wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] PC(USA) names new hunger program coordinator

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8634 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05067
February 2, 2005

PC(USA) names new hunger program coordinator

United Methodist minister brings wealth of experience to the job

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - A United Methodist minister with a background in hunger and
social justice work has been tapped to head the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Hunger Program (PHP).  

The Rev. Mark A. Lancaster of Westminster, MD, will succeed the Rev. Gary R.
Cook as coordinator of the hunger program. Cook, who for the past 11 years
has served as coordinator for PHP, was named last year as associate director
of the Global Service and Witness area in the PC(USA)'s Worldwide Ministries
Division (WMD) in Louisville. Although he began his new work last June, Cook
continues as PHP coordinator until Lancaster arrives later this month. 

PHP was established in 1969 as a channel through which Presbyterians can be
engaged in the fight against hunger in the United States and around the
world.

Lancaster, 52, currently serves as the Middle Atlantic Regional Director for
the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker-founded organization
whose work attracts the support and partnership of people of various faiths
committed to issues of social justice and peace.

He is scheduled to start his new job as PHP coordinator on Feb. 22.  

"I feel deeply honored to have been offered the position," Lancaser said by
phone Tuesday. "And I feel deeply called in these very difficult times in
which there continues to be a growing gap between rich and poor in the world,
and being actively involved in helping to create a world where there is
enough for everyone."

The western Maryland native brings a range of related experience to the task
of coordinating the hunger program and directing its educational, lifestyle,
and resource development activities, Cook told the Presbyterian News Service.

In addition to his current service with AFSC, Lancaster has served as a
Church World Service/CROP field representative; a public policy advocate for
the Maryland Food Committee; and the director of Ministry of Money, a
Maryland-based ecumenical Christian ministry that helps individuals explore,
understand and address issues of money and faith. 

He was also a longtime board member and two-term board chair of Heifer
International, a non-governmental organizational that supports projects
around the world aimed at creating sustainable small-scale farm enterprises
to improve nutrition and supplement income.

"He brings a wealth of experience in all the program areas of the Hunger
Program," Cook said of his soon-to-be successor. "From public policy advocacy
to lifestyle integrity to community development. He's a United Methodist
minister with a lifetime of ecumenical commitment."

Lancaster is also a trained community organizer with significant experience
in funds development. His development work has included a special emphasis on
women. In addition he has significant experience in sustainable development
settings in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean while working for the
Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, Church World
Service and the Ministry of Money.

Lancaster was selected from among 28 applicants, 7 of whom, Cook said, were
interviewed for the post.

"I have already felt very warmingly and openly received by the staff in the
Hunger Program and WMD," Lancaster said. "I look forward to many years of
working with the staff of the PC(USA)."

Lancaster is married to Barbara J. Sayler, the co-executive director for the
Church of Brethren's peace agency, On Earth Peace Assembly. Lancaster has one
son, Joel Lancaster, 20.

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