There have been some surprising developments here at the American Baptist Churches Biennial meeting. The most pressing and major issue that had to be approved by the delegates (those sent by local churches, which includes myself) was NOT passed. The motion to amend the bylaws and change the structure of the ABC was narrowly shout down. The current bylaws require a 2/3rds majority by the delegates. 
The motion only received 63% support, which barely fell short of 66% needed. It seemed that the changes were going to be easily passed, but that was not the case. Please check out the amended bylaws that did not pass here. There have been very few bloggers talking about this, but one blog addressed this issue well: Mindi Framingham. Also, my new friend Tripp Hudgins provided a great video blog of his review.
The general reaction I am hearing here is that during the business/discernment session the denominational leaders did not properly address the questions asked. There were several clarifying questions raised during the session. The delegates felt that most of the panel who answered the questions did not provide the needed insight into the “why” or “how” behind the changes. Having read the changes proposed, I felt that the new bylaws were slightly confusing. One delegate suggested that these changes should have been shared and given out in a printed document form two years ago at the Washington D.C. biennial. This year, the changes were available in PDF form on the ABC website. It would have been more effective to pass the document out two years ago and let the local churches, regions, and committees discuss the changes. Now, delegates say they are left with feeling that the denominational leaders did not provide the necessary explanation to the delegates.
