Today, Saturday, July 6, the delegate body of Annual Conference amended and adopted a mandate for the work of the next Review and Evaluation Committee and approved an extension of the committee’s term of service from two years to up to four years.
A new Review and Evaluation Committee is called in the fifth year of each decade to review and evaluate the organizational structures and procedures of the Church of the Brethren. The committee usually makes its report with any recommendations for organizational changes to Annual Conference in the seventh year of the decade.
The term extension was recommended by the Standing Committee of district delegates, which foresees that this time in the life of the denomination will require this Review and Evaluation Committee to develop organizational changes and related polity adjustments needing considerable time for research, discussion, deliberation, and discernment.
The amendment changed language under the guidelines section of the mandate, a document that came from the Leadership Team, to include consultation with the executives of the Annual Conference agencies when the committee makes inquiries about the agencies’ activities.
These decisions of the Conference mean that the five-member Review and Evaluation Committee, chosen from at-large members of the church, will be elected by Annual Conference in 2025. The committee will have until 2029 to carry out its study and bring back a report and any recommendations to Annual Conference, with the option to report sooner.
The discussion of these items–which were brought as two separate pieces of business–stretched from Friday afternoon into Saturday morning. The discussion touched on desires for strong church leadership, concerns about the length of the process, and parallels with work being done by other committees.
Find the full text of business items at www.brethren.org/ac2024/business.
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