I have been silent for most of January in order to make plans for how I will use this blog in 2009. I plan to focus the blog to audiences beyond our Buckner staff and I plan to use an internal blog exclusively for Buckner staff and a third internal blog for the Buckner Adoption and our Dillon International Staff as we integrate these two ministries this year. I probably will write about 2 to 3 times a week rather than daily.
“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” (Proverbs 15:22 NIV) This past week we hosted the board of trustees for Buckner International, the Buckner Foundation, and the board of Dillon International.
Buckner has an outstanding board of trustees. Typically boards provide oversight regarding financial and policy related issues. While that is true with Buckner’s board of trustees, they also bring passion and vision for the ministry along with personal influence and resources. I was invited to meet with the Buckner Foundation, the Finance Committee of the Buckner International board, the Dillon International board, the Executive Committee, and the Buckner Board both in general and executive sessions. These were two power-packed days of fellowship, conversation, reporting, discussion, and decision-making.
There is a fine line between governance and administration in a healthy board experience. The board sets policy and budgets while the administration executes plans according to policy and budget. This was my experience at Baptist University of the Americas while I served there. Healthy boards ask tough questions of their administrators, provide support, and hold them accountable to plan. This year I am beginning my 10th year working with a board of trustees. I have found that, as the Scripture says, the advantage of many advisers is that success is more certain. This was my experience at BUA and it continues at Buckner. I used to ask my trustees to bring work, wisdom, and wealth to the table. Our board meets this criterion and more.
The big news from this meeting was that we formed the Dillon International Board with members from the former Dillon Board and the Buckner Board. This was an historic event. The Dillon Board elected Henry Will as Chair and Lynette Guy Ranton as Vice Chair. We are off to an excellent start with this board. Deniese Dillon and I shared plans for integrating the resources of these two entities to form one force for adoptions featuring domestic and international impact.
We celebrated the life and ministry of David Kihneman, outgoing Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. We will continue to access David and his business acumen as he continues to be available for key initiatives in the coming years. We also presented our 2009 Business and Ministry Plan and reported on our initiatives for the year. Deniese Dillon, VP for Adoptions was introduced to the Buckner Board as well as JoAnn Cole, Director for Campus and Family Ministries and Felipe Garza, Vice President of National Operations for Buckner Children and Family Services. This year is full of opportunity and hope. Pray for us as we seek Lord in Kingdom work.
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