Committee works ‘Rubik’s cube’ to develop list of nominees

Posted: 10/28/05

Committee works 'Rubik's cube'
to develop list of nominees

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

DALLAS–The Baptist General Convention of Texas committee to nominate Executive Board directors has compiled its list of nominees for a streamlined board with enhanced authority, pending approval by messengers to the state convention's annual meeting.

At the Nov. 14-15 annual meeting in Austin, messengers will vote on amended bylaws related to convention governance. If approved, the revised bylaws will reduce the size of the BGCT Executive Board by more than half and grant its directors decision-making authority over matters that have been delegated to various boards, commissions and committees.

The reconstituted board is comprised of three directors from each of 30 sectors throughout the state. Sectors are drawn based on a per-county formula of 50 percent resident membership, 25 percent number of churches and 25 percent Texas Baptist Cooperative Program giving.

The current 234-member Executive Board's membership draws from 114 regional associations of churches, with each association having at least one member on the board.

Cassandra Northcutt of Longview chaired the committee to nominate executive board directors. Other committee members were Sil Ayala, San Antonio; Ronald Edwards, Goliad; James Fuller, Beaumont; Allison Gilliam, Valley Mills; Nelda Jones, Rosebud; Roger Malone, Dimmitt; Bonnie Martinez, El Paso; Nina Pinkston, Fort Worth; Kenneth Sheppard, Levelland; Danny Slaughter, Ballinger; Tiffany Wright, Dallas; and Charlotte Young, Quanah.

Participants in the process of putting together the streamlined board–factoring in geography, gender, ethnicity, church-size and a balance between laity and church staff–compared it to working a Rubik's cube. Solving one part of the puzzle threw off other parts.

“We had to look not only at finding 90 members for the board itself, but also had to look at the committees on which they would serve,” Northcutt said, noting that nominees' expertise and interests factored into the equation.

Under the new governance plan, responsibilities that have been met by the coordinating boards for educational and benevolence institutions, as well as by the State Missions Commission, Christian Life Commission and Administrative Committee, will be performed by Executive Board committees.

“All the parameters had to fit, and we had a difficult time meeting some of them,” Northcutt acknowledged. The full nominating committee met three times and held two conference calls, and each member spent hours working on individual assignments. “It was an important job, but it's one we're all glad is over,” she said.

The following are newly nominated by the committee to begin service on the 2006 Executive Board. At the conclusion of their first term of service, each of these nominees may be eligible for a second three-year term.

The “%” symbol designates nonchurch/denominational employees. Numerals following each nominee's hometown indicate the geographic sector or sectors they will represent.

Term to expire in 2006: % Ginger Blomstrom, Sugar Land, 19-22; % Virginia Bowers, Muleshoe, 2; % Anthony Bruster, Texarkana, 14; % Betty Jo Craig, Waxahachie, 9-11; Jerry Dailey, San Antonio, 26; % Leonardo Diaz, Hitchcock, 18; Doug Evans, Laguna Park, 29; % Dan Griffith, Haskell, 5; Tony Gruben, Uvalde, 28; Alcides Guajardo, Pawnee, 25; % Rebecca Hines, Houston, 19-22; % Ilene Hughes, Nederland, 17; Kenneth Jordan, Alpine, 1; Richard Laverty, Perryton, 3; % Flo Stovall, Victoria, 23; Trey Turner, Temple, 24

Term to expire in 2007: % Rudy Camacho, Fort Worth, 6-8; Roberto Cepeda, Los Fresnos, 25; Eddy Curry, Plainview, 4; Marvin Delaney, Houston, 19-22; % Carmen Estrada, El Paso, 1; % Debbie Ferrier, San Antonio, 26; % James Leggitt, Levelland, 2; Peter Leong, Sugar Land, 19-22; Gerald McMath, Carthage, 14; Royce Measures, Pasadena, 19-22; John Nguyen, Garland, 9-11; % David Ogeda, Nocona, 5; John Petty, Kerrville, 28; Jesús Ramero, Brownwood, 29; Tim Williams, Victoria, 23; Lee Wilson, Fort Worth, 6-8; % Stephen Young, Tyler, 15

Term to expire in 2008: Robert Arrubla, Fort Worth, 6-8; % Linda Brian, Amarillo, 3; Bob Dean, Dallas, 9-11; % Gloria DuBose, Midland, 1; % Larry Douglas, Missouri City, 19-22; % Janet Erwin, Bedford, 6-8; % Bob Fowler, Houston, 19-22; Johnnie Henderson, Commerce, 13; Ken Hugghins, Huntsville, 18; % Ed Pool, Nacogdoches, 16; Helen Price, Waco, 30; Harold Richardson, Tyler, 15; % Fred Roach, Richardson, 9-11; % Noah Rodriguez, San Antonio, 26; % Josúe Silva, Lubbock, 2; Byron Stevenson, Sugar Land, 19-22; % Don Ward, Fort Worth, 6-8

Current Executive Board directors to be re-elected: The following are current directors who have completed their first three-year-term and have been nominated by the committee to nominate the Executive Board to serve a second term.

Term to expire in 2008: Steve Dominy, Gatesville, 29; % Elizabeth Hanna, Beaumont, 17; % Tommy Hiebert, San Angelo, 28; % Ken Livingston, College Station, 24; David Massey, Hallsville, 14; % Jim Nelson, Austin, 27; Joel Odom, Floresville, 25; % Priscilla Pecina, Duncanville, 9-11; Bruce Peterson, Alvin, 23; Joshua Stowe, Rule, 5; Indy Vormbrock, Houston, 19-22

Current Executive Board directors who will continue to serve: The following are current directors who have been elected at a previous BGCT annual meeting. The 2006 convention does not need to vote on these directors. They will continue to serve the terms they were originally elected to. These names are provided for information only. A small number of current Executive Board directors have not decided about their future service on the board.

Term to expire in 2006: Carlos Alsina, Austin, 27; Steven Chun, Houston, 19-22; David Cooke, Devine, 28; % Charles Creed, Jacksonville, 16; % Alice Curtis, Fort Worth, 6-8; Karen Gilbert, Dallas, 9-11; David Harp, Stanton, 4; % B.J. Hart, Weatherford, 6-8; Arnold Martin, Irving, 9-11; Joe Martinez, Houston, 19-22; Nestor Menjivar, Austin, 27; % Richard Muir, Sanger, 6-8; John Ogletree Jr., Houston, 19-22; Carolyn Pickens, Houston, 19-22; % Barbara Pittman, Clyde, 4; % Rogers Pope, Longview, 15; Glen Schmucker, Dallas, 9-11; Wade Smith, Pottsboro, 12; B.L. Worsham, La Porte, 19-22

Terms to expire in 2007: % David Alford, Waco, 30; Darrell Beggs, Teague, 16; Becky Brown, Houston, 19-22; Jerry Carlisle, Plano, 12; % Gwenda Carrell, Godley, 30; Al Flores, San Antonio, 26; % Elmo Johnson, Houston, 19-22; Jim Haskell, Georgetown, 27; Ronnie Hood, Longview, 15; Ron Lyles, Pasadena, 19-22; Morgan Malone, Bonham, 12; Bruce Murray, Austin, 27; Fred Raney, Hemphill, 17; Eddie Sanchez, Dallas, 9-11; Randall Scott, Paris, 13; Ed Seay, Magnolia, 18; Chris Simmons, Dallas, 9-11; % Charlie Summers, Dimmitt, 3; % Jean Talley, Grapevine, 6-8; Chris Thacker, Eagle Lake, 24; Betty Thompson, Carthage, 13; Ed Walker, Marble Falls, 28; Charles Whiteside, Kilgore, 15

Terms to expire in 2008: % Joseph Cross, Bridgeport, 6-8; % Anna Marie Edgemon, Sulphur Springs, 13; Julio Guarneri, Fort Worth, 6-8