The North American Mission Board (NAMB) has canceled four controversial contracts initiated by former president Bob Reccord that critics said were wasting missions money.
The cancellations, which reportedly will save millions of dollars, were reported to trustees May 2. The contracts came to light during a trustee investigation of charges raised by The Christian Index newspaper. The 19-page investigation report, released March 23, eventually prompted Reccord’s resignation.
One contract being cancelled is with InovaOne Aviation, which will immediately save $40,000 in unused pilot hours and aircraft maintenance. The agency was committed to a four-year contract with InovaOne, which is run by a friend of Reccord’s, that obligated NAMB to purchase 45 flight hours annually for use of a corporate jet.
NAMB was only 18 months into that contract, which already had cost the agency $142,000.
NAMB will also begin saving $12,000 monthly through termination of its relationship with two public relations firms that were hired without trustee knowledge. The agency already has a two-person public relations office at its Alpharetta, Ga., headquarters.
And as of April 28, NAMB terminated its relationship with 316 Networks, a broadband Internet site that had cost the agency $1.4 million but only generated $30,000. Trustees said it would have cost an additional $2 million.
Under the new relationship, 316 Networks will continue to host NAMB’s video products, but the agency “will be a paying customer just like churches and associations and will have no financial interest in its success or failure,” Carlos Ferrer, NAMB interim chief operating officer, said. (ABP)
Share with others: