We now have an ‘unofficial’ report from the chairman of what was once the ICoC Steering Committee. It’s no secret that I’m no fan of the UP for various reasons. However, this kind of change is good in some ways.
The biggest change is that we no longer have World Sector Leaders by a new name. The original Gang of Nine (which is a positive reference) looked and functioned just like the WSLs of old. Each member represented a set of regional groups and the group as a whole dealt with ‘worldwide’ church issues. (The delegates of the Regional Groups are analogous to the GSLs of old.) Under the new structure, there are standing committees built by function, and these committees operate independently of each other. Add in a Warren-style Ministry fair, and involvement can soar.
For example, let’s say that the Church Building Committee wanted to get help from Sam Laing. The committee doesn’t have to run it through the Steering Committee to do so, Mike, DA, and others can just contact him and begin to work together. Pretty cool.
Along the same lines, more people can be involved as stated in the report. Any structure that empowers participation is a good thing.
Other good thing coming from the new structure is that a small step is being taken to decentralize power. Breaking up into groups by function removes some of the power from a few select people and spreads it around. More can be done, but this is a great beginning. There is no ‘quarterback’ pro se of the ICoC anymore.
The HOPE tax is back, but it is voluntary and explained correctly ahead of time. As I have said before, having churches pay for administration to allow larger agencies to fund programs is a good model. What made it awful before was that some churches were told that their money went to programs when it really went to overhead. This made some ministers into liars when they begged for money ‘to go to Africa’ when it was really going to Pennsylvania.
This should also allow individual churches some expectation of disclosure. In many charities, those that fund overhead typically have some measure of trust between staff and donors. In other words, if the donors ask questions, the staff, bend over backwards to answer them.
If every US church (cooperating church and non-affiliated church) gave $1 per week per member, it would be around 1.75 million dollars. This would cover salaries (1.1 million per 2006 990 form) and much of the overall expenses. Considering that overhead plus fund raising expenses top 2.2 million, this much unrestricted cash would be a big help. More on this later.
Subscriptions to DisciplesToday are going to end. Research has shown that ‘walled gardens’ that restrict content do not fare well. Check out TechDirt for more in-depth analysis, but free content should be the part of any internet newspaper model. Even the NY Times has recently learned this lesson.
Delegates of ICoC(Unaffiliated) churches were present in some or all of these meetings. Not only does this begin to demonstrate trust, but it also sets the stage for bridging our split. That may sound strange, but we are already split into ICoC(Cooperating) and ICoC(Unaffiliated). Cooperating churches vote and have power. Cooperating churches can have delegates chair committees. Unaffiliated churches can really only observe. Any measure that empowers ICoC(Unaffiliated) congregations is a step in the right direction.
Now that this change has started, more progress can be made. That will come in a later post.