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DEC annual meeting report“One Solomons”proposalvoted by DECSPD adjusts to newcommitteestructureWAHROONGA, NEW SOUTH WALESMore than half of the people who attendedthe DEC meetings were new to theexperience, with an increase in Pacific islandrepresentation.Aproposal to combine the three missionsin the Solomon Islands into asingle administrative entity wasendorsed by the South PacificDivision (SPD) executive committee onNovember 24. The proposal has beenreferred to the Trans-Pacific Union Mission(TPUM) executive committee for implementation,pending the report of the surveycommission to determine the viability, suitabilityand time frame for the implementationof the proposal. It is expected thisprocess will be completed by the beginningof 2007.Pastor Lawrence Tanabose, TPUM president,presented the proposal to the divisionexecutive committee, which was endorsedby the TPUM session held in Vanuatu inSeptember (see “Session endorses oneSolomons mission plan,” TPUM sessionreport, RECORD, October 15).“The people of the Solomons feel theyhave been tossed back and forth since theorganisation of the church in this part of theworld,” said Pastor Tanabose, who is anative Solomon Islander. “We need a unifiedSolomon Islands Mission.”Pastor Tanabose reported on a series ofmeetings held in each of the SolomonIslands missions in October and November.“In the Malaita Mission, 97 per cent of delegatesvoted for this proposal,” he reported.“Similarly, 87 per cent of those in theWestern Solomon Islands Mission were infavour.”However, the Eastern Solomon IslandsMission moved against this trend, with 58per cent of church representatives votingagainst the proposal. But Pastor Tanabosesaid this is probably not a true reflection ofthe feeling of church members in thatregion. “Many of those who voted againstcame and saw us after the session and toldus they had been misled, and thinkingabout it more carefully would like the voteto be taken again,” he reported. “Sincethen we have received many emails and lettersand I would suggest those opposing hasfallen to perhaps 30 per cent.“Over these three meetings, 73 per centvoted yes. And I believe a lack of informationand education led to the no votes.”SPD president Pastor Laurie Evans, whoattended two of the mission meetings,echoed Pastor Tanabose’s conclusions.“Three or four people were very vocal inthe lead up to the Eastern Solomons meeting,”he told committee meetings. “TheTPUM did not need to go back to the missionbut they did that for the sake of clarityand communication.“This proposal has been given good exposureand the overall yes vote and the vote atthe TPUM session give a good mandate forthis proposal,” said Pastor Evans. “It is theprerogative of the SPD executive committeeto merge and form missions.”After the vote was taken, Pastor Evanscommended Pastor Tanabose, recentlyelected as TPUM president, for his work onthis proposal. “This is a historic moment,”commented Pastor Evans. “This is the firsttime we have had a presentation to the divisionexecutive committee on an issue such asthis from a national leader.”—NathanBrown(Continued from page 1)the SPD, says, “We gave an overview ofchurch structure and governance, familiarisedthem with the incorporated structureof the church in the South Pacific,explained the expectations of them ascommittee members and briefly discussedthe formulation of agendas andmeeting procedures.“Many expressed appreciation for thisopportunity. Never before have we had towork through this number of entities butthis will be a regular feature of our executivecommittee meetings,” he comments.According to Pastor Oliver, the newcommittee structure will also take someadjustment by those already familiarwith its workings.“Church entities will need to adjust tothis in their thinking and planning, especiallywith us having just one meeting peryear,” he reflects.But, says Pastor Evans, there are anumber of real advantages to the restructuringof the executive committee for thechurch. “Accountability is raised considerably,”he says. “We have never hadchurch leadership and church institutionsaccountable directly to the divisionexecutive committee.”Pastor Evans says this will flow on ingreater transparency and much strongergovernance with respect to our institutionsand the division itself.But, for Pastor Evans, the biggeradvantage will be that the division executivecommittee will have a greater focuson reviewing the integrity of our missionand message. “Less micromanagementwill allow more significant time to workon major items,” he says.At the conclusion of the meetings,Pastor Oliver thanked committee membersfor their contribution, for givingtheir time and energy to the process.—Nathan Brown4 December 17, 2005
New session election procedures finalisedDEC annual meeting reportCFO reflects on challenges for church finances in SPDWAHROONGA, NEW SOUTH WALESThe report of the South PacificDivision’s (SPD) chief financial officer,Mr Rodney Brady, to the SPDexecutive committee on November 23focused on the strategic challenges forchurch finances and accounting systems inthe coming five years. The substantivefinancial report was presented to the SPDsession in September (see “Treasurer reportson financial change,” RECORD, September17).“We need to communicate more effectivelyto our membership,” he told delegates.“It has been a challenge to meetaccounting standards and then be able toreport to members in a way that can beeasily understood.”Mr Brady reflected on the environmentin which the Treasury Department worksto manage the church’s finances. “We havean increasing workload to meet externalrequirements,” he said. “We need to keepworking on our legal structures and refiningthem.”He also noted the difficulties workingacross some of the unstable economies in thePacific. “We need to plan carefully how tosafeguard the church’s financial position inthese economic circumstances,” said MrBrady.According to Mr Brady, ageing staff andinfrastructure are beginning to pose challengesfor the church. “More than 40 percent of our financial staff across the division,conferences and missions are due to retirewithin the next 10 years,” he reported. “Weneed to work on how we can fill thesevacancies and find suitably qualified staff.“And many of our buildings are ageingand in need of major maintenance orreplacement. As a church, we need to findways to address this.”Mr Brady stressed the church’s missionmust remain the primary focus in addressingeach of these challenges. “The divisionwill need to manage its assets—and assistother church entities to do the same—toensure they are being used for maximumbenefit of mission,” he said.“And these needs are heightened by thechurch’s rapid growth in our island territories.This has been reliant on the church inAustralia and New Zealand, but the growthin income from these areas is not keepingup with the growth in the Pacific.”—Nathan BrownWAHROONGA, NEW SOUTH WALESAnew procedure for the election ofconference leaders in Australia andNew Zealand has been adopted bythe South Pacific Division (SPD)executive committee at its annual meeting.According to SPD general secretary PastorBarry Oliver, these new election protocolsand associated documents are the culminationof a process that has been taking placeover the past two years.The impetus for change began with apresentation by SPD chief financial officerRodney Brady in November 2003, in whichhe highlighted the need for natural justiceand clarification of employment status andcontracts.“The situation is not identical in everycountry of the division but a common trendis emerging,” said Mr Brady at that time.“The legal position of our session electionprocedures has not been as clear as wewould have liked and has relied on thegood-will and understanding of employeesto accept those procedures.”According to Pastor Oliver, the majorfeatures of Mr Brady’s original proposalhave been carried through in the proceduresadopted. “But this has been developed inconsultation with three legal firms and allconference executive committees inAustralia and New Zealand,” he said. “Ithas been an extensive process.”The documents were adopted in draftform at the division executive committee’smidyear meetings in May this year and havebeen further refined by legal advice. Havingnow been voted by the executive committee,the new procedures need to be consideredand adopted at all conference sessions—now known as constituency meetings—in2006 and beyond.In this new process, everyone elected orappointed to a position of conference leadershipwill receive a letter of appointmentsetting out the job description and term ofappointment.At least three months prior to a conferencesession, a session nominating committeewill meet to consider the recommendationsfor elections and appointments to bemade at the conference session. This workis to be completed at least one month beforeCommittee members at the DEC meetingsheard presentations from a number of SPDchurch leaders.the session, allowing time for incumbentsnot recommended for re-election to challengethat decision.“While providing another option, thenew election protocols do recommend thatonly a president, an executive committee, anappointment committee and a constitutioncommittee be elected at constituency meetings,”Pastor Oliver explained. “All otherappointments are to be made by theappointments committee.”Giving effect to this proposal, the divisionexecutive committee voted model conferenceconstitutions for Australia and NewZealand, model conference constituencymeeting and election protocols, and a seriesof associated policy changes.—NathanBrownDecember 17, 20055
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