 LOUISVILLE—A proposed reorganization plan for the Kentucky Baptist Convention Mission Board staff reduces the numbers of teams from six to five and places four regionally based church development strategists in the field to serve churches.
KBC Executive Director Bill Mackey unveiled the proposed plan to the Mission Board staff in a meeting last week. The proposal will be acted upon by the full Mission Board in its meeting on Nov. 10. If it is approved, the new staff structure will go into effect Jan. 1.
Mackey said the reorganization is needed to better position the staff to help churches achieve the baptism, membership, leadership development and other objectives of a recent Mission Study Committee report. The new structure also streamlines the organization and improves effectiveness and efficiency, he said.
The largest adjustment will come in merging services previously provided by the Church Growth and Evangelism Growth teams. The new team will be called the Church Development and Evangelism Team to reflect the range of services provided.
Functions of the Sunday School Department will shift to the new Church Development and Evangelism Team and will be organized around age groups -- Adult Sunday School, Collegiate/Young Adult Ministry, Youth, and Preschool/Children.
The work of the current Stewardship and Discipleship Department will be incorporated into the work of the Church Development and Evangelism Team. Discipleship strategies seeking to help at least 80 percent of new members become active in their churches will be developed and implemented by the team office and team groups in conjunction with the church development strategists.
The team office will also handle stewardship promotion along with the church development strategists. One of the strategists will carry the lead role in this area.
The strategists represent one of the major enhancements of the new structure. The strategists will proactively seek to serve the churches and association offices in the regions where they live. Each strategist will work to connect churches with the appropriate Mission Board staff specialist or assist the church in networking with other churches to meet a given need.
Only one of the new strategists has been named. Alan Witham, who has been serving as part of the Extension-Ministries Department as a church-planting consultant, will fill one of the four slots.
In addition, the Church Music Department, now a part of the Church Growth Team, will become the Worship and Music Department of the Leadership Development Team. The work of Women's Lifestyle Evangelism, currently in the Evangelism Team Office, will also shift to the Leadership Development Team.
Two of the teams -- the Executive Office Team and Missions Growth Team -- will see only minor changes. Within the Executive Office Team, the archivist of the Kentucky Baptist Archives will become a part-time contract position and the name of the Communications/Media Dept. will be shortened to Communications Department. Within the Missions Growth Team, the Brotherhood Department will be renamed the Baptist Men on Mission Dept.
No structural changes are planned for the Business Services Team.
Although the new organizational structure calls for fewer full-time staff positions, most staffing adjustments were achieved through attrition as staff members retired or accepted other positions.
Two secretarial positions -- one in the Sunday School Department and the other in the Family Ministry Department -- did result in job losses, however. The Mission Board authorized transition funds to assist both employees.
Although the staff structure is changing, Kentucky Baptists will still receive services in all areas. Phone lines into the departments that are being shifted will continue to be answered by staff members able to assist.
A service directory and other materials to help Kentucky Baptists access services will also be published and distributed to churches. Service information is immediately available on the KBC Web site at www.kybaptist.org.
Mackey said he is pleased with the overall results of the reorganization.
"I'm excited about the potential this reorganization has for Kentucky Baptists," he said. "We're seeking to be the most effective and efficient organization possible for assisting Kentucky Baptist churches and for carrying out the missions work of our Convention. I think this plan will serve to maximize our staff strengths and help us connect with the churches in the best possible way."
-30-
release prepared by Robert Reeves, Communication/Media Director |