Seventh-day Adventist Church officials are condensing the church's annual autumn business meetings in an effort to corral agenda items within a shorter timeframe.
Annual Council meetings at world church headquarters will run from October 8 to 13, sending some 300 members of the church's Executive Committee home a day earlier than usual to avoid staying the weekend or traveling on Sabbath, said world church Undersecretary Homer Trecartin.
Delegates can expect a packed six days -- they'll formalize plans for the next five years, consider restructuring church mission programs, vote to accept nominations for some director and associate director positions at church headquarters and make decisions regarding the future of Griggs University.
To help accelerate the process of approving regular agenda items, Annual Council delegates can review a copy of the agenda online before meetings begin.
The agenda format itself is new this year. Delegates will vote on three consent agendas -- one groups policy items under one umbrella, the other two cover the more routine calendar of events and committee appointments. While some agenda items merit individual discussion -- they'll be pulled from the consent agenda beforehand -- there's no need to painstakingly approve almost every item line by line, Trecartin said.
If any member of the Executive Committee feels an additional item justifies debate, he or she can pull it before delegates vote to accept the consent agendas, Trecartin said.
"We're not trying to hide anything or railroad anything through, but there's no reason to spend even 15 minutes discussing some of these items," Trecartin said. "If someone has a concern about the calendar, for instance, it shouldn't take up 300 people's time."
Streamlining the regular agenda will free up time for myriad new items that tend to follow a General Conference Session, held this summer in Atlanta.
"It's the beginning of the quinquennium, so there are a lot of new plans and a new vision, especially when you have a new president," Trecartin said. "There are a lot of things that the new administration wants reported on and talked about to help set the stage for the next five years." Chief in setting the trajectory for the church is an emphasis on revival and reformation, he said.
Delegates will also consider a plan to centralize coordination for the church's missionary programs. Currently, Adventist volunteers, Global Mission pioneers, Inter-Division Employees and other church missionaries are each overseen by a different group. With one mission board working closely with each of the church's regions to determine needs and strategies, church officials hope to attain a clearer vision and best use of resources for mission, Trecartin said.
"Some have been afraid that if we establish a mission board, it'll take over the [local church regions'] control, but that's not the intent at all," he said. Instead, the board might suggest that a survey group coordinate with a church region to help impact unreached people there.
Annual Council nominating committee reports will likely interrupt meetings several times, Trecartin said. Typically, church officers are not elected at Annual Council, but due to the volume of nominations at Session, the church's Constitution and Bylaws state that some elections take place at the first Annual Council following Session.
These include the director and associates for the White Estate and Biblical Research Institute, among others. Many of the church's entities -- such as it's television network, Hope Channel, and the Adventist Development and Relief Agency -- will likewise nominate their officers and determine the composition of their boards during Annual Council.
Also on the docket are decisions regarding the future of church-run Griggs University. Delegates will vote on recommendations from a commission established last year to suggest ways to strengthen the distance-learning arm of the Adventist Church, which has faced financial challenges in recent years. Previous ideas have included relocating the university and offering more online education.