Transition Team Report to Called Session of Annual Conference

Transition Team
Report to Annual Conference
October 29, 2011

Motion Four of the Imagine Ministry Team Report approved by the 2011 Annual Conference stated:

 

A team will be appointed by the Arkansas Conference Bishop to arrange for the orderly transition to the new conference and district organization, which will provide a budget proposal for conference staffing. This budget will take effect January 1, 2012, and will not exceed the amount budgeted for conference staffing for 2011.

Bishop Crutchfield appointed sixteen people to serve on the Transition Team which is being led by Reverend Mackey Yokem.  Four work groups were established to address the various issues and provide recommendations for consideration by the full Transition Team.  The basic issues being addressed by each work group include, but are not limited to the following.

 
• District Property/Organization    
       
  • Setting District Office Location/Naming of Districts
       
  • District Parsonages
       
  • District Assets
       
  • Guidelines for District Committees
     
   
 
• Leadership    
       
  • Instructions for 2012 Conference Committee on Nominations
       
  • Combining of committees or Downsizing of Current Boards
       
  • Align committees with Leadership Table/Centers/Networks
       
  • Conference Rules
     
   
 
• Personnel Issues    
       
  • Administrative Assistants
       
  • Compensation
       
  • Responsibilities/Job Descriptions/Training
       
  • Conference Office/Finance Office
       
  • Support Staff Configuration and Compensation
     
   
 
• 2012 Budget Recommendations to CFA    
       
  • New Staff Configuration from Imagine Ministries Team
       
  • Unaffected CFA proposals from 2011 Annual Conference Proposed Budget
       
  • Transition Team recommendations in relation to Item #3 above
       
  • Moving to a multiple year budget projection
     
   

The Transition Team has held four meetings since being established and the Work Groups have met numerous times as the members gathered information and developed recommendations for the Transition Team.  As expected, much of this work has required information from various parts of the existing conference organization and from other Imagine Ministry teams and task forces.  Most of the issues being addressed are in the information-gathering and study phases. The following issues have been approved.  Even so, a great deal of additional work will be required to assure the many implementation details have been properly considered and addressed.

The names of the five districts are Central, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast and Southwest.

The future office locations of the five districts are:

 
• Central: Little Rock Area
 
• Northeast: Batesville
 
• Northwest: Fort Smith
 
• Southwest: Arkadelphia
 
• Southeast: Pine Bluff Area

Relocation to the new locations shall be completed by July 1, 2014.

The conference will financially support only one district office beginning January 1, 2013.

District Superintendents can plan for nine Administrative Assistants through 2013.

Housing allowances for District Superintendents will be discontinued - each district will provide a parsonage through lease, rental, or purchase by July 1, 2014.

For the year 2012, the districts will budget for and employ their administrative assistants.

Beginning January 1, 2013, the Administrative Assistants will become employees of the Arkansas Conference and their salaries and benefits will be paid from the conference budget.

Beginning January 1, 2013, district financial work will be centralized in the office of the Arkansas Conference Treasurer.

The current expectation is the Transition Team will complete its work by mid-year 2013.