The Convention Advancement Advisory Council (CAAC) welcomed five new members, reviewed the group’s database dashboard presented by the council’s subcommittee on research, prayed for the presidential search committees of five SBC entities, and set 2019 goals and action plans during its August 2–3 meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.
The CAAC was created to help implement strategic findings and recommendations of seven advisory councils appointed by the Executive Committee between 2011 and 2017. The council welcomed five representatives from the Women’s Advisory Council who joined the larger group for the first time. Four representatives from the Young Leaders Advisory Council, which completed its work in June, had not been assigned at the time of the meeting, but have since joined the Council.
The advisory council members represent various demographic sets of Southern Baptists and have been asked to help the SBC Executive Committee and SBC entity heads better understand each group’s unique perspectives and needs.
“The advisory councils from which the CAAC members have been selected represented more than ten thousand ethnic and language churches and congregations and over thirty thousand bivocational and smaller membership congregations,” said Ken Weathersby, vice president for Convention advancement with the Executive Committee.
“The addition of the women on the council represent the unique perspectives of more than one-half of the total membership of the Convention’s cooperating churches.”
The “dashboard” is an ethnic-specific database designed to help more than thirty ethnic fellowship leaders gain a more complete perspective of their respective churches’ efforts in evangelism, discipleship, missions, and cooperative giving. The dashboard also provides a “ministry progress indicator,” which monitors progress in such areas as ethnic representation on SBC boards and committees and staffing at SBC entities in executive, non-executive, and field personnel categories.
Among the findings of the subcommittee on research is that many qualified leaders from predominantly ethnic churches are often overlooked for SBC service on committees and boards due to the lack of consistent reporting by the churches through the Convention’s Annual Church Profile (ACP).
One initiative growing out the August meeting was developing ethnic-specific strategies to help all cooperating churches understand the value and importance of completing the ACP. The group also assigned subcommittees to visit with three SBC entities prior to the March 2019 meeting.
The CAAC is chaired by Weathersby. Paul Kim, EC Asian American relations consultant, and Bobby Sena, EC Hispanic relations consultant, assist him in the Council’s work.
EC Convention Advancement Advisory Council Composition
- Six members from the Hispanic Advisory Council, appointed in 2011.
- Six members from the African American Advisory Council, appointed in 2012.
- Four members from the Asian American Advisory Council, appointed in 2013.
- Four members from the Multi-Ethnic Advisory Council, appointed in 2014.
- Three members from the Bivocational and Small Church Advisory Council, appointed in 2014.
- Five members from the Women’s Advisory Council, appointed in 2015.
- Four members from the Young Leaders Advisory Council, appointed in 2017.
