(Adopted 8/15/06)
Ministers Council Rapid Response Team
Executive Committee Proposal to the 2006 Senate
What is it? The RRT would be responsible for identifying issues on which the MC should provide an immediate response, information and/or guidance for ABC ministers, the ABC family and/or the public in general. The RRT would include the President, the Immediate Past President and the Vice-President for Communications, who would work in conjunction with the Executive Director to speak on behalf of the Ministers Council.
How would it work? The RRT would address public issues that arise from news reports, from information forwarded to them from other ABC groups, such as local MC groups, or from reports of ABC meetings and other events. The RRT members would first communicate with each other, drafting an appropriate response on which they agree and forwarding it to the Executive Director to publish on the website and/or to send out press releases. The RRT would also share its response with an appropriate body of the denomination.
What kind of topics would it address? The topics on which the RRT would focus would be limited to those already agreed upon as issues of importance to the ABC and the MC, such as “children in poverty;” topics that are specifically designated by the MC Senate as being of central concern to the MC organization; and topics that fall within already identified areas of concern to the ABC. Any position that is taken would be required to be consistent with ABC and MC policies.
Why is it needed? There are two main reasons for creating the RRT. First, it would provide a way for the MC to timely share information with MC pastors and ministerial leaders on issues of public importance that have also been declared to be of importance to our denomination. This is simply information sharing in a way that would make it easy for pastors and ministerial leaders to use the materials and to share the information with local congregations. The second reason it is important is that it would help with the “branding” process for the ABC that has been discussed on many levels of our denomination. Sharing our views with the public on issues that we feel are important is one major way to help the public learn more about who we are and what we stand for. As long as the issues are already within the realm of topics that have already been determined to be important for us as a group of believers, then sharing these views is a way of helping the public to better know who American Baptists are.
Where is the authorization for this in our organizing documents? The Ministers Council mission statement states that “We are women and men who advocate for and covenant with each other to deepen our spiritual journey and to increase our effectiveness, as persons who are accepting the call of God and church for the advancement of the Gospel mission of the church of Jesus Christ and to proclaim His truth in a prophetic voice as led by the Holy Spirit.” The sharing of information among us is one way to increase the effectiveness of our ministries. Sharing this same information with the public is one way to proclaim God’s truth in a prophetic voice. Additionally, Article III, section 3.c. states that to achieve its purpose, the MC will “interpret the appropriate roles of ministerial leadership to the constituent parts of our denomination and to the local American Baptist churches.” By sharing the prophetic voice of God on issues that are important to our denomination, we help to interpret and exemplify the appropriate role of ministerial leadership.
When would it take effect? If approved at the 2006 Senate, members of the RRT would be appointed by the Executive Committee to begin work immediately. The creation of the RRT would be announced to constituent councils and to ABC denominational leaders at the conclusion of the Senate. The work of the RRT and its effectiveness would be reviewed by the Senate after one year.