wfn.org | Randy Day elected to lead Board of Global Ministries

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Oct. 28, 2002	News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New York
10-21-71B{493}

NOTE:  A photo will be available.

STAMFORD, Conn. (UMNS) - The Rev. Randy Day, a member of the United
Methodist New York Annual (regional) Conference, has officially been elected
new chief staff executive of the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries.

Day, previously announced as the nominee for the position of general
secretary, was elected during the mission agency's Oct. 21-24 annual meeting
in Stamford, Conn. His election was confirmed on Oct. 25 by the
denomination's General Council on Ministries, which was meeting in
Pittsburgh. Day took part in the council's Oct. 27 installation service for
all churchwide agency top executives.

On Jan. 1, he will succeed the Rev. Randolph Nugent, who has led the Board
of Global Ministries for the past 21 years. Nugent, who is retiring, will
undertake a two-year mission lectureship for the agency. (See UMNS # 494)

Day, 55, is no stranger to the agency, having overseen its program areas of
Evangelism and Church Growth and Community and Institutional Ministries
since September 2000. Before then, he served pastorates in Connecticut and
New York and was a district superintendent for New York City from 1984-90.
He earned a master's degree from Yale Divinity School in 1972.

In his farewell speech, Nugent urged board directors not to be tentative in
mission outreach in the future. He stressed the importance of spreading the
Gospel, even in areas where there are other communities of faith.

"The thought that there are places in which we should not be, in terms of
the proclamation of the Gospel and its mission outreach, is a serious and
dangerous notion," he said.

The Board of Global Ministries is better equipped to do that mission as a
result of structural changes undertaken in 1996, according to Nugent. "I am
here to tell you that the mission and our response to it are much more
coherent today than in the past," he said, adding that cohesion and
cooperation among units has resulted in "a more effective mission outreach."

Another asset for mission has been the board's creation of a nongovernmental
organization, affiliated with the United Methodist Committee on Relief,
which has drawn in government funds for its projects. Now, with a proven
track record, particularly in the Balkans, "we are moving to sharpen and
focus our mission into areas in which we wish to be, as opposed to simply
securing funding from those areas which are advertised as having financial
resources available," he said.

Nugent also saluted the Women's Division, both for its programs for women,
children and youth around the world and for its commitment to ethnic and
social diversity.

He pointed out that changing immigration patterns in the United States could
affect the church as a whole, both in terms of membership and mission.

"Our denomination could make a major effort in terms of mission invitations
to newcomers," Nugent declared. "When the invitation is extended, however,
will there be willingness to make the adjustments requisite for the full
inclusion of the new members, who shall bring with them their new cultural
status?"

As an example, he challenged the agency to make mission work with Mexicans
in the United States a priority. Later in the meeting, directors took up
that challenge by voting to set aside $60,000 to support specialized
outreach to Mexican and Mexican-American communities in the eastern United
States, where migration has increased in recent years.

The Women's Division recognized Nugent's tenure at an Oct. 20 reception and
he was honored by board directors, staff and friends during a special dinner
the following evening.

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United Methodist News Service
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