Barry Whitworth: Hello, BRN family. It’s good to be with you today. Today, I have Davis Younts of Younts’ Law with us. He is our legal counsel for the Baptist Resource Network of Pennsylvania/South Jersey. Soon, upcoming, we will have an executive board meeting of the BRN. And today I wanted to bring Davis Younts into the conversation to ask him some questions about our executive board. Our executive board meets three times a year and it is a key function of how we operate here within the BRN. So, Davis who makes up the executive board of the BRN?
Davis Younts: Thank you. Dr. Whitworth. Our executive board is made up of volunteers. They’re representatives from all regions throughout Pennsylvania and South Jersey, who volunteer their time to serve. As, really, the leadership of the BRN, they help cast the vision and oversee the operations of the BRN and represent churches throughout Pennsylvania and South Jersey in doing that. And our board members now are made up of a fantastic group of pastors, business leaders, and others who bring unique experiences and wisdom to what we’re doing here.
Barry Whitworth: So, when the board meets three times a year, how does that that work? What do they do?
Davis Younts: So, the board comes together and they oversee. They have, we have, committees that meet and they oversee the administration of the BRN. They look at the financial aspects of the BRN, how the BRN is being led, its oversight for the full-time home team here as well. And they also take time to vote on initiatives and cast, you know, the future vision of the BRN, where we’re going, what we’re doing, what projects are happening so that we can accelerate Kingdom growth for all of our churches.
Barry Whitworth: Excellent. And what are the duties of board members when they come to a meeting?
Davis Younts: So there’s sort of two aspects to the duties of an individual board member. The first duty is to show up to be there. We need our board members to be present and involved and engaged in doing their job. The other is the same that any board members would have at a non-profit.
They’re essentially four duties that each board member has. They have a duty of loyalty to the BRN, meaning even though they come from a region or they come from a particular church, when they’re serving in this capacity, they’re looking out for the best interests of all of the churches that make up and all the individuals that make up the BRN.
They also have a fiduciary duty, meaning they have a responsibility to look after and take good care with the finances of the BRN and and the funds that come into the BRN from our churches. So that’s a big part of it.
They have a duty of what we call a duty of due care, meaning, they’re supposed to exercise reasonable diligence in everything they do as a board member and their oversight of the board.
And finally, they have a duty of confidentiality. And, and that’s an important thing. And it doesn’t mean that the BRN isn’t transparent, or that we don’t record our meetings or anything else, but there are times when the board members are dealing with sensitive topics, that could be a matter of church discipline essentially that’s being handled, or it could be dealing with financial transactions, like property transactions. The BRN occasionally is gifted properties that we use to further the Kingdom and we use to finance operations as well as to help plant churches. And so, in the middle of a real estate transaction, it’s really important that we have confidentiality.
So those are the duties of our board members in general terms, the duty to show up and be engaged, but also the legal duties that come along with it.
Barry Whitworth: So I have one more question for you because I don’t want to answer this. You’re the legal counsel for the BRN. How does the executive director relate to the executive board?
Davis Younts: That’s that’s a great point! Essentially, the executive director, Dr. Whitworth; he entire Hub team; and myself work for the board. That is the organization. That is the representative governance of the BRN as an organization.
Barry Whitworth: Great. Well, how can our BRN churches are pastors. How can they pray for the executive board of the BRN?
Davis Younts: Well, I think that covering these representatives of our churches in prayer is critically important. We all know that there are a lot of issues that Southern Baptists are facing, our nation as a whole, are facing. So as you’re considering and setting aside time of prayer, personally, and in your churches, please keep the BRN in mind and pray for wisdom, pray for guidance, and pray that that things will not stand in a way of the mission of the BRN to accelerate Kingdom growth in the coming year.
Barry Whitworth: Excellent. Well, Davis, we appreciate your representation to the BRN as our legal counsel. You helped us tremendously throughout the years on how to help us navigate through challenges, tough issues and also give counsel to the board so that they can make critical decisions that help us to continue to advance our vision and mission where we’re trying to see our churches accelerate Kingdom movement across the BRN.
If you have any questions about the board, about how they function, just anything out of this presentation today that you would say, “Hey, I’ve got a further question,” feel free to reach out to us. You can always contact us at helpdesk@brnunited.org. And we’ll get that question to Davis, and he’ll get back to you and give you that answer. Thanks for listening in today. We appreciate you, and God bless you!
