The following are recommendations of the executive committee to be considered by the Convention:
The Executive Committee report will be one of the opportunities the Convention will have to act on the issues surrounding sexual abuse, as well as ethnic discrimination.
Here is a quick summary of the relevant recommendations. The first EC report is scheduled for 9:17am and the second at 5:30pm. I don’t know during which of these report times that these recommendations will be considered. Note also that sometimes the schedule will be ahead or behind schedule and these times are subject to change. You must be in the room at the time of the vote in order to cast your ballot.
UPDATE: No action was taken during the Part 1 report; please be present for Part 2 of the EC report in the Tuesday afternoon session.
My prayer is that we pass these recommendations as one important step in addressing both sexual abuse and racism in our Convention churches (And, if you are wondering if we should adopt these recommendations, let me encourage you to do so – see my answer to common objections here).
Recommendation #4:
Note that the language being voted on is contained in the Tuesday Bulletin and replaces the language found in the book of reports.
The new language is more general and allows the Convention to take action to exclude any church that does not act in a way consistent with the Convention’s beliefs regarding sexual abuse.
Recommendation #5:
Note that the language being voted on is contained in the Tuesday Bulletin and replaces the language found in the book of reports.
The language excludes churches that act in a discriminatory way on the basis of ethnicity. The language is changed from the book of reports to reflect the present tense and how a church is currently acting.
Recommendation #8:
Found in the Tuesday bulletin.
This extensive addition to the bylaws forms a standing credentials committee and outlines the makeup of the committee and the procedures for evaluating how churches are in cooperation with the Convention. The language gives direction for the committee’s action both during the annual meeting and the time between annual meetings, process of appeal, and process of reinstatement after exclusion.
The language also makes it clear that the Convention does not exercise authority over any church.
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This is a great first step. Thank you to the Executive Committee for putting forth these recommendations.
