North Carolina Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) has voted to remove itself from the North Carolina Baptist Building — and what leaders called the state convention executive director’s attempt to assert authority over its staff.
The dramatic move culminates 16 months of tension between North Carolina WMU and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC). At issue was who could make the final call on potential new hires, a responsibility claimed by the BSCNC executive director-treasurer because each state WMU staff member is a BSCNC employee. However, the North Carolina WMU positions are mainly funded through a state missions offering that North Carolina WMU members promote.
Authority to hire at issue
Several meetings took place between North Carolina WMU and BSCNC leadership to resolve the issues, but they reached an impasse when neither side would budge from its position on ultimate authority in hiring North Carolina WMU staff.
North Carolina WMU board members approved the move via conference call Aug. 16 and communicated results to BSCNC executive leadership Aug. 21. North Carolina WMU reported that 25 of the North Carolina WMU executive board’s 30 members were on the call and 23 voted in favor of the move, with one voting to oppose it and one abstention. The board’s executive committee had earlier recommended the change.
The move “should not be interpreted as a departure from the organization’s commitment to supporting and promoting missions through the BSCNC … nor as a lack of appreciation for the mutual partnership the organizations have enjoyed in the past,” Ruby Fulbright, North Carolina WMU executive director, said in a written statement.
After meeting with BSCNC Executive Director Milton Hollifield to inform him of North Carolina WMU’s decision, she said, “For the integrity of the organization and our history and for what God wants us to do, this is what we had to do.”
Hollifield, who was elected in April 2006, said in a statement that he was “grieved that the long standing relationship between the BSCNC [and] WMU of NC has moved to this level of consequential uncertainty.”
“We have participated in more than 16 months of dialogue, and it was my hope that this process had helped move us forward together,” Hollifield said. “Anytime we are faced with the desire of an entity to separate from BSCNC it is a terribly unsettling circumstance. I am saddened to see that our long standing relationship of trust and accountability has eroded.”
Deciding on future funding
Fulbright noted that Hollifield has taken a more active role in hiring matters. She said that in previous BSCNC administrations, North Carolina WMU was wholly responsible for hiring and managing its staff and that the BSCNC executive director merely signed paperwork to enter new North Carolina WMU employees into the payroll system.
North Carolina WMU has asked the BSCNC for a nine-month financial transition to deal with insurance and payroll issues, although it might move out of the Baptist Building sooner. Fulbright said the North Carolina WMU staff will all resign employment from the BSCNC and remain with North Carolina WMU.
Hollifield said the 2007 North Carolina Missions Offering (NCMO) distribution must follow the allocation percentages approved by messengers to the last convention meeting. But he also said he would not speculate about either the BSCNC executive committee’s willingness to continue transition funding or future NCMO allocations. (ABP)
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