September 9, 2010

VALLEY FORGE, PA – The 2010 American Baptist Ministers Council Senate met at the Green Lake Conference Center in Green Lake Wisconsin from Saturday, August 14 through Tuesday August 17. The meeting was convened by president Jeff Savage under the theme of "Creating a Community of Spiritual Leaders," based on Mark 2:1-12 and Psalm 121:1-8. The Senate was joined in a time of worshipful work by various ABC leaders from the national program boards and several local regions.

In anticipation of the approaching conclusion of the Lilly grant funding the collegial covenant groups known as TIM (Together in Ministry) groups, the Senate approved a $2.5 million capital campaign to support the work of the Ministers Council at the national and constituent council levels into the future. The campaign steering committee, convened by acting senate treasurer Thomas Gilmore, will work closely with Dr. Joe Kutter, who was named executive director by the Senate, removing the word "acting" from his title for the duration of his term. The Senate also increased member dues for the first time since 1997.

Working in tandem, the Department of Spiritual and Personal Wholeness and the Department of Professional Effectiveness sought to develop ways to implement the Clergy Fitness Initiative presented to us by the General Executive Council of the ABCUSA. Their strategies to address and foster all aspects of clergy wellness (physical, social, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, and institutional) include encouraging TIM groups focusing on wellness and the creation of an online covenantal group.

The following slate of officers were approved: VP of Membership and Constituency – Shakespeare Osorio; Senate Representative to the Executive Committee – Brian Dixon; Senator-at-Large – Jackson Oliveira; Senators-at-Large to the Executive Committee – Joan Burnett and Holly Bean; VP of Professional Effectiveness – Dee Dee Turlington. At the closing banquet, which featured ABCUSA general secretary Roy Medley as the keynote speaker, Rev. Mildred "Millie" Myren received the 2010 Ministers Council Ralph Garfield Schell President's Award for Excellence in the Ministry from Ministers Council president Jeff Savage. Rev. Myren grew up in the Morgan Park Baptist Church of Chicago where her father was the music director for 59 years. In 1978 she became an administrator in what was then called the Chicago Baptist Association, now ABC Metro Chicago and was named Interim Executive Minister serving from 1988-89 and again in 1993. In 1994 Millie was named Executive Minister of the Region. She was nominated by Rev. Carol Jamieson Brown, president of the Metro Chicago Ministers Council.

American Baptist Churches is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with 5,500 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God's mission around the world.

American Baptist News Service