The AMN trustees split their July meeting into four sections over three days, making use of the ubiquitous Zoom platform. As well as attending to the regular matters of property management (most of the resources are invested in property), finance and governance, the trustees welcomed as guests three potential new trustees and, now that the CIO infrastructure is finally in place, spent much of the time in a strategic review of the Network, identifying priorities for the next season. We have noted growing interest in the Network and the online events we have organised in the past few weeks, so we want to do what we can to respond to this and encourage the increasing momentum.
Between now and the end of August, five of the trustees will be developing further our thinking about five areas: the nature of our constituency, sharpening our objectives, clarifying our priorities, identifying what further resources we can offer, and reflecting on whether our ‘core convictions’ need refreshing. They will report back at an extra trustees’ meeting in early September, when we hope to draw all this together.
We have already agreed that the AMN should concentrate on enabling others rather than developing lots of our own programmes and activities. We intend to add more resources to the website, including videos and resources with a greater emphasis on contemporary issues. We will also invite further reflections on the ‘common practices’ of Anabaptist-oriented communities. And we recognise the strategic priority of engaging with a younger generation and finding fresh ways to do this.
We welcome questions, reflections, comments and suggestions – and any offers to be involved in any of these discussions and developments.
A note from the Anabaptist Network
The trustees of the Anabaptist Network Trust, which had overseen the Anabaptist Network since the mid-1990s, met for the last time on 30 June and agreed a motion to wind up the Trust. The remaining assets of the Trust will shortly be transferred to the Anabaptist Mennonite Network. With the London Mennonite Trust having already been wound up, this will complete the merger between the two organisations and represents their full transition into the Anabaptist Mennonite Network.