Rod Robson, the Chair of the National Council, brings you this update from their last National Council gathering on 21 – 22 February 2025.
Hi Peeps
National Council spent two days together on 21 – 22 February for the first meeting of 2025. Our subcommittee structure, which has been in place for a year now, allows us to pre-process business matters and frees up time in our in-person meetings for strategic conversations.
On the Friday, we had a rather ethics and safety-focused morning.
We started by hearing from Charles Hewlett (National Leader) about the new Code of Ethics and Conduct that will be released for consultation shortly. The group working on this has handed over to Charles a robust piece of work that will set our movement up well in this space. Keep your eyes peeled for this.
Following this, we looked at a proposed way forward for implementing the Serious Misconduct Process over the next four years, from the opt-in process of 2025 through to eventual constitutional change in a few years. The process we agreed to is outlined in the Leadership Hub.
Our discussion continued around the restoration of people to ministry, with a new Restoration Policy approved.
We also approved terms of reference and group members of the Baptist Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry Response Group. This group will be crucial over the following months, helping to guide our way forward as a movement as we consider the findings and recommendations from Whanaketia. You can read more about this group and see who is part of it in the recent article – Update: Abuse in Care Response Group has been formed.
A few business matters needed final approval, like the appointment of BVO (Blackmore Virtue & Owens, Accountants) as our new auditor, as this was delegated to us at the last National Hui following the retirement of our previous auditor.
At the meeting, we received a nomination for Vice President, which has gone to the Missions Council. (we have now brought this name to the movement of churches for a vote. Find out more about our 2025 Vice President nominee here.)
We also made time to review our year as a Council, including how our structures are working and how we relate to each other.
On Saturday, we moved into some strategic conversations. We talked about the ways we, as a movement, talk together about contentious issues, how we hold disagreements and also live in unity. We heard from our Communications Director, Mike Crudge, about the content strategy that guides how we make space for a diversity of perspectives to be presented and engaged with through our online content.
We talked about how we need to ensure that mission and ministry remain at the forefront of our strategic conversations together as a Baptist whānau. Therefore, we decided not to continue with the constitutional review in 2025, but we are continuing to work on our relationships with Baptist Māori leadership, the regional Associations, Arotahi, Carey, etc.
We also spoke as a council about our desire to honour our retired leaders and the valuable skills and expertise that they have to offer. We would love to identify people who have a passion for walking alongside the next generation of leaders.
A discussion around the unique resourcing challenges faced by migrant churches included an encouragement about the value that these churches bring to our whānau and how we can continue to work at a local, regional, and national level to support growth and health amongst these churches. This is an emerging issue for the movement.
We spent time in committee discussing the National Leader search process as we work toward a job description and pulling together a search team to represent the movement in the next phase of this search. Our current National Leader concludes in October this year.
We heard from Arotahi about some exciting developments in their journey of engaging people in mission both in Aotearoa and globally. There is a lot happening in this space, and we commend their work to you. Look out for opportunities for your church to get involved with what Arotahi is doing.
Our meetings are encouraging as we continue to see the ways that God is working in and through our movement of churches. A theme that continues to come through our meetings is relationships. Can I encourage you to know who your neighbouring Baptist church is, to pray for them, and to go out for coffee with your colleagues in the Lord? May we be an encouragement to each other in this work.
Photo: National Council gathering December 2024. Supplied by Catharina Siraa.
