Meeting in special convention on Feb. 7, nearly 140 delegates in the Diocese of Fond du Lac ventured into the arena of online meetings in order to complete work on the budget left unfinished during the annual convention last fall.
“Trying something new is always a challenge, but using new technology can be downright scary for some people,” said the Rt. Rev. Russell Jacobus, Bishop of Fond du Lac. “Even so, we’ve had mostly positive response to the online meeting.”
The purpose of the special convention was to consider approval of a 2009 budget. The annual convention failed to approve it because of concerns about mission strategy and youth ministry. After receiving reports from task forces appointed to address those concerns, a line-by-line review of the budget was made by the finance committee. Delegates registered online, participated in practice sessions, and discussed issues during pre-convention meetings, held both in-person and online.
I wonder whether conducting the meeting on-line increases central control over the process.
Corporate boards can conduct meetings by telephone, but [i]only if all participants can simultaneously hear one another[/i].
Fond du Lac is an unusual diocese. It is one of only four that had an increase in Membership from 2002 through 2007; however, it did lose about 10 percent of ASA. And yet its Plate & Pledge increased a robust 25 percent which was 9 percent above inflation. And all this with only one church with Plate & Pledge over $300,000 (in 2007) and 78 percent of its churches with Plate & Pledge of less than $150,000 (in 2007). And it is also an aging diocese with 92 Infant Bapttisms and 103 Burials in 2007. I must conclude that frugality is in their genes. Statmann