the Council on Christian Life and Public Affairs of the BSCNC. The CCSS is the body through which three institutions relate to the Board of Directors. These bodies also have been reviewed with numerous changes clarifying the roles and membership of these Councils.
        
The Articles and Bylaws Committee also determined to address the structure of the Board of Directors in an effort to streamline the governing documents related to the Board. The current governing documents require careful reading of the Articles of Incorporation and several articles in the Bylaws to understand issues related to the Board’s membership, duties, powers, and ministries. The proposed amendments consolidate material related to the Board of Directors into a single article in the Bylaws.