Baptist Briefs

Vote on CBF head set for February. The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Coordinating Council will vote in February on a successor to Executive Coordinator Daniel Vestal, who retired in June, according to an announcement at the council's October meeting in Decatur, Ga. CBF Moderator Keith Herron said the candidate's name will be announced Jan. 18, when the recommendation comes to the CBF advisory council, and the Coordinating Council will vote on the recommendation at its Feb. 21-22 meeting.

Midwestern Seminary elects president. Jason Allen, 35, vice president of institutional advancement at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has been elected the fifth president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo. He succeeds former president Phil Roberts, who resigned in February amid questions about his leadership from members of the seminary's board of trustees. He holds Ph.D. and master of divinity degrees from Southern Seminary and an undergraduate degree from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala. Allen and his wife, Karen, have five children.

Foundation names VP & general counsel. The Baptist Foundation of Texas board of directors unanimously named Joe Hancock vice president and general counsel of the Baptist Foundation of Texas, effective Jan. 1.  Hancock, currently senior trust counsel, has been with the foundation 13 years.  Hancock holds a bachelor's degree from Baylor University and master of business administration and law degrees from the University of Arkansas. He succeeds Jeff Smith, who has been named president and chief executive officer, effective Jan. 1.

Heys named interim CBF communications director. Patricia Heys, communications manager for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, has been named the organization's interim director of communications and marketing. She succeeds Lance Wallace, who left CBF for a similar role with Georgia Tech Research Institute. Heys holds a journalism degree from the University of Georgia and earned a master of divinity degree and doctor of ministry degree from Mercer University's McAfee School of Theology.

CBF kick-starts 2012 task force plan. Leaders of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship chose a fast track for implementation of re-visioning the 21-year-old movement adopted last summer, approving a timeline at the October CBF Coordinating Council meeting to propose a new constitution and bylaws, nominees for a new governance model and transition plan, all in time for next year's general assembly in Greensboro, N.C. The first order of business is choosing a nominating committee to select individuals to replace the current 60-member Coordinating Council with a leaner 16-member governing board and transitional leaders for two new councils focused on missions and ministries and less involved in day-to-day oversight of the entire organization. Also, a legal committee will draft a new constitution and bylaws for Coordinating Council consideration.