Messengers to the 2015 Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma (BGCO) Annual Meeting will be asked to consider and vote on amendments to the BGCO Constitution.  The proposed amendments are being printed in this edition of the Messenger, in accordance with provisions of the BGCO Constitution and Bylaws, so that every Oklahoma Baptist will have an opportunity to see, in advance of the annual meeting, exactly what is being proposed.

The proposed amendments of the BGCO Constitution 1) remove all references to the office of recording secretary, as approved by the BGCO Board of Directors during the March 2015 meeting, and 2) add a section to Article 1 concerning a statement of faith, as approved by the BGCO Board of Directors during the September 2015 meeting.

Excerpts indicating the proposed changes to the BGCO Constitution are printed below. The full text of the current governing documents can be found at www.bgco.org/about.   If you have questions regarding the proposed amendments, please contact BGCO President Hance Dilbeck at hdilbeck@qsbc.org (Quail Springs Baptist Church, 14613 North May Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73134) or Dr. Anthony Jordan at ajordan@bgco.org (Executive Office, BGCO, 3800 North May Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73112).

The proposed amendments are included in the following excerpts from the current Constitution of the Baptist General Convention of the State of Oklahoma. Deleted text is shown as strikethrough and new text is underlined.

ARTICLE II

OBJECT

Section 3. Statement of Faith. This convention declares the Bible as the foundation for its faith and practice, and affirms as its confession of faith the Baptist Faith and Message, as revised and adopted in 2000 by the Southern Baptist Convention, as the doctrinal parameter for its cooperative work. 

ARTICLE IV

OFFICERS

Section 1. Officers. The officers of the convention shall be a president, a first vice president, a second vice president, a recording secretary, an executive director-treasurer, and a senior associate executive director (if one shall be elected by the board of directors).

Section 2. Elections.

B. The recording secretary shall be elected annually by majority vote of the messengers of the convention upon nomination by the committee on nominations. The recording secretary shall hold office until a successor is elected. There shall be no limit on the number of successive terms a person shall be elected to this office.

Section 9. Removal from Office.

B. Convention-Elected. The president, first vice president, second vice president, recording secretary, and executive director-treasurer shall be subject to removal at any time by a two-thirds vote of the entire board of directors, provided that the removal is considered at a special meeting of the board of directors called for that purpose.

ARTICLE V

GENERAL CONVENTIONS AND THEIR PROCEEDINGS

Section 9. Minutes. The assistant to the executive director-treasurer shall record minutes of the convention.

ARTICLE VI

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Section 3. Composition. The board of directors shall consist of sixty (60) members, plus the president, first vice president, and second vice president, and recording secretary, who shall be chosen in accordance with the constitution and bylaws.

Section 5. Terms. The board of directors shall consist of sixty (60) members, plus the president, first vice president and second vice president, who shall be chosen by the convention; and the recording secretary, who shall be elected by the convention at the annual meeting. The term of office for the sixty (60) members shall be three (3) years. Twenty (20) of them shall retire annually. Board members having served not more than one full term of three years shall be eligible for re-election to a second three-year term.  Board members having served a second term shall be ineligible for re-election to this board for a period of two years.

Section 8. Officers of the Board. The president, first vice president, and second vice president, and recording secretary of the convention shall hold the same offices of the board of directors.

Section 9. Meetings of the Board.

D. Minutes. The assistant to the executive director-treasurer shall record minutes of the board of directors.

ARTICLE VII

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Section 1. Composition. The president, first vice president, second vice president, recording secretary, executive director-treasurer, and chairmen of all standing committees of the board of directors shall serve as the executive committee of the board of directors.

Section 4. Minutes. The assistant to the executive director-treasurer shall record minutes of the executive committee.

ARTICLE VIII

BOARDS, TRUSTEES, AND COMMITTEES, INCLUDING THOSE OF AUXILIARY CORPORATIONS

Section 6. Standing Committees.

A. Nominating Committee. The president shall appoint a fifteen (15) member nominating committee composed of persons from various geographical areas and size of churches. The committee shall meet at least twice: an orientation meeting prior to June 1 and a meeting to begin the nominating process prior to September 15. Between the two meetings, the committee shall provide opportunity for the general constituency to submit recommendations. The committee shall not recommend a fellow committee member or the member’s spouse for nomination to any convention-elected position. All persons nominated by the committee shall be contacted prior to the annual session to affirm their willingness to serve if elected. The nominating committee shall recommend to the convention in annual session:

i.  persons to serve on the convention’s board of di

rectors and boards of all auxiliary corporations,

ii.  nominations for recording secretary,

ii.  nominations for the standing committees elected

by the convention, and

iii. preacher for the following year’s convention

annual meeting.