30 January 2017 | Watford, UK [John Surridge / tedNEWS] On Sunday, 22 January General Conference Associate Secretaries John Thomas and Claude Richli flew to the UK, from Washington DC and Bangkok respectively, to help lead the first ever TED run Secretariat evaluations covering both Union and Conference level. Trans-European Division Secretariat had evaluated all the Unions within its territory during the previous five years, but this was the first time to roll out the programme to Conference level using a brand new, electronic evaluation tool.
Under the spotlight were Douglas McCormac, South England Conference Executive Secretary, Alan Hush, North England Conference Executive Secretary, and John Surridge at the British Union Conference office, together with their Secretariat teams. Gideon Reyneke, Executive Secretary of the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division flew in from Johannesburg just to observe the process. “We’ll soon be repeating this process in our territory,” he said, “and we need to know how it all works.”
“Secretariat evaluations should not be seen as a threat”, said Thomas, whose grandfather came from South Wales. “We’re here to support and commend and well as to give recommendations on how processes and systems can be improved.”
The evaluations were coordinated by Trans-European Division Executive Secretary, Audrey Andersson, together with Associate Executive Secretary, Dean Papaioannou. They will now be coordinating evaluations for the other Unions and Conferences in the TED between now and the next General Conference Session in 2020.
Andersson sees these as important. “They provide affirmation for the Executive Secretary as a person and the secretariat team,” she says. In addition, the process “gives hands on training in the function of Secretariat, highlights areas of growth, identifies areas where the higher organisations can provide support and training, and directs resources where they are needed and can best be used.”
The evaluation now over, a formal report will shortly be sent to the participating fields. [tedNEWS]
tedNEWS Staff: Victor Hulbert, editor; Esti Pujic, associate editor
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tedNEWS is an information bulletin issued by the communication department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Trans-European Division.
