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Fourteenth Business Meeting
JEAN-LUC LEZEAU: [Introduced the platform participants.] KAREN MORGAN: [Prayer.] NAIROBI CENTRAL CHURCH CHOIR: [Presented the special music.] JOHN GRAZ: We have the presence of several brothers and sisters who are government officials in their own country and have helped the church in very significant ways. We are not able to introduce all of them from the platform, but we would like to thank all of those who are here for the contributions they make to their church in their country. This morning I would like to acknowledge the presence of Justice Amee G. Magee Bai, president of the Constitutional Court of Chad and legal advisor to the president of the Republic of Chad. Brother G. Magee Bai, would you please stand up? [Applause.] Brother, thank you very much for your assistance to your church in your country. GERRY D. KARST: Welcome to the last day of business before we have the final Sabbath of celebration together. It has been a busy week; many things have taken place, but there's been a good spirit. God has been with us. This morning we have before us some business that we want to try to complete. Just before that happens, some of you may be interested in what is happening outside the dome, what viewers are seeing on the Hope Channel, and other media that are carrying the events. Brad Thorp, of the Hope Channel, is here with us and will take just 90 seconds to give you some highlights of what is happening in terms of the media world. Elder Thorp. BRAD THORP: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Pastor Costa and I hold e-mail responses that we have been receiving. Every day the Hope Channel broadcasts three and a half hours, much of it live from the floor, and on Sabbath we broadcast nine hours worldwide. As of yesterday we have received responses from 65 different countries around the world. We are very grateful for this. We have received approximately 17,000 separate Internet site responses. According to the Nielsen rating evaluation, every response is worth 50 viewers. This means that approximately 850,000 people have participated in this General Conference event. There is a significant possibility that it could be much larger, because we have many churches in which there are hundreds of individuals watching. We praise God for this. The Hope Channel exists for evangelism and discipleship, and I want to urge each of you to let your constituency know that the Hope Channel is your voice for the Adventist Church. [Applause.] GERRY D. KARST: Thank you very much. This gives you a little idea of what is happening outside. We have several important and essential items here that we need to address. Once we have completed those, we will come back and try then to complete the Church Manual items as time permits within the business session. We want now to reopen for discussion item 418, on page 66-69, concerning the Children's Ministries Department. LENA STABELL: I have a comment on the issue of Safe Ministries, page 68, line 2. It reads: “Safe Ministries, whereby churches . . . adopt safeguards to protect children from physical, emotional, and spiritual abuse.” I think it is proper to add the word “sexual,” because that might be a problem that we will have to cope with as well. I therefore move an amendment to add the word “sexual” after “emotional.” GERRY D. KARST: Is there support for that amendment? Yes. [The motion was voted.] NINA MYRDAL: Pages 67, lines 39 and 40, mention “other entities, such as the Family Ministries, Sabbath School, Youth, and Stewardship Departments, to achieve shared goals.” I think that also the church school needs to be in the sentence, so I move that we add the phrase “church school” somewhere in that sentence. GERRY D. KARST: Do I see a second to that? Yes. [The motion was voted.] JEAN-LUC LEZEAU: Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to raise the question on lines 39 and 40 of page 67. If I recall, we voted previously to change the names of the Youth Department and Sabbath School Department to Ministries, so it should read really “Family, Sabbath School, Youth Ministries.” GERRY D. KARST: Yes, thank you for calling that to our attention. Since that has been voted, it will appear that way in the minutes. JEAN-LUC LEZEAU: But now I have another concern. Since we left out the Department of Stewardship, when can I introduce a motion to change the name of the department into Stewardship Ministries as well, so that it is all included? GERRY D. KARST: I don't think that was a part of our agenda for this session, was it? So that will need to go through the regular tracking, as the others have done for this time. ARNOLD TRUJILLO: George Barner, in his book Transferring Children Into Spiritual Champions, states that children between the ages of 5 and 12 are about eight times more receptive to making decisions for Christ than they are at any other stage of their lives, and I just want to commend those who have prepared this document and this body for considering this so that it will enter into our Church Manual. I really believe that working together in developing an integrated plan for leading children into a decision for Christ will reap huge benefits for our church in the future. GERRY D. KARST: We need a two-thirds majority now to close discussion on this item. [Motion to end discussion was voted.] We will now vote on the motion on item 418. [Item 418 was voted.] Now we are going to move to some of the constitution and bylaws items, and I will call your attention to item 309, page 85, concerning the division executive committees, and I will now turn to Larry Evans to introduce this for us. LARRY R. EVANS: We would like to invite Elder Lowell Cooper to address this. He has done some major work on this one. LOWELL C. COOPER: On page 85 we have the recommendation that presents a couple of amendments to the General Conference Constitution and Bylaws, and just a word of explanation about each in the first section. We are making a recommendation that arises from the fact that as the church continues to grow and carry on its spiritual work, it has increasing interface with the legal realities of different parts of the world, and it is, we believe, prudent for church entities to take appropriate actions that would protect church assets, particularly from ascending liability claims. In this particular part of the constitution, we would like to elaborate with a statement on the authority of division committees, and that is in the first paragraph. I will read from line 17 on: “A division may establish for the use, benefit, and purpose of the church in countries of that division various legal entities and may entrust to these or to other entities previously established full responsibility for property, governance or other functions provided such responsibility is exercised in harmony with denominational policies and values.” In the second paragraph, Mr. Chairman, at least the first part of the paragraph, we are merely cleaning up language; this paragraph deals with the membership of division committees. We are not presenting any new concepts here, but trying to add clarity to what is already being done. In lines 23-29 we are merely cleaning up the language so that the series of memberships are consistent in description. We begin on line 31, and as I read this there will be two slight amendments from the copy that you have in your book: “Other division executive committee members shall be appointed—strike the words “for the quinquennium”—“according to the policies of the division. Appointed members shall include representation from denominational employees and from church members in regular standing who are not denominationally employed. Denominational employee representation shall include some pastors and”—delete the word “educational” insert the word “institutional”—“personnel.” Mr. Chairman, I would move the adoption of this item. GERRY D. KARST: It has been moved and seconded. You have it before you, and we will now provide opportunity for anyone who wishes to speak to this. It has been explained and clarified, and it will serve an important purpose for the church. I see nothing on our monitor. BRIAN BULL: I fully understand the need for the addition to section 1, but I wonder if it would not be clearer if the title were changed, because it seems that to establish several legal entities under a heading “Division Executive Committee” seems a bit awkward. Could we enlarge the title to correspond with what's now underneath it? GERRY D. KARST: Did you have a suggestion to offer? BRIAN BULL: It seems to me that the title would be better if it read “Division Legal Entities and Executive Committees.” GERRY D. KARST: I'll see if Elder Cooper has any reaction to that. LOWELL C. COOPER: Mr. Chairman, the section doesn't really talk about the legal entities. It's intended to address the existence of division committees and their particular role and composition. I'm not sure that the title would need to enlarge upon what the legal entities are. This is just clarifying the right of a division committee to establish legal entities. GERRY D. KARST: Is that helpful? BRIAN BULL: It's helpful, but it's going to be difficult for people to find this paragraph under the heading “Executive Committees.” However, I defer to the judgment of those who are writing the document. GERRY D. KARST: Thank you very much. ROBERT W. NIXON: I concur with Elder Cooper—this whole section of the constitution and bylaws has to do with the power of the division executive committees. And these are the entities in our church who have the power to do this. I think it is fine. GERRY D. KARST: Thank you very much. JOHN KAKEMBO: Are these legal entities required to be registered separately? If these countries were a legal entity, they would need to be registered. Will they be registered separately from the denominational institution? ROBERT W. NIXON: I think the answer to that will vary from division to division, country to country. In some countries, such as here in the United States, many church entities are unincorporated and are not registered with the government unless they want to seek a tax exemption. In other countries the tradition is that these entities are legal corporate entities. So this will give the division executive committees the discretion to do what is proper and customary in their areas. GERRY D. KARST: We are now ready to vote. [Item 309 was voted.] We go next to item 306, pages 40 and 41. This is an item on the Auditing Service. LOWELL C. COOPER: Mr. Chairman, if you would allow me to present that also. We begin with a statement of rationale that we trust explains a little bit of the background to the thinking here and the presentation of a recommendation that in itself is rather brief. [Elder Cooper then read the rationale for the proposed amendment to Bylaws, Article VIII—Auditing Service and Audits.] To get this before us, Mr. Chairman, I would move it. [The motion was seconded and voted.] GERRY D. KARST: Thank you very much. Elder Evans, where do we go next? LARRY R. EVANS: Item 314, pages 93-98, “General Conference Sessions, Constitution and Bylaws Amendment,” and again we would turn to Elder Cooper, who has worked a great deal on this. LOWELL C. COOPER: The tracking line at the top of page 93 indicates that this item has been under consideration for some time and by several different committees. And it comes to this body as a recommendation from the General Conference Executive Committee. It is a recommendation that addresses the dynamics of change and growth in the world church and how these dynamics impact upon the composition of a delegation to a General Conference session. Once again we've tried to provide a statement of rationale before we come to the recommendations for amending the constitution. I will begin reading at line 13: “Current constitutional provisions limit the size of a General Conference session delegation to 2,000 persons. Delegate quotas are determined by a variety of factors, such as an entity's membership as a proportion of world membership, the number of organizational structures (union conferences/missions, local conferences/ missions, division institutions, etc.). Some delegate quotas are specified in the constitution (e.g., each division receives 10 delegates in the delegates at large classification). A portion of the delegate seats are allocated at the discretion of the General Conference Executive Committee. “Under the current constitution, an increase in the number of organizational units requires a decrease in the number of delegates that can be allocated on the basis of membership. Consequently there have been requests to amend the constitution in such a way as to allow these parameters, membership and organizational structure, to be addressed separately in the composition of a General Conference session delegation. “A General Conference session is convened for a specific agenda of church business. The larger the delegation, the more cumbersome the process of conducting the business of a session. At the same time, there is a unifying value for delegates and a large number of guests to experience the worldwide fellowship that a session provides. The growth in membership and the high value given to unity in the church is presented as sufficient reason to consider a gradual growth in a session delegation. “The following proposal was developed at the request of General Conference and division leadership. If approved at the 2005 General Conference session, these amendments to the General Conference Constitution would affect the 2010 General Conference session. The following changes are proposed. “1. Remove the numerical limit, currently 2,000, to the overall size of a General Conference session delegation. “2. Place a numerical limit on certain segments of the delegation. “3. Limit, to less than 15 percent, the increase in numbers of delegates from those categories unaffected by growth in the number of organizational units. “4. Introduce a differentiation between organizational units having conference status and those with mission or equivalent status. “5. Continue the requirement that significant representation in the delegation shall be chosen from laypersons, pastors, teachers and nonadministrative employees, of both genders, and representing a range of age groups and nationalities. “6. Increase, from the current level of ten, the number of delegate selections available to a division. “7. Reclassify division institution delegates as at large rather than regular delegates.” [Four illustrations were shown on the video screens to illustrate the current situation and the effects that the proposed amendments will have.] Now we'll look at page 94, and we'll step down through our current constitutional language and identify where changes to address the things that we've talked about would be appropriate. We'll begin, first of all, at line 29. This particular clause does not deal with delegation, but because it's dealing with General Conference sessions, and because we don't have a current statement on quorum, we felt that this would be the appropriate place to put it in. “At least one third of the total delegates authorized hereinafter under Section 5, of Article V, must be present at the opening meeting of any regular or specially called General Conference session to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Once the session is declared open, the delegates remaining present shall constitute a quorum.” We go down the page to line 41, where we are talking about the delegates to a session. We're just describing the two groups, regular delegates and delegates at large, and we are removing the numerical limits from those two sections. If you combine the two, that's where we get the 2,000. We turn over to page 95. There is an editorial change at lines 9-11: “Such reduction shall then be applied to both regular delegates and delegates at large.” We move into Section 6, which tells us how delegates represent various entities of the church. There are no changes there except the numbering of the section. We move to page 96. And we look at line 6: “Regular delegates shall be allotted on the following basis.” Now, this is where we make some changes. Line 13: “a. Each union conference shall be entitled to two delegates other than its president (who is a delegate at large) without regard to membership size. “b. Each union mission shall be entitled to one delegate other than its president (who is a delegate at large) without regard to membership size.” We indicated in the introduction, Mr. Chairman, that we were making the distinction between entities having conference status and entities having mission status. And the distinction is that an entity with conference status would have two delegates instead of the current one, while entities having mission status would retain the present one. We move to line 24. “c. Each local conference shall be entitled to two delegates without regard to membership size. “d. Each local mission shall be entitled to one delegate without regard to membership size.” And then down to line 36: “e. Each union of churches shall be entitled to two delegates without regard to membership size.” The other changes on that page, Mr. Chairman, are just numeration changes. I pick up the last line of page 96, line 40, the sentence beginning: “The total number of delegates from all divisions under this provision shall not exceed 400.” This is where we impose a numerical limit on a certain segment of the delegation. We move to page 97, line 18: “Sec. 8. Delegates at large”—this is where we change from the group of regular delegates to the delegates at large—“shall represent the General Conference, General Conference institutions, divisions of the General Conference, and division institutions and shall be appointed on the following basis.” I'll now read from line 22, so that we understand the whole composition of the delegates at large group. “a. All members of the Executive Committee. b. Associate directors/secretaries of the General Conference departments and associations. c. Twenty delegates from the General Conference appointed staff. d. Twenty delegates for each division. e. Each division shall be entitled to additional delegates corresponding to the number of division institutions within its territory.” Once again, that language previously applied in the regular delegate category. We're merely bringing it into the at large category, where it belongs in order to be consistent with other definitions in the constitution. Line 34: “f. Those representatives of the General Conference and division institutions and other entities, and those employees, field secretaries, laypersons, and pastors who are selected by the Executive Committees of the General Conference and its divisions. The number of these delegates shall be 300.” This again is the second time we are placing a numerical limit on a certain part of the delegation. Line 40: “Sec. 9. Division administrations shall consult with unions to ensure that the entire division delegation shall be comprised of Seventh-day Adventists in regular standing, at least 50 percent of whom shall be laypersons, pastors, teachers, and nonadministrative employees, of both genders, and representing a range of age groups and nationalities. The majority of the above 50 percent shall be laypersons. Delegate selections from General Conference and division institutions, and those selected under Sec. 8. d. above, shall not be required to satisfy the quota for laity.” Mr. Chairman, the changes on page 98 are only incidental relating to numbering. To get the matter before us, I would move the adoption of this amendment to the constitution. GERRY D. KARST: Thank you. It's been seconded. Now the item is before you. I would simply remind the delegation that when we're dealing with constitutional items Article XIII in the constitution specifies that there is a two-thirds majority required. And we've been following that, but I simply wanted to remind you of that as well. JUAN R. PRESTOL: Mr. Chairman, I apologize for coming to you now on a point to be clarified on a previous action, so I don't want to imply that the chair will recognize me if it is not convenient. I am going back to the action on auditing, and it is to the pleasure of chair as to when you wish to recognize me on that. GERRY D. KARST: We won't do that right now, but we'll see how we move along. Thank you. JOHN L. WANI: I don't have the backup material in my file, but when the presenter was presenting he said union missions may have one representative. I don't know if I missed out, but he said union of churches will be represented by two. I don't know. Can he clarify? I don't know the difference. GERRY D. KARST: We'll have a response for you. LOWELL C. COOPER: Let's start with the union mission. The president of the union mission is a member of the General Executive Committee and therefore automatically a delegate to a General Conference session. The language that we have here is that a union mission would be entitled to an additional delegate. That is the current practice. The union mission president is a delegate, and there is one additional delegate. With respect to unions of churches, the current constitution says that a union of churches is entitled to one delegate. This proposal is that a union of churches would be entitled to two, making it equivalent to the provision for a local conference. We have increased the automatic delegate representation at a local conference to two and because a union of churches, in its dynamic equivalency, is probably most closely equivalent to a local conference. We are proposing an increase of the union of churches delegation, the automatic delegation to two delegates. GERRY D. KARST: Does that satisfy it? JOHN L. WANI: Does that mean the union conferences will have three delegates, since the union conference president is a member of the Executive Committee? LOWELL C. COOPER: Mr. Chairman, Brother Wani is correct. A union conference would automatically have three delegates—the union conference president plus two more. At the present, it is only one. GERRY D. KARST: Thank you very much. Now, we have a long list here, and I hope we can move through these. You are limited to two minutes each on these. Herb Stickle, please. B. HERBERT STICKLE: First, if this session had been organized following the proposed constitution change, how many total delegates would there be, and how would it affect the larger divisions or the smaller divisions? Second, as we look forward to 2010, what would be the expected size based on growth patterns similar to those that we have been experiencing? LOWELL C. COOPER: May I respond to those questions, Mr. Chairman? First of all, if we had applied the amended language to the composition of the delegation to this session, there would have been 2,296 delegates, whereas there are now 2,000. Perhaps we could look at a little bit of history here: 10 or 15 years ago we had a delegation potential of 2,600. In 1995 we adopted constitutional language that changed that and reduced it to 2,000. However, because some division executive committees also meet to conduct their quinquennial election of departmental directors at General Conference session time, these divisions have been bringing additional people to a session. So we still had, in 2000, more than 2,300 people attending as either delegates or guests. So changing this number, at least on our present structure, to 2,300 doesn't change the number of people who attend. GERRY D. KARST: OK, Herb, do you have something more? B. HERBERT STICKLE: I'm not sure that I heard the projection of the number for 2010. GERRY D. KARST: Thank you. Elder Cooper, do you have a projection? LOWELL C. COOPER: In the quinquennium just past, the net number of organizational unit changes was an increase of 49. The quinquennium before that had a net change in the middle forties. If we project that forward, we could expect, I suppose, another 50 organizational units by the time we have 2010. But that is subject to a lot of factors of organizational life. The fact of a growing membership does not automatically increase the delegates, because the delegate count that is assigned on the basis of membership is assigned from a fixed figure and assigned to divisions by percentage. So a growth in membership does not automatically create a growth in delegates. What is happening at present is that the growth in structural units is putting pressure on those other two categories of delegate selection. B. HERBERT STICKLE: I would gather from Elder Cooper's explanation that he feels that there would not be a significant financial burden created by this change. LOWELL C. COOPER: In our discussion through the various committees that have looked at this, and in information from divisions, there would be minimal if any change from what is happening right now. GERRY D. KARST: Thank you very much. KELVIN PEUSER: There are a couple of points that I would like to make. The first is that I would like to draw the session's attention to page 93, lines 27 and 28. [KELVIN PEUSER expressed his concerns that the increase in the number of delegates to a session could increase the cumbersome way in which the church does its business. He expressed opposition to the motion.] GIOVANNI LEONARDI: Why is there a difference in the number of the delegates between the union conference and the union mission? Is it because the union mission has less money? because they have less experience? because the Spirit of God is less present among them? because they are not so wise? I would appreciate an explanation. Also, I imagine that the divisions that have the most structures are the richer divisions. And I see that the presence of layman is reduced. Is all this consistent with the ideal that we ought to strive toward? GERRY D. KARST: Thank you. We will ask Elder Cooper to respond. LOWELL C. COOPER: There were several questions. Why the difference between the organizational status of a conference and that of a mission? When an organization transitions from mission status to conference, it encounters a new dimension in its participation with the world work. It becomes a net contributor to world work rather than a net receiver. And in our present constitutional language and the apportionment of categories of delegates it is not always possible for a conference president to be chosen as a delegate. It is not always possible to do that. And the committees that have looked at this question have felt that because of that dynamic in church life, an organization reaching conference level begins a new dimension of participation in church life, and the reality of that participation is most keenly understood and experienced at the officer level. It was felt that we should make a provision that a local conference president could be a delegate to a General Conference session. We have done that by increasing the number of delegates to organizations with conference status to two. Therefore, one delegate could be the president; the other delegate can satisfy the requirement of laity, pastor, teacher, frontline worker, as is the current language in the constitution. The second question was the inference that divisions with greater resources have a higher number of structural units. I think that in actual fact the reverse is true. A third question relates to the presence of laity, and as we pointed out, in order to be totally transparent with you the language in the amendment would result in about a 2.5 percent reduction in the presence of laity. And where that happens in this constitutional language is when we exempt the at-large delegates chosen by a division from having to satisfy a laity quota. It needs to satisfy the pastor, teacher, frontline worker quota, but our amendment is that it would not have to satisfy the laity quota. The reason for that has been pointed out to us by the divisions, and that is that under our current constitutional language it is not possible for all division department directors to be selected as delegates to a General Conference session. GERRY D. KARST: This brings us to the conclusion of our first 15-minute block. I now need to know whether you want to cease discussion and debate on this item and come to a vote. [It was voted to close debate.] We're now ready to vote on item 314. [Item 314 was voted.] SAMUEL KORANTENG-PIPIM: Mr. Chairman, I had a point of order even before the votes were taken. Next to Church Manual revisions, which have theological implications, this item is perhaps the most important because it defines the quality of decisions made. My point of order, which was not recognized before the vote, was simply to make the point that under this arrangement the people who will be represented at General Conference sessions would, by an overwhelming consensus, weaken the formula, having an excess number of delegates at large. In the past we said at-large delegates were 760 and regular delegates 1,240. According to this formula, the advantage of those who run the system at the different levels represented by the institutions would be overwhelming, and reduce additional input from the larger number of the church, which has only General Conference sessions as the forum to address issues. Mr. Chairman, I would request a reconsideration of the decision we took, simply because my point of order wasn't noticed and because this item is a very important one and perhaps we need a little more time to discuss it before we make any decisions. So I move for a reconsideration of the vote we've just taken to allow more time for discussion. GERRY D. KARST: We need to inquire whether the one who has made the motion to reconsider voted in favor of the motion. SAMUEL KORANTENG-PIPIM: I didn't vote at all, because I was wondering when my point of order would be recognized. GERRY D. KARST: OK, and I apologize, Dr. Pipim, that I didn't notice you standing at the time. If you'll just bear with us a moment. One would have to have voted in favor of the motion to offer a reconsideration. There may be someone else on the floor who would wish to do that. JUAN R. PRESTOL: Mr. Chairman, I voted in favor of the motion, and therefore I am qualified to place the motion before you. I move that it be reconsidered. GERRY D. KARST: Is there a second to that motion? I see several seconds. This requires a majority vote now to reconsider and bring it back before the delegation. [The motion to reconsider was lost.] Juan Prestol is on microphone 6, and I think this was dealing with the previous item on auditing you wanted to come back to. JUAN R. PRESTOL: I appreciate your indulgence. One of the points that was made as to the conflict of interest embedded in the auditing function is that they are the auditors for the church and they are part and parcel of what is decided with the auditing as well. My concern is that I think several of the points on page 41 need some clarification. On line 30, where it says that the General Conference Auditing Service serves as the denomination's preferred provider of auditing service, the potential is still embedded there for them to have a conflict of interest because they are going to monitor the overall audit program and they will be recommending to the General Conference Administrative Committee or division executive committee standards or guidelines. My question is very simple. Does either the chair or the providers of this motion have a way to help us clarify how the potential conflict of interest can be avoided? GERRY D. KARST: Brother Prestol, I am reluctant to reopen this since we voted it. However, if you want to test the will of the body, the chair will accept the motion for reconsideration, and then we can discuss it. Otherwise, we may recommend that you speak with the Auditing Service about your concerns. JUAN R. PRESTOL: Mr. Chairman, I will accept your counsel and will talk to them directly. But this is an issue that needs to be clarified. GERRY D. KARST: Thank you very much. We come back to Elder Evans now to lead us to our next item. LARRY R. EVANS: Early on in our session meetings we discussed item 301, which is found on page 35. During our discussion some delegates raised the question and suggestion that the Constitution and Bylaws Committee take another look at the format of that. The Constitution and Bylaws Committee has met with the delegates who raised the question. The Constitution and Bylaws Committee took their suggestions, worked on them, and has come to the conclusion that we could improve the format and the presentation of the issue that is item 301 on the agenda, item 200 in our agenda control. It is Article IV—Membership. GERRY D. KARST: Elder Evans, we might direct people to page 35 for the previous wording. Page 35 in your backup material, which has an asterisk, with an explanation below. That is the item we are referring to now, and I think that yesterday you received a handout that revises this after the Constitution and Bylaws Committee dealt with it. Elder Evans, please. LARRY R. EVANS: The issue that was raised was that in the constitutional format we should not use a footnote, so we have moved the content of the footnote into the main wording of the constitution. The content has not changed at all, but it is reformatted. I would move the new formatted provisions. [The motion was seconded and voted.] The next agenda item is a new item in regard to some of the confusion that arose when delegates caucused to choose members for the Nominating Committee. [The recommended amendments to Bylaws, Article II, Section 4, were then read and moved by Larry Evans. The motion was then seconded.] BERT B. BEACH: I support this recommendation. I think it clarifies a few issues that arose, but my point is a very small item down at the bottom, lines 41 and 42. This deals with the meeting of the selections of groups that appoint the Nominating Committee after the opening of the session. I would think that by common consensus we could clarify this matter by adding one word on line 42 and say, “. . . following the opening meeting of the General Conference session,” because simply by saying “following the opening,” somebody could say that right after we open the session and the delegates are seated, we should then separate to elect the members of the Nominating Committee. So it seems to me that the intention is after the close of the opening meeting, which has been the way we have done it ever since we can remember, several decades. I think we can reach this by common consensus. I am not making a motion to change it, because I think it is just a wording that clarifies without changing anything. GERRY D. KARST: Thank you, Dr. Beach; I think that may be helpful. Elder Evans, do you have a response? LARRY R. EVANS: I feel comfortable with that. GERRY D. KARST: I hear no objection. We will simply insert the word “meeting.” On line 42: “. . . following the open meeting of the General Conference session.” That's helpful. ATHAL TOLHURST: I see by the reference line that it has been considered by the Constitution and Bylaws Committee at the session on two occasions, and by the Steering Committee, and I understand, therefore, that lines 33-35 indicate the intent that delegates at large employed by the General Conference and its institutions, along with former employees who have retired from the General Conference, shall act as a unit. However, it appears to me that lines 26-31 can be read in a manner that contradicts clause 2, to which I've just referred. We need to make two minor amendments to the wording on line 27, in order to prevent confusion. And I suggest, and would move, Mr. Chairman, that line 27 read: “Delegates at large, excluding both those currently employed by the General Conference or its institutions and former employees who have retired from the General Conference or its institutions, shall meet with the regular delegates to select their representatives.” Mr. Chairman, I think this takes away the possibility of confusion, and I so move that amendment. GERRY D. KARST: Is there a second? Yes. Thank you very much. It adds clarification, and we trust that in the next session some of the confusion that occurred in this particular category will be cleared up. Any discussion now on the amendment itself? [It was voted.] This concludes the items on the constitution and bylaws. We will then return to the items on the Church Manual, and we will be guided by Armando Miranda and our secretary, Vern Parmenter, to lead us into the Church Manual items that are left. VERNON B. PARMENTER: We go to item 412, page 57, which has to do with business meetings. For a long time we haven't had a statement on a quorum. There is a statement in the Church Manual, page 83, about a quorum for a board meeting, but we have not had one for a business meeting in the local church, so we would recommend on line 14: “A quorum consists of those members present and voting at a duly called business meeting.” Mr. Chairman, on line 20 we have a definition of what a duly called business meeting is: “A duly called business meeting of the church is a meeting that has been called at the regular Sabbath worship service, together with proper announcements as to the time and place of the meeting.” I would move, Mr. Chairman, that we approve this amendment. GERRY D. KARST: Is there a second? Yes. Discussion?s WILLIAM NILES: If a quorum can be defined as the minimum number of persons necessary to conduct business and then we said that a quorum consists of those members present and voting, I think there are two things here that trouble me: The first is that we need to know the number of people who are voting in order to know the quorum. You will then decide the quorum after you have voted. Second, it says “those members present.” In a church of 500 members, if three persons should attend, then they become the quorum and are allowed to vote and conduct the business of the church. A quorum is usually decided as either a number or a percentage of the membership. It is therefore my opinion, Mr. Chairman, that this statement is inappropriate. We should either decide on a given percentage, or we should ask that the church board or the church in business session should decide on the quorum. If it is proper, I would move that this sentence be deleted from the entire passage. GERRY D. KARST: Since this is a new addition, in order to delete it you would simply need to vote against the motion. WILLIAM NILES: In that case, Mr. Chairman, I would move that this be amended to read “A quorum shall be decided by the church in business session or by the church board of that church.” GERRY D. KARST: You have heard the amendment. I see support. ARMANDO MIRANDA: This seems to me that this is not an amendment. This is something that is changing the motion; therefore, the main motion is on the table, and you can defeat it if you do not agree with it. GERRY D. KARST: Brother Niles, the amendment does alter significantly the intent of what was brought here. The way to take care of this would be to defeat the motion, and then come back and move a new motion with your new wording. I am trying to remember if that is what you tried to do at first. Please help me again. WILLIAM NILES: That was my first attempt. My concern, Mr. Chairman, is that two or three members of a church should not be allowed to make decisions on behalf of the church, and the way this is worded, that's what can happen. GERRY D. KARST: Let's see if we can come to an understanding. Our parliamentarian is suggesting that the intent of the amendment is to strike line 14 and the first two words on line 15 and insert in its place the motion that he presented as an amendment. That was seconded, and I think we will bring that item to a vote unless someone speaks to that particular item. DARREN CROFT: I would prefer to see this referred back to the committee for further consideration, now that this flaw has been highlighted. GERRY D. KARST: Let's hold that. If there is at this point a motion to refer, then it goes back to the committee, and we probably don't get to deal with it again until the next session. VERNON B. PARMENTER: Perhaps I could read the sentence that is in the Church Manual as it relates to the board meeting, and suggest a little change in wording that might be appropriate for the delegates to consider. It says, with my suggested changes, “Each church should determine at one of its regularly called business meetings the number of members who must be present at a business meeting to constitute a quorum.” [A motion to refer the item back to committee was made, seconded, and lost.] GERRY D. KARST: We're back to the amendment to strike this and insert the other reading. Does anybody want to speak to that? [A point of order—that the suggested amendment of William Niles was not an amendment, in that it changed the intent of the motion that was on the floor—was made.] GERRY D. KARST: Is someone else speaking to the amendment? MICHAEL CAULEY: I would like to speak against the amendment. It's my understanding that the church has always operated with the understanding that a duly called business meeting allows everyone to attend who wishes to attend, and those who are interested will be there and will constitute the quorum. So I would feel that a change of that practice, at least in my 28 years, would provide an opportunity for a small portion of the church to perhaps set up a quorum threshold that would be unreasonable and not allow due process on a congregational level. KELVIN PEUSER: I am not sure what the amendment is at the moment. Can we just have that clarified, please? AGUSTIN GALICIA: I am reading what will, if voted, be placed on line 14: “A quorum shall be decided by the church at a business session or by the church board.” KELVIN PEUSER: I am speaking against that amendment to the motion. From our experience in the South Pacific Division, we have found by bitter mistake in a court of law that the Church Manual should define what a quorum is in a legally constituted business meeting. Therefore, there is a need to have, in the Church Manual, a clear definition of what a quorum consists of, so that in a court of law the court can clearly determine, if it comes to that, whether or not the business meeting and the actions taken by that business meeting are in order. CHIEMELA IKONNE: I speak against the amendment. I would like to say that there is need to put a percentage on the quorum as you allow our meetings to go on. I say this because the business meeting comprises both baptized and nonbaptized members. In some situations even nonbaptized members will be able to outvote baptized members, and so, Mr. Chairman, if we leave it very open, we may run into situations that we may not be able to control. So I am suggesting that a percentage constitute that quorum. WARREN S. SIMATELE: I also speak against the amendment, because recently in some parts of the church we have had the court challenging us even with a specific quorum specified. So if we leave it open, we risk being challenged by the courts today, and further, it opens the door for many within the church who might have wrong motives to get their decisions passed. It is better that we specify the quorum to protect the church from litigation. THOMAS O. OCHOOGE: I support the amendment because we use authority to decide what is to be the quorum. If you call a meeting and only three people attend, that cannot be a quorum. So I support the amendment. GERRY D. KARST: We will now vote on the proposed amendment. [The vote was made.] The vote is very close, and we are going to need a count. [The amendment to the motion was voted, 374 to 326.] RAY HARTWELL: Mr. Chairman, two points. First of all, could we have clarification by reading the statement again? Second, is it permissible to make an amendment to this as it's now stated? GERRY D. KARST: Yes, there is a possibility to make another amendment, if you wish. So if we could have it read back as we heard it. AGUSTIN GALICIA: Line 14: “A quorum shall be decided by the church in a business session or by the church board.” RAY HARTWELL: Mr. Chairman, I would like to amend the motion so that a quorum would consist of 10 percent of the church membership. I believe that it is healthier to have a stated percentage rather than to have different individual churches and different ways of its being done across the world field and across conferences. One church would compare their quorum and could set their bar rather high, another church could set it rather low—so I move that we amend it to be 10 percent of membership. GERRY D. KARST: Is there support for this proposed amendment? I see a second. VERNON B. PARMENTER: Mr. Chairman, the Church Manual Committee did look at a percentage, and they felt that if you have a percentage you run into some problems. You can be concerned over the changing number of members in a church, which can fluctuate up or down, and there may be arguments over what the percentage is on that particular night when the meeting convenes. Would it be a percentage of active members only, or both active and inactive members? Some churches clean up their rolls; some don't. And the committee felt that having a percentage is a difficult one. I think if the committee were here to express their opinion, they would prefer a specific number. GERRY D. KARST: Our 15-minute time limit has run out on this one. Should we continue discussion on this? We have a proposed amendment before us that has been seconded. Stopping discussion on the amendment will bring us back to the main motion. I'm going to ask you to vote. [Voted to cease discussion.] We will now vote on the 10 percent amendment. [The 10 percent amendment was lost.] We will now vote on the document, which now reads, “A quorum shall be decided by the church in business session or by the church board.” [The document was voted.] VERNON B. PARMENTER: Mr. Chairman, the next item is 421, on page 72. This has to do with expired credentials, and we want to bring the language here into relation with the constitution and bylaws of conferences. So it will read, beginning on line 11: “Credentials are granted for the duration of the term as provided for by the constitution and bylaws or operating policy of the conference/mission/field. The credentials are renewed by a vote of the conference/mission in session or by the executive committee.” I move these changes, Mr. Chairman. GERRY D. KARST: Is there support for this change? Yes. Discussion on this item? DANIEL DUFFIS: This Church Manual item says, “The credentials are renewed by a vote of the conference/mission in session or by the executive committee.” For many years the constitutions of the conferences say that it is the executive committee that renews or removes credentials. There is no credentials and licenses committee in session anymore. So I think that the word “session” should be eliminated here. If you go to the previous paragraph on page 140 of the Church Manual, on the last paragraph under the subheading Credentials and Licenses it says also that is the executive committee that grants credentials and licenses. GERRY D. KARST: Thank you for your comment. We have run out of time, for Elder Baptiste and his group with the leadership have just a concluding item to bring to us before we conclude here at 12:00. We will hold the names that are on the list. HAROLD W. BAPTISTE: We had five wonderful presentations on leadership over the past five days, and we have received a number of recommendations and suggestions from the members of the body. We had time for questioning, but there was not much time for the consideration of the issues there with the view to arriving at a vote. The small committee that implemented the plans that materialized here in the session over the past few days got together and prepared a statement that they felt could be presented here, owned by the body by a vote. I will not read it, Mr. Chairman; time is of the essence. But perhaps we can refer to the essential elements in this statement. It's captioned “Profiling Seventh-day Leadership, a Summary.” The first paragraph is a preamble, and then the second paragraph affirms what the nature of Seventh-day Adventist leadership should be. I take you down to line 33: “The Seventh-day Adventist Church calls for leadership characterized by, but not limited to, the following: “1. Christlikeness in relationships. Humility, graciousness, forgiving, compassionate, peace loving,” etc. “2. Commitment to Mission Focus.” “3. Integrity.” “4. Loyalty to God and the Church.” “5. Professional Competence.” “6. Responsiveness to the Global Family.” “7. Responsibility and Accountability to the Church and Wider Community.” The summary statement goes into a call for action: “The delegates of the 2005 General Conference session affirm the positive steps taken by the leadership training of the General Conference and in a range of divisions and educational institutions throughout the world during the past quinquennium. However, the delegates also affirm the need for all divisions of the world to further prioritize the intentional professional development of leaders that espouse the ideas of Christian leadership, and additionally that such training be an expectation of leadership positions at all levels of the church.” Then we come to page 3. “The delegates identify the following as the main areas of action in leadership development. “1. Curriculum Development and Centers of Leadership: That each division, through a center for leadership or similar concept, develop a core curriculum for church leaders that is focused on a blend of professional competence, Christian leadership values, and specific denominational expectations. “2. Networking: That the General Conference office of leadership, the division Centers of Leadership, and educational institutions that offer leadership education focus on the collaboration and networking to ensure sharing of best practice. “3. Professional Development: That continuing leadership education be an ongoing expectation of all leaders, whether employed or lay leadership. This should include orientation to the particular leadership position and ongoing training and development while an individual holds a leadership position. “4. Evaluation: That a process for evaluating all leadership at all levels be developed and regularly applied, with the main focus of the process on leadership improvement and personal growth. “The General Conference session delegation further requests that the General Conference Executive Committee receive reports and monitor the effectiveness of the leadership development process throughout the 2005 to 2010 quinquennium.” Mr. Chairman, this is an effort to summarize essential elements and the important elements that are extracted from the five papers presented earlier, which we hope that this body would own. So to get it before us, Mr. Chairman, I would move the approval. GERRY D. KARST: We have a motion and a second on the document that is before us. This is primarily to record and receive this, but we would offer a few moments to anyone who would like to respond or react to what has been presented here. HAROLD W. BAPTISTE: Mr. Chairman, it's an attempt to pull all the essential and important elements of the papers, all five of them, into a small document that we can use as a guide. ALFREDO GARCIA-MARENKO: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm so happy to express that this is a great document and a great exercise in this fifty-eighth session of the General Conference. And I come to support this document with all my heart. I rise this morning in order to encourage inclusion of the youth as members of the sessions because in previous sessions we had more youth, but in this session we have less. We need to let the leaders know that we need to give them more opportunity to be represented. GERRY D. KARST: Thank you very much. LILY KIDENDA: I appreciate what has been presented as a summary. I would like to include an emphasis on the role of the Holy Spirit. GERRY D. KARST: All right, they will take account of that, recognizing that this is a summary and so it's concise. JESUS URIARTE: I am also thankful for the presentations regarding leadership, although quite frankly in light of a vote that was taken a few minutes ago I really question whether we truly believe in inclusive leadership. A few moments ago we voted to reduce the number of laypersons included in this body, which will probably have the effect of reducing the number of youth, the number of minorities, and the number of women in this body. So I wonder whether these great presentations are really reaching the members of this body when we are still acting in a manner that is exclusive, that reduces the number of people participating in our church. KENAOPE KENAOPE: [Reflected on the idea that part of leadership is to prepare future leaders and to be prepared to pass the torch on, rather than to cling to the leadership positions held.] SAMUEL A. LARMIE: I wish to express my gratitude for a document like this. It is very needful. I've gone through the document and looked at the essence of it, and I thank you very much for bringing us this summary. I'm going to page 3 to bring out what I really want to say. The last paragraph says that “the General Conference session delegation further requests that the General Conference Executive Committee receive reports and monitor the effectiveness of the leadership development process throughout the 2005-2010 quinquennium.” This means that there have to be seminars and education down to the local church. I want to suggest that the main document be put in PowerPoint presentation and disseminated all the way down to help with these kinds of seminars that should be held, so that we can be very sure that what we are seeing here can be carried out. GERRY D. KARST: Thank you. [The motion to record reception of the document was voted.] HAROLD W. BAPTISTE: I would take this opportunity to thank all those who participated in the Profiling Adventist Leadership seminars: the speakers, the respondents, the members of the committee, and all those who were involved in its development. It is their contribution together that made this what it is, and I want to thank them publicly here in the name of the Lord Jesus for their commitment to the work of the church. JEAN-LUC LEZEAU: [Benediction.] GERRY D. KARST, Chair
Fourteenth Business Meeting Actions
CHILDREN'S MINISTRIES DEPARTMENT, THE—CHURCH MANUAL AMENDMENT
Children's Ministries Department The Department of Children's Ministries exists to develop the faith of children from birth through age fourteen leading them into union with the church. It seeks to provide multiple ministries that will lead children to Jesus and disciple them in their daily walk with Him, and as such cooperate with the Sabbath School Department and other departments to provide religious education to children. Mission—The mission of the Children's Ministries Department is to nurture children into a loving, serving relationship with Jesus. The department seeks to fulfill this mission by developing: Grace-oriented Ministries, in which all children will experience the unconditional love of Jesus, find assurance of acceptance and forgiveness, and make a commitment to Him. Inclusive Ministries, in which the volunteers who minister and the children to whom they minister will be valued regardless of race, color, language, gender, age, abilities, or socio-economic circumstances, and be involved without discrimination. Leadership Ministries, in which volunteers are empowered, trained, and equipped for effective ministry to children. Service-oriented Ministries, in which children are given opportunity for hands-on service to people in their neighborhood or city, thus establishing a pattern of outreach to others that may well continue through life. Cooperative Ministries, that involve working with other entities, such as Family Ministries, Sabbath School and Personal Ministries, Youth Ministries, Education, Stewardship, and other departments, to achieve shared goals. Safe Ministries, whereby churches: a.) choose volunteers with high spiritual and moral backgrounds; b.) adopt safeguards to protect children from physical, emotional, sexual, and spiritual abuse, and the church from liability. Evangelistic Ministries, in which children who are not included in the church family will be introduced to the love of Jesus through outreach programs such as: Vacation Bible Schools, children's Branch Sabbath Schools, Neighborhood Bible Clubs, and Story Hours. (See Notes, #24, p. 132). Ellen G. White underscores the importance of children's ministries when she says: “Too much importance cannot be placed on the early training of children. The lessons that the child learns during the first seven years of life have more to do with forming his character than all that it learns in future years.”—Child Guidance, p. 193. “It is still true that children are the most susceptible to the teachings of the gospel; their hearts are open to divine influences, and strong to retain the lessons received. The little children may be Christians, having an experience in accordance with their years. They need to be educated in spiritual things, and parents should give them every advantage, that they may form characters after the similitude of the character of Christ.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 515. “Children of eight, ten or twelve years, are old enough to be addressed on the subject of personal religion. Do not teach your children with reference to some future period when they shall be old enough to repent and believe the truth. If properly instructed, very young children may have correct views of their state as sinners, and of the way of salvation through Christ.”—Testimonies, vol. 1, p. 400. “When Jesus told the disciples not to forbid the children to come to Him, He was speaking to His followers in all ages,—to officers of the church, to ministers, helpers, and all Christians. Jesus is drawing the children, and He bids us, Suffer them to come; as if He would say, They will come if you do not hinder them.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 517. Children's Ministries Coordinator—The Children's Ministries coordinator is elected by the church to develop specific ministries to nurture the faith of children so as to develop a loving, serving relationship with Jesus. The coordinator should be an individual of moral and ethical excellence, who demonstrates love and commitment to God and the church, and who has leadership ability as well as experience, and passion for working with children. (See Notes, #27, p. 133.) Children's Ministries Committee—The Children's Ministries coordinator works with the pastor and church board to establish a Children's Ministries Committee to provide ministries to children in the church. The committee should be composed of individuals who are chosen on the strength of their interest and expertise in working with children. Ordinarily, the membership is made up of the Sabbath School division leaders, Vacation Bible School leader, Junior Youth leaders, and two to three others who have a passion for ministry to children. (See Notes, #26, p. 133.) DIVISION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES—CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS AMENDMENT ARTICLE XIV—DIVISION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEES Sec. 1. In each division, a division executive committee shall be constituted, as hereinafter provided, for the transaction of business pertaining to the division. The division executive committee functions on behalf of the General Conference Executive Committee in the division, and its authority shall be recognized by union and local organizations in matters of division administration and counsel. A division may establish for the use, benefit, and purpose of the church in countries of that division various legal entities and may entrust to these or to other entities previously established full responsibility for property, governance or other functions provided such responsibility is exercised in harmony with denominational policies and values. Sec. 2. The ex-officio members of a division executive committee shall be the division president, the division secretary, the division treasurer, other division officers, the division vice presidents, and the division field secretaries; the heads of division institutions; the presidents of union conferences; the presidents of union missions; the presidents of unions of churches; the presidents of attached conferences/missions/fields; the directors of division departments, associations and services; and any members of the General Conference Executive Committee present. Other division executive committee members shall be appointed according to the policies of the division. Appointed members shall include representation from denominational employees and from church members in regular standing who are not denominationally employed. Denominational employee representation shall include some pastors and institutional personnel. Sec. 3. The actions taken—No change Sec. 4. Five members of a division—No change AUDITING SERVICE AND AUDITS—CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS AMENDMENT Rationale for amending General Conference Bylaws and General Conference Working Policy relating to the General Conference Auditing Service The General Conference Auditing Service was established to ensure that financial audits and policy compliance testing would: (1) include every denominational entity worldwide; (2) be conducted on a regular basis (annually); (3) reflect international auditing standards; and (4) provide a denomination-wide oversight and monitoring of the audit function. While the General Conference Auditing Service is internal to the denomination, it fulfills its responsibilities in a manner similar to that of an external auditor. Current policy identifies General Conference Auditing Service as the exclusive audit agency for the denomination except in situations where prevailing laws require the use of an external auditor. At present arrangement for the services of an external auditor is to be made in consultation with General Conference Auditing Service. This could be interpreted as placing General Conference Auditing Service in a conflict of interest situation. Further, there are occasions in which it would be beneficial to consider additional options for the conduct of a financial audit and policy compliance review, provided that professional auditing standards are not compromised. This proposal, accompanied by corresponding changes to General Conference Working Policy, outlines the role of General Conference Auditing Service as the denomination's preferred, though not necessarily exclusive, auditing service. The responsibility and function of General Conference Auditing Service is outlined in the General Conference Bylaws and further amplification of these responsibilities is contained in the General Conference Working Policy. An amendment to the General Conference Bylaws requires approval by a General Conference Session. VOTED, To amend the General Conference Constitution and Bylaws, Bylaws, Article VIII—Auditing Service and Audits, to read as follows: ARTICLE VIII—AUDITING SERVICE AND AUDITS Sec. 1. At each regular General Conference Session, the General Conference shall elect a director of the General Conference Auditing Service, whose duties shall be to: a. Administer the conduct of audits that the General Conference Auditing Service performs for organizations of the Church throughout the world, b. Monitor the overall audit program throughout the denomination, c. Recommend to the General Conference Administrative Committee or division executive committee standards and/or guidelines for use by divisions in the endorsement of external auditors that may be engaged within the division territory, and d. Report to the General Conference President, through the General Conference Auditing Service Board, on the overall audit program in the Church and the trends/issues that appear in the global picture of financial and policy administration. Associate directors shall also be elected at each regular General Conference Session. The director and associate directors shall be recommended by the General Conference Auditing Service Board to the Session Nominating Committee after consultation with the administrations of the respective divisions. References to service directors and associate service directors elsewhere in these Bylaws shall not apply to the director and associate directors of the General Conference Auditing Service, except as provided for in Article XIII, Sec. 1.-c. Sec. 2. a. At each regular General Conference Session, the General Conference shall elect a General Conference Auditing Service Board which shall be constituted as follows—No change b. A quorum of the General Conference Auditing Service Board—No change Sec. 3. The General Conference Auditing Service, ever sensitive to the country-specific regulations governing the audits of denominational entities in a particular country, serves as the denomination's preferred provider of auditing services for world divisions; union conferences; union missions; conferences; missions; unions of churches; affiliated services, organizations, and institutions of the General Conference and every other administrative level; Adventist Development and Relief Agency country and regional administrations and projects (not audited by external auditors); and special funds. Exceptions to the above requirements shall be by specific action of the Executive Committee. GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSIONS—CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS AMENDMENT Rationale for Amending Constitutional Provisions for General Conference Session Delegations Current constitutional provisions limit the size of a General Conference Session delegation to 2,000 persons. Delegate quotas are determined by a variety of factors such as an entity's membership as a proportion of world membership, the number of organizational structures (union conferences/missions, local conferences/missions, division institutions, etc.). Some delegate quotas are specified in the constitution (e.g., each division receives ten delegates in the delegates at large classification). A portion of the delegate seats are allocated at the discretion of the General Conference Executive Committee. Under the current constitution an increase in the number of organizational units requires a decrease in the number of delegate seats that can be allocated on the basis of membership. Consequently there have been requests to amend the constitution in such a way as to allow these parameters, membership and organizational structure, to be addressed separately in the composition of a General Conference Session delegation. A General Conference Session is convened for a specific agenda of Church business. The larger the delegation the more cumbersome the process of conducting the business of a Session. At the same time, there is a unifying value for delegates and a large number of guests to experience the worldwide fellowship that a Session provides. The growth in membership and the high value given to unity in the Church is presented as sufficient reason to consider a gradual growth in a Session delegation. The following proposal was developed at the request of General Conference and division leadership. These amendments to the General Conference Constitution would affect the 2010 General Conference Session. The following changes are proposed: 1. Remove the numerical limit, currently 2,000, to the overall size of a General Conference Session delegation. 2. Place a numerical limit on certain segments of the delegation. 3. Limit, to less than 15 percent, the increase in numbers of delegates from those categories unaffected by growth in the number of organizational units. 4. Introduce a differentiation between organizational units having conference status and those with mission or equivalent status. 5. Continue the requirement that significant representation in the delegation shall be chosen from laypersons, pastors, teachers, and nonadministrative employees, of both genders, and representing a range of age groups and nationalities. 6. Increase, from the current level of ten, the number of delegate selections available to a division. 7. Reclassify division institution delegates as at large rather than regular delegates. VOTED, To amend the General Conference Constitution and Bylaws, Constitution, Article V—General Conference Sessions, to read as follows: ARTICLE V—GENERAL CONFERENCE SESSIONS Sec. 1. The General Conference shall hold quinquennial sessions—No change Sec. 2. The Executive Committee may call special sessions—No change Sec. 3. At least one-third of the total delegates authorized hereinafter under Sec. 5. of Article V must be present at the opening meeting of any regular or specially called General Conference Session to constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Once the Session is declared open, the delegates remaining present shall constitute a quorum. Sec. 4. The election of officers and the voting on all matters of business shall be by viva voce vote, or as designated by the chairman, unless otherwise requested by a majority of the delegates present. Sec. 5. The delegates to a General Conference Session shall be designated as follows: a. Regular delegates. b. Delegates at large. c. In case of financial exigency or other major crisis within the Church or in the international arena, the Executive Committee may take an action to reduce the maximum number of delegates to a particular General Conference Session. Such reduction shall then be applied to both regular delegates and delegates at large. Sec. 6. Regular delegates shall represent the General Conference's member union conferences, union missions, member conferences, missions, and unions of churches as defined in Article IV, as follows: a. Delegates representing union conferences having division affiliation shall be appointed by the respective union conference executive committee. b. Delegates representing union missions and unions of churches having division affiliation shall be appointed by the respective division executive committees in consultation with the organizations concerned. c. Delegates representing conferences and missions having union conference affiliation shall be appointed by the respective union conference executive committees in consultation with the organizations concerned. d. Delegates representing conferences and missions having union mission affiliation shall be appointed by the respective division executive committees in consultation with the organizations concerned. e. Delegates representing conferences and missions directly attached to divisions, shall be appointed by the respective division executive committees in consultation with the organizations concerned. f. Delegates representing division institutions, the number of whom shall correspond to the number of division institutions within each division, shall be appointed by the respective division executive committees in consultation with the organizations concerned. g. Delegates representing union conferences directly attached to the General Conference shall be appointed by the executive committees of the respective attached union conferences. h. Delegates representing union missions, conferences, missions, and unions of churches directly attached to the General Conference shall be appointed by the Executive Committee in consultation with the organizations concerned. Sec. 7. Regular delegates shall be allotted on the following basis: a. Each union conference shall be entitled to two delegates other than its president (who is a delegate at large) without regard to membership size. b. Each union mission shall be entitled to one delegate other than its president (who is a delegate at large) without regard to membership size. c. Each local conference shall be entitled to two delegates without regard to membership size. d. Each local mission* shall be entitled to one delegate without regard to membership size. e. Each union of churches shall be entitled to two delegates without regard to membership size. f. Each division shall be entitled to additional delegates based upon its membership as a proportion of the world Church membership. The total number of delegates from all divisions under this provision shall not exceed 400. g. Delegates from each division, provided for under Sec. 7. f., shall be allotted to the union conferences and union missions that are affiliated with that division, based on each union's proportion of the division membership. Any unallocated delegate entitlements under this process shall be allocated at the discretion of the division executive committee. h. Unused quotas of regular delegates allocated to unions may be reallocated by the divisions. Sec. 8. Delegates at large shall represent the General Conference, General Conference institutions, divisions of the General Conference, and division institutions and shall be appointed on the following basis: a. All members of the Executive Committee. b. Associate directors/secretaries of General Conference departments and associations. c. Twenty delegates from General Conference appointed staff—No change d. Twenty delegates for each division. e. Each division shall be entitled to additional delegates corresponding to the number of division institutions within its territory. f. Those representatives of the General Conference and division institutions and other entities, and those employees, field secretaries, laypersons, and pastors who are selected by the Executive Committees of the General Conference and its divisions. The number of these delegates shall be 300. Sec. 9. Division administrations shall consult with unions to ensure that the entire division delegation shall be comprised of Seventh-day Adventists in regular standing, at least 50 percent of whom shall be laypersons, pastors, teachers, and nonadministrative employees, of both genders, and representing a range of age groups and nationalities. The majority of the above 50 percent shall be laypersons. Delegate selections from General Conference and division institutions, and those selected under Sec. 8.d. above, shall not be required to satisfy the quota for laity. Sec. 10. Credentials to sessions shall be issued by the General Conference to those appointed in harmony with the provisions of this article. Sec. 11. Calculations for all delegate allotments, as provided for in this article, shall be based upon: The membership as of December 31 of the second year preceding the General Conference Session. The number of denominational entities eligible for inclusion in determining quotas and which are in existence as of December 31 of the second year preceding the General Conference Session. MEMBERSHIP—GENERAL CONFERENCE CONSTITUTION AND BYLAWS REVISION ARTICLE IV—MEMBERSHIP Sec. 1. The membership of the General Conference shall consist of: a. All union conferences and union missions that have been properly organized and accepted by vote of the General Conference in session. b. All of the following entities that are directly attached to the General Conference or a division: 1) Union of churches 2) Local conferences 3) Local mission and functional equivalents thereof provided they have two or more officers and an executive committee, observe a schedule of regular constituency meetings and have been properly organized. NOMINATING COMMITTEE—GENERAL CONFERENCE CONSTITUION AND BYLAWS AMENDMENT Sec. 4. Nominating Committee: a. The membership of the Nominating Committee shall consist of the following: 1) The delegation as defined in paragraph b.1) below from each division and each attached union, shall be entitled to select for membership on the Nominating Committee, ten percent of its total number of delegates. 2) Delegates at large who are excluded under paragraph b.1) below shall be entitled to select for membership on the Nominating Committee eight percent of their total of delegates. b. The members of the Nominating Committee shall be selected by and from the following groups: 1) Delegates at large, excluding both those currently employed by the General Conference or its institutions and former employees who have retired from the General Conference or its institutions, shall meet with the regular delegates from the division or attached union in which they reside. The delegation from each division or each attached union shall act as a unit in selecting the Nominating Committee members to which it is entitled. 2) The delegates at large employed by the General Conference and its institutions along with former employees who have retired from the General Conference or its institutions shall act as a unit in selecting members to which they are entitled. 3) The election of the above representatives on the Nominating Committee shall be by a method of voting considered by each delegation to be most convenient and efficient, taking into consideration the size of the delegation and other circumstances. 4) The selection of representatives to serve on the Nominating Committee shall take place following the opening meeting of the General Conference Session. c. Each division delegation—No change Those chosen as members—No change Delegates elected under the provisions—No change No delegate shall nominate more than—No change g. The Nominating Committee shall elect its own—No change h. The Nominating Committee shall limit its—No change i. In order to expedite the work of the Nominating Committee—No change BUSINESS MEETINGS—CHURCH MANUAL AMENDMENT Business Meetings Church business meetings duly called by the pastor, or the church board in consultation with the pastor, may be held monthly or quarterly according to the needs of the church. Members in regular standing on the roll of the church conducting the business meeting may attend and vote. A quorum shall be decided by the church in a business meeting or by the church board. Votes by proxy or letter shall not be accepted. In order to maintain a spirit of close cooperation between the local church and the conference/mission/field, the church shall secure counsel from the conference/mission/field officers on all major matters. The officers (president, secretary, treasurer) of the conference/mission/field to which the church belongs may attend without vote (unless granted by the church) any church business meeting within the conference/mission/ field territory. A duly called business meeting of the church is a meeting that has been called at the regular Sabbath worship service, together with proper announcements as to the time and place of the meeting. At such meetings, at which the pastor will preside (or will arrange for the local elder to preside), full information should be given to the congregation regarding the work of the church. At the close of the year, reports should be rendered covering the activities of the church for the entire year and, based on those reports, the church should approve a full plan of action for the next year. When possible, reports and the next year's plan of action should be presented in writing. (See Notes, #9, p. 91.) PROFILING SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST LEADERSHIP A SUMMARY Context The Seventh-day Adventist Church is global, a church of great diversity and complexity. Its geographic spread and rapid growth, especially in developing regions of the world, has provided the Church with immense richness and opportunities, as well as new challenges. Among these challenges is the need for an increasing number of mission-focused leaders, individuals that are professionally competent, exemplify Bible-based values of Christian leadership, and embrace the expectations for leadership within the world-wide Seventh-day Adventist Church. This need will not be met without a planned process of leadership development of both Church employees and laity. Affirmation of the Nature of Seventh-day Adventist Leadership The Seventh-day Adventist Church affirms the need for leaders with a high level of competence in their fields of leadership. The church values and encourages the development of a range of gifts and desires leaders who have the experience, skills and qualifications necessary to meet the requirements of the widely disparate leadership positions available throughout the world Church. The Church is enriched by the professionalism and diverse talents such leaders bring to the Church. The Church also affirms the need for all leaders in the Church to share a common commitment to core Christian leadership values that are based on biblical principles, as well as to specific expectations that arise from the theology and global nature of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This commitment will be evidenced in their approach to their responsibilities and should be a requirement of appointment to any Church leadership position. Therefore, the Seventh-day Adventist Church calls for leadership characterized by, but not limited to, the following: 1. Christ-likeness in Relationships: Humility, graciousness, forgiving, compassionate, peace-loving—these are some of the attributes of a Christian leader. Family, church-members, the wider community: all will be treated with respect and Christian love. (John 15:9-17; Phil. 2:1-5) 2. Commitment to Mission Focus: Whatever their particular responsibilities, a leader in the Seventh-day Adventist Church will maintain a primary commitment to the mission of the Church and the Gospel of Christ. This will be evidenced in selection of strategic priorities and in the leader's determined focus on Church mission, rather than personal agenda. (Acts 1:8; Rev. 14:9-12) 3. Integrity: A leader of integrity will be transparent, authentic, and truthful. This value will be seen in action in lack of favoritism, honest recognition of mistakes, and consistency of character and action. There will be no manipulation or deception—only truthfulness, a willingness to confront errors, and fair treatment of all individuals. (1 Cor. 4:1-2; Dan. 6:10; Prov. 10:9; 11:1) 4. Loyalty to God and the Church: Seventh-day Adventist leaders will know their first loyalty is to God. They will express personal perspectives but recognize the authority of the corporate church to make decisions and the responsibility of leadership to support those decisions. They will not seek personal power and will seek ways of resolving difference so as not to bring confusion or disunity to the body of the church. (John 17:11, 21-23; Eph. 4:1-6) 5. Professional Competence: All leaders should have the experience, qualifications and skills necessary to perform the specific responsibilities of their positions. They will continue to seek improvement in their professional areas and model best professional practice and respect the diverse gifts of other professionals. (1 Cor. 12; 1 Cor. 4:12; Matt. 25:14-29) 6. Responsiveness to the Global Family: In the global village of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, a leader will be able to affirm diversity and its strengths, and value the complementary gifts of that diversity while maintaining agreed core unifying ideals. Such leaders will find their own primary identity in their shared relationship with all others in the church as children of God, and find active means of building a community, a family, that celebrates and nurtures its richness. (1 Cor. 12; Gal. 3:28; 1 Cor. 9:19-23). 7. Responsibility and Accountability to the Church and Wider Community: A leader who models servant leadership will be acting with responsibility. A leader will demonstrate concern with the unity of the Church body and mission, the healing and building up of the community and the imperative of active obedience to the Word of God. This will include clear accountability to both local and international constituencies. A leader who acts with responsibility will focus consistently on service and on modeling the character of Christ. (1 Cor. 1:10-13; Ps. 1:1-3; Eph. 4:29-32) Call for Action The delegates of the 2005 General Conference Session affirm the positive steps taken in leadership training at the General Conference and in a range of divisions and educational institutions throughout the world during the past quinquennium. However, the delegates also affirm the need for all divisions of the world to further prioritize the intentional professional development of leaders that espouse the ideals of Christian leadership, and additionally that such training be an expectation of leadership positions at all levels of the Church. The delegates identify the following as the main areas for action in leadership development: 1. Curriculum Development and Centers of Leadership: That each division, through a center for leadership or similar concept, develop a core curriculum for church leaders that is focused on a blend of professional competence, Christian leadership values and specific denominational expectations. 2. Networking: That the General Conference Office of Leadership, the division Centers of Leadership and educational institutions that offer leadership education focus on collaboration and networking to ensure sharing of best practice. 3. Professional Development: That continuing leadership education be an on-going expectation of all leaders, whether employed or lay leadership. This should include orientation to the particular leadership position and on-going training and development while an individual holds a leadership position. 4. Evaluation: That a process for evaluating all leadership at all levels be developed and regularly applied, with the main focus of the process on leadership improvement and personal growth. The General Conference Session delegation further requests that the General Conference Executive Committee receive reports and monitor the effectiveness of the leadership development process throughout the 2005-2010 quinquennium. EXPIRED CREDENTIALS—CHURCH MANUAL AMENDMENT Adjourned GERRY D KARST, Chair *In several areas of the world, local field units not holding conference status may be classified with terminology other than “mission.” For the purposes of Article V, Sec. 7., such field units may be considered equivalent to a mission provided they have two or more officers and an executive committee and observe a schedule of regular constituency meetings. |
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