Church of the Brethren Newsline
July 5, 2018
Two business items originally brought by Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) in 2017, which were deferred to the 2018 Annual Conference, have been approved by the delegate body.
Brethren Values Investing
The Conference approved amending the BBT Articles of Incorporation, changing terminology from “socially responsible investing” to “Brethren values investing.” Socially responsible is a term that may mean different things to different people. However, BBT has derived its investment screens by reviewing Annual Conference statements and applying those values, and for that reason in 2016 the BBT board approved using the term “Brethren values investing.” This change to the Articles of Incorporation required a two-thirds majority vote from the delegates, which it received.
Polity for Electing Brethren Benefit Trust Board Directors
BBT requested a change in how many nominations are needed for elections of directors to the BBT board, reducing the number from four to two. It has been the practice for four nominees to be sought for a preliminary ballot that goes to the Standing Committee of district delegates, who winnow down to two nominees for each position for the final ballot voted by Annual Conference delegates. This means BBT has been required to find four nominees for one position on its board, and is having increasing difficulty particularly since the nominees need to have a very specific skill sets. In addition, BBT has been finding that some of those nominees not chosen in an election may not be willing to be nominated again. The change approved by Annual Conference reduces to two the number of nominees the BBT board has to bring. If no other nominees come through the regular Annual Conference nominating process, those two names will then appear on the Annual Conference ballot.
For more onsite coverage of Annual Conference go to www.brethren.org/ac/2018/coverage .
— Frances Townsend and Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford contributed to this report.
The news coverage of Annual Conference 2018 is made possible through the work of communications staff and a volunteer news team: Frank Ramirez, Conference Journal editor; photographers Glenn Riegel, Regina Holmes, Keith Hollenberg, Donna Parcell, Laura Brown; writers Frances Townsend, Karen Garrett, Alyssa Parker; youth team member Allie Dulabaum; web staff Jan Fischer Bachman, Russ Otto; Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, director of News Services; Wendy McFadden, publisher. Contact cobnews@brethren.org.
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