April 1, 2024, update from the Leadership Board: The USMB Leadership Board has selected its top two candidates for the national director position. They plan to interview these candidates in person in April. Please pray for wisdom and discernment for them as they interview.
When the USMB Leadership Council meets this Friday, March 22, and the Leadership Board convenes Saturday morning, the search for the next USMB national director will be on the agenda.
The Leadership Board is acting as the search committee and has valued and appreciated the wisdom of the broader Leadership Council during the search process, says Luke Haidle, Leadership Board chair. In an email interview prior to the meeting, Haidle says, “The Leadership Board has had Zoom calls every two weeks to keep the process moving. The search process is on track and barring a surprise, the new national director will be present at USMB Gathering 2024 in July.”
When asked for an update on the search, Boris Borisov, Leadership Board vice chair who is leading the search, says, “We were pleased to have received several quality applications and are in the process of conducting in-depth interviews, theological reviews and personality assessments. This analysis will continue through the spring as we discern the best fit for our family. Our hope is to have the new director selected in the summer and start the transition process which should conclude in August of 2024.”
Summarizing the search process, Borisov says, “The Leadership Board has been praying and working diligently on the search process for the national director position while engaging our district ministers, churches and partner organizations. Starting last summer, we sent out a survey to help us gauge what our national family was looking for in the next director. This helped us craft a job description and advertise the position to a broad audience between November 2023 and February of this year.”
Another key agenda item will be continued work on a recommendation regarding the reversion clause. According to USMB bylaws, “should a member church withdraw from the Conference, or be dissolved, its capital assets shall become the property of the district conference of which the church is a member” (Article IV, Section 1.D.).
The question of what happens to church property when a church closes, leaves the U.S. Conference of MB Churches or is removed from membership has been debated for many years, with supporters of changing as well as retaining the current bylaw giving compelling reasons for their position.
“This is an important topic,” says Haidle. “We have been working to find a solution that obeys Scripture, is workable for districts and honors the local church. We hope to come to the national convention with a written proposal. These kinds of revisions require we circulate the proposed revisions 90 days prior to the meeting, which we will do.”
Prior to the leadership council and leadership board meetings, the Board of Faith and Life will meet Wednesday, March 20, and the National Strategy Team on Thursday, March 21. The meetings will be held in McAllen, Texas.
Connie Faber joined the magazine staff in 1994 and assumed the duties of editor in 2004. She has won awards from the Evangelical Press Association for her writing and editing. Faber is the co-author of Family Matters: Discovering the Mennonite Brethren. She and her husband, David, have two daughters, one son, one daughter-in-law, one son-in-law and three grandchildren. They are members of Ebenfeld MB Church in Hillsboro, Kansas.
In the search process the leadership board is working on, be sure to invite lots of input from the USMB staff team! I didn’t see them mentioned as a group that was consulted. The dynamics of daily work together can bring to light key points to consider in who is hired as the next director.
Also…just curious…are all applicants men?