NAMB clearly adrift, perhaps drowning

[William Thornton]

[Sandy]

The tragedy of this, if there are major changes, is that there are many ministries and programs at NAMB which are excellent, and which do an excellent service for local churches, which will suffer the most.

As a college student, I participated in their collegiate summer missions program for two summers. There are lasting memories associated with that, along with the foundation and encouragement those 20 weeks provided to me as I was struggling with a calling to the ministry at that time. And I met my wife while serving one summer in St. Louis. That program is still ongoing, and over the past three years, we've had five college students from our church involved, including one young man who made a commitment to vocational service this summer as a result of his service.

World Changers has put more than a quarter of a million participants, mainly high school and middle school students, in short term missions experiences and is one of the largest social ministry programs in existence. In Savannah, alone, they've rehabilitated something like 20,000 homes in their 17 or 18 years of existence, 13 of that as part of NAMB.

In my home state of Arizona, NAMB pretty much makes a border ministry possible. They provide financial assistance, send both full time missionary personnel and MSC volunteers, and organize groups from individual churches to take mission trips to Cochise County and the border area where there are several dozen new church starts each year, especially on the Mexican side of the border.

It's a shame that the politics of string pulling and influence peddling have created a monster in the administration of the organization.

[Chris]

[Chris]

Another article (attributed to associated Baptist Press {ABP}) says that Hammond reportedly "hired friends instead of qualified persons for key positions."

Reminds me of former NAMB President Robert Reccord (another Fundy Conservative Virginia Baptist) who gave a no-bid contract (for 6 figures) to a friend from Virginia Beach (likely a member of his former church).

The arrogance of these two men is hard to fathom.

Annie is rolling over in her grave.

[William Thornton]

[rfuss]

[Neil Heath]

[Chris]

[Sandy]

[David Flick]

[David Flick]

[Mark]

This is probably a topic for at least one or more separate threads, but...

Is it possible that God did lead the committee to choose Geoff Hammond and/or Bob Reccord, knowing in advance (unless one believes in Open Theism, of course ) that these leaders would veer off course, as did King David, Judas, etc? Perhaps so that some greater aspect of God's purpose could be achieved? Or, that folks would depend on God more? Or something else?

I'm not saying that's what I necessarily think. Just wondering out loud...

[William Thornton]

[Mark]

[Neil Heath]

[Mark]

[Sandy]

The public relations required by these organizations doesn't permit the admission that the hiring process is political, and not spiritual. I don't deny that there are trustees who do pray for the Lord's leadership, and that there are individuals who have a genuine interest in the job and who pray for the Lord's sense of direction, but I think those things are often overwhelmed by 1) the influence of some powerful trustees who have backing of "defacto" leadership from outside the board, 2) the salary and benefits package of the job itself, which makes the position attractive beyond the perspective of having the chance to lead a missional organization whose head has the additional opportunity to move to the head of the book publishing line, and other perks and 3) the fact that the head of NAMB becomes a widely recognized name and personality within the SBC itself, which also carries some defacto power to do favors for people whose influence can return to benefit you, and to maintain your influence and your power.

Considering NAMB's size, the number of employees who are under the direct supervision of its president in its headquarters building, the number of other management people in various divisions, and how the work gets done, I think NAMB could be successful, and find a long term, committed, successful leader if it did the following:

1. Cap all NAMB salary and benefits packages, and limit the president's salary and benefits to the median salary package in the SBC among churches which average between 250 and 350 in worship attendance. Naturally, division heads and other executives would make less. You would then be able to drop a lot of dead weight, "coffee clatch," employees as well, and you would have a staff that would be there for the work and the commitment, and not for the money and the perks. I think you would see productivity, as it is measured by a Baptist entity, improve to the point where the trustees would be astounded.

2. No trustee or executive employee of any SBC entity or agency, including the executive committee and its paid leadership, may submit a recommendation for this position, and no individual with a recommendation, endorsement or reference from any said group will be considered for the position.

3. Preference will be given to NAMB staff members who have served in the field as church planters, associational directors of missions, NAMB missionaries, and others who have demonstrated a commitment to NAMB's work by their service in the field in other than executive level positions.

It'll never happen, of course, but that's what it would take

[Tim Dahl]

[johnfariss]

There is one point that I have not seen mentioned in any of the forums or blogs, so I'll bring it up here. It is the fact that there are relatively few leaders who have been gifted with the ability to lead an organization the size of NAMB, IMB, a 10 or 20 thousand member mega-church, or for that matter, a President of the United States. That is why the US has had a few Presidential failures and many mundane Presidents, but only a few great ones. Not many people have the gifts to lead a nation of 300 million people. Not many people have the ability to lead Ford or GM or AIG or any of several other defunct or struggling big businesses successfully either--I couldn't. There is no shame in that; it is simply reality that God gifts relatively few with those abilities.

And yet we have worked and strived to build this big, BIG organization, which seems to me to be based on the premise, "Bigger is better," as if it is an eleventh commandment. And when you factor in that for NAMB or IMB, etc., that CEO must be a Christian, and a Baptist Christian, and must pass the approval of the CR power brokers--the pool of prospects shrinks even more.

Maybe that is God's way of telling us to decentralize or some other radical move to take some of the administrative/leadership pressures off our institutional leaders.

John

[Tim Dahl]