Don't like changes at NAMB? Here's a novel idea...

In the past decade or so, it seemed that you couldn't type or say the words "North American Mission Board" without appending the word "dysfunctional," or worse.

In my view things have changed and I support the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering without the serious reservations that I have had the past few years. Evidently, others feel the same way since the AAEO was significantly up for 2011.

NAMB has been the SBC's main newsmaker the past few years and I know of no SBC entity that has undergone such substantial changes in personnel, overall strategy, and budgetary allocations.

Not everyone likes everything about the new NAMB. I may not like everything about the new NAMB.

NAMB has a website, of course, and on the site there is a page labeled

 Frequently Asked Questions on NAMB Transition

 That sounds pretty pedestrian but in it they attempt to do something novel in SBC life - answer questions. Topics include the church planting strategy, the role of DOMs, and other subjects.

What is more novel about it is that they allow comments and NAMB people even answer some of them.

Contrast that to the Arkansas Baptist article  that was so critical of NAMB and where comments were not only disallowed but some (as stated by a commenter here, I haven't confirmed it with the paper) deleted. It's their paper. They can run it like they wish. But honest conversations about disagreements in funding, strategy, personnel and the like ought to be had, and they look to me to be more likely at NAMB than at the Arkansas Baptist News.

Bloggers like to take some shots and I do my share, I suppose. But I rather like it when I ask a question or make a comment about something in the SBC, in my state convention, and people listen and respond.

I'm thinking that the latter approach is more profitable than the former.

I'd humbly recommend that folks in Arkansas, or Alaska, or wherever try it.

NAMB in the bullseye

In the old days, hapless seminary students learning greek would be required to look at a New Testament verse in their Greek New Testament and parse the words - masculine, singular, nominative, whatever. Ah,the memories.

Now it's all done for you, clickable on innumerable internet sites. Alas, I was born a couple of decades too soon.

Here's something to parse, though, that isn't done for you:  

State execs form NAMB study committee

State convention executive directors have appointed a special committee to evaluate relations with the North America Mission Board.

Uh oh.

May I select a few quotes for my dear readers to parse:

Emil Turner, executive director of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention and president of the fellowship for 2011-12, said the committee was established "to evaluate how state conventions and NAMB can maximize cooperation during the transition process of implementing the new NAMB initiatives."

Members of the committee are David Hankins, chairman, executive director of the Louisiana Baptist Convention...

This wouldn't be the same Emil Turner and David Hankins who notably, publicly, and loudly said when the present head of NAMB was to be voted on by trustees that "Southern Baptists who want to lead a denominational entity “ought to have a track record of supporting those entities.”

Well...I suppose it was the same two.

Turner said the NAMB study committee is important to evaluating and understanding the future work of state conventions with NAMB.

"Evaluating" and "understanding" beg for parsing here.

Following the establishment of the committee, Turner said he contacted Ezell to reassure him the action "is not to be or do anything adversarial, but to seek understanding and cooperation."

You bet. A calming phone call should always be given to someone who might think some action could possibly be interpreted as adversarial but really isn't because you got that congenial phone call.

Mike Ebert, NAMB's vice president of communications, said it is NAMB's "desire to be good partners with our state conventions," adding, "[We] are always open to anything that would move us toward penetrating lostness in North America. We are ultimately accountable to the Southern Baptist Convention through the NAMB trustees, and we are confident in the direction in which we are moving."

 NAMB's spokesman pointedly speaks such that when NAMB and accountability appear in the same sentence, state conventions receive no mention. 

I'd call that a shot across the bow.

State convention executives had a pretty tough year last year. The Georgia Baptist Convention let a bunch of people go because revenues were down by millions. Other state conventions have been feeling the pinch also.

I doubt any of them are in a mode to promote any increase for NAMB and are in crisis management mode to try and deflect any further cuts of the bouncebacks in funds NAMB has been giving to the states through those mysterious Cooperative Agreements. (I call them mysterious because I've never seen one, cannot get my hands on one, and have been refused permission to view them. If any of my dear readers happens to have a copy, I'd love to see it.)

Kevin Ezell already has the hardest job in the SBC. Looks like this year will be a bit tougher.