AGM 2020 results are in…

Firstly, we tried a few things we’d never done before.

It’s always risky trying something new, but to make things COVID-19 compliant we thunk up the following “what about…” ideas;

1. “What about in the room and on Zoom?” Incarnational is awesome, right? There’s just something special about face to face.  And travelling is shleppy, so we decided to do both.  Eastside Community Church graciously offered to host the event and to provide the tech and savvy to have people join us on Zoom at the same time.  And they did an awesome job of both.  Thanks guys…  Thanks music team… Thanks caterers…  Thanks Riaan and Mark!
2. “What about voting via WhatsApp?”  Parmesh Venkatasami (our outgoing secretary), Zak Mbethe and I spent a few hours trying to come up with a system that would meet all the demands of an anonymous ballot voting and the ease of doing so.  And it worked so well.  Thanks Zak and your capable side-kick scrutineers, Jono Kilian and Graham Shipster!
3. “What about going paperless?” Not only is it good for the environment, but it’s necessary to distribute documents virtually.  So on registration, every delegate, both in the room and on Zoom, was sent the agenda and previous minutes via WhatsApp for approval. Thanks, Zak!

Voting results

A few new appointments were made and ratified;

1. A new Secretary – Shayne De Lange from Bethany Baptist Church came in as the new secretary replacing Parmesh Venkatasami who has served the BNA for the last 3 years.
2. New Area Representatives were ratified;
   1. BNA East Rand Fraternal rep – Parmesh Venkatasami
   2. BNA Far-West Rand Fraternal rep – Andrew Peters
   3. Mpumalanga – Themba Ndlovu
   4. Limpopo South – Steve Mojalefa

The big issue for a decision regarding the BNA relationship to the Baptist Union was then voted on.

1. A vote to proceed – The BNA Executive felt that it would be wise to first poll the church representatives as to whether they felt we should vote on this matter at all. 75% Yes – meaning we now proceed to vote on the following three items;
2. Transition into a Regional Network of the Baptist Union – 88% No (66% “Yes” vote was required to proceed and to change the Constitution)
3. Separate from the Baptist Union – 53% No (66% “Yes” vote was required to proceed and to change the Constitution)
4. Continue as we are (as an Association) – 68% Yes.

Thus, for the time being, the BNA Executive will continue to engage with the Baptist Union National Leadership Committee in order to gain further clarity regarding the relationship between the BU and the BNA.