wfn.org | ABCUSA: MEDLEY ELECTED GENERAL SECRETARY

[RICH.SCHRAMM@ecunet.org]

AMERICAN BAPTIST NEWS SERVICE 
Office of Communication  
American Baptist Churches USA 
P.O. Box 851, Valley Forge, PA 19482-0851 
Phone: (610)768-2077 / Fax: (610)768-2320 
Web: www.abc-usa.org
Richard W. Schramm, Director 
 E-mail: richard.schramm@abc-usa.org

UPDATE:  November 16, 2001

A. ROY MEDLEY ELECTED GENERAL SECRETARY OF 
AMERICAN BAPTIST CHURCHES USA
 CHERRY HILL, NJ-The Rev. A. Roy Medley, executive 
minister of the American Baptist Churches of New Jersey and a 
leader long active at local, regional and national levels of 
denominational life, was elected general secretary of 
American Baptist Churches USA today by the 
denomination's General Board meeting here.  
 Medley will begin a four-year term as general
secretary on Jan. 14, 2002. Dr. Robert H. 
Roberts, well-known denominational leader and pastor, 
has served since September 2000 as interim general 
secretary. Medley will succeed Dr. Daniel E. Weiss, general 
secretary from 1988-2000. 
 In responding to his election Medley said: 
 "Questions of how shall we live together; 
how shall we be organized for mission; what binds us 
together; what is God's unique call for us as American 
Baptists; how do we cast a unifying vision which captures 
the hearts, imagination and commitment of our people for 
the cause of Christ: all of these questions are before us.  
And all of these questions have swirled through my mind as I 
have struggled with the call to serve in this particular 
position.
 "I have no illusions about the challenges I face 
as your general secretary.  But I also have no doubt about 
the abundance of God's grace and God's resources to assist 
us in these tasks.  We serve a God who abounds in steadfast 
love; who loves the church; but who above all loves the 
world and calls us to serve in its midst....
 "In this 21st century let it be said that a small 
band of Christians known as American Baptists dared to 
believe the promises of Christ and offered themselves as 
a living sacrifice that God's love might be carried to 
every nook and cranny, to every hill and valley, to 
every home and hearth with the good news that in Christ 
Jesus God offers eternal, abundant, rich, full, 
plentiful life to all who believe."
 The Executive Committee of the General Board, 
acting on the recommendation of a search committee 
chaired by ABCUSA President Trinette V. McCray, 
presented Medley as the nominee to the entire General 
Board for its vote today.  The search committee had 
received 42 nominations, and 16 people completed the 
application process.
 As the chief executive officer of American Baptist 
Churches USA, the general secretary exercises executive 
and prophetic initiative in support of an effective mission 
outreach for the denomination.  The general secretary and 
General Ministries (Office of the General Secretary) are 
charged with implementing policy decisions of the General 
Board; relating to and coordinating the work of the 
national and regional boards; fostering ecumenical 
relations; raising and administering the mission budget 
through the Office of World Mission Support and the Office 
of the Treasurer; overseeing denomination-wide 
communication media such as American Baptists In 
Mission magazine, the American Baptist News Service and 
the ABCUSA Web site; administering American Baptist 
Information Systems; providing staff services for the 
General Board; operating a human resource 
management/legal services program; arranging for 
Biennial Meetings of the denomination; and maintaining 
denominational records.
 Medley has served since 1992 as executive for the 
American Baptist Churches of New Jersey, one of 34 
regions within the denomination.  Under Medley's 
leadership the approximately 265 congregations of the 
region have been challenged to pursue an intentional 
emphasis on congregational renewal, new church 
development and racial reconciliation.  One of the most 
diverse regions racially and ethnically, ABC of New Jersey 
has welcomed 18 new congregations within the past three 
years.
 Prior to his work as executive Medley was an area 
minister and minister of Mission Support for the ABC of 
New Jersey from 1986-1992.  He held responsibilities for 
mission and stewardship education and fund raising, and, 
as area minister, he emphasized pastoral recruitment, 
conflict management, mission identification, among other 
areas.   
 From 1979-1985 Medley was national director of 
the Neighborhood Action Program of American Baptist 
National Ministries.  In that role he held primary 
responsibility for directing denominational Christian center 
programs, focusing on programmatic vision, recruitment, 
support for National Ministries home missionaries at the 
centers and mission interpretation with local churches.  He 
previously had been administrative assistant to the 
manager of National Ministries' Operations and Program 
Resource Unit.  
 He represented American Baptist Churches USA at 
the National Council of Churches of Christ in the Domestic 
Hunger and Poverty Working Group and at the World 
Council of Churches through the Ecumenical Development 
Cooperative Fund.
 Medley's pastoral experience includes service as 
interim pastor at Christ Congregation, Princeton, N.J. 
(1977-1978) and associate pastor at First Baptist Church, 
Trenton, N.J. (1974-1977), where he also served as a 
seminary intern and was ordained in 1975. 
 Currently Medley is a member of the Baptist World 
Alliance Commission on Freedom and Justice and the 
Church Renewal Committee; serves on the faculty for the 
American Baptist Churches USA Church Planters Institute; 
and is a contributing writer to Baptists Today.  
 He recently helped plan and lead "Baptists 
Together," a conference of denominations seeking better 
understanding and unity (1999); was a speaker at the 
American Baptist Churches USA Seminarians/New Pastors 
Conference (1998); and served on the ABCUSA Church 
Planting Council (1997-2000) and on the Governing Board 
of the National Council of Churches of Christ (1996-1999).  
He has been a Bible study leader and speaker at 
numerous gatherings in the U.S. as well as in Haiti, the 
Philippines, India, Myanmar and Cuba.
 In New Jersey he has been a member of the 
Denominational Executives Committee of the New Jersey 
Council of Churches and the New Jersey Coalition for a 
Moratorium on the Death Penalty. 
 A native of Columbus, Ga., Medley holds an A.B. 
degree (psychology) from the University of Chattanooga 
and an M.Div. degree from Princeton Theological 
Seminary.  He currently is enrolled in a D.Min. program at 
Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Ga.  He also 
participated in the Ecumenical Institute of the World 
Council of Churches, Bossey, Switzerland (1972-1973).
 He is a member of First Baptist Church, Freehold, 
N.J.
 Medley is married to the Rev. Dr. Patricia Stauffer 
Medley, an ordained Lutheran pastor currently serving 
Hope Lutheran Church, Freehold, N.J.   They have two 
sons, Ethan, 22, and Jordan, 11.
 "I love this denomination very deeply as an 
adoptive son," Medley said recently.  "I rejoice in who we 
are and the wonderful things God has accomplished 
through us.  I believe deeply in my heart that God has 
wonderful intentions for us....  We are a people motivated 
by mission.  It is the heartbeat of our life....  The 
strengthening of our churches to make disciples fully 
formed in Christ will be the key to revitalized mission to 
North America and the world." 
 Commenting on Medley's selection by the search 
committee, chair and American Baptist Churches USA 
President Trinette V. McCray said that the General Board 
Executive Committee and the General Secretary Search 
Committee "were very impressed with Rev. Medley's 
vision, statement of faith and experience within the ABC.  
He clearly distinguished himself as a candidate prepared to 
lead our denomination in this critical time."
 In addition to McCray, members of the General 
Secretary Search Committee included: Vernell C. Neely, 
Nashville, Tenn.; the Rev. H. Jay Flu-Allen, Columbus, 
Ohio; Jorge Pierola, Culver City, Calif.; Dr. Stephen E. 
Hasper, Granada Hills, Calif.; David G. Hunt, Portland, 
Ore.; Mary H. Purcell, Wallingford, Pa.; and Kevin D. Rose, 
Indianapolis, Ind.  The Advisory Committee to the General 
Secretary Search Committee includes: the Rev. Lemaire 
Alerte, Jersey City, N.J.; Dr. James Chuck, San Francisco, 
Calif.; Dr. George C. L. Cummings, Hercules, Calif.; the 
Rev. Irma Cruz, Humacao, Puerto Rico; Jean Cunningham, 
Kenna, W.V.; the Rev. Clydia Nahwooksy, Cache, Okla.; 
Daniel Flores, Carolina, P.R.; Dr. Mary E. Robinson, Cedar 
Falls, Ia.; Dr. Robert Frykholm, Sioux Falls, S.D.; Dr. Cora 
Sparrowk, Ione, Calif.; Katharine Bau Hsiao, Castro Valley, 
Calif.; and the Rev. Dianne W. Steelman, Cincinnati, Ohio.  
Observers to the General Secretary Search Committee were: 
the Rev. Sumner M. Grant, New York, N.Y.; Dr. Linda C. 
Spoolstra, Dedham, Mass.; Dr. Lloyd D. Hamblin Jr., 
Parkersburg, W.V.

GENERAL SECRETARY-ELECT'S VISION CALLS FOR 
CHRIST-CENTERED DISCIPLESHIP
 "Centered in Christ: A Vision Statement for 
ABCUSA," written by the Rev. A. Roy Medley, elected 
today as the next general secretary of American Baptist 
Churches USA, calls American Baptists to "become 
increasingly centered in Christ as his disciples."
 The text of that vision statement follows:
"He is the image of the invisible God, the first-
born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in 
heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether 
thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities - all 
things were created through, in and for him.  He is before 
all things, and in him all things hold together.  He is the 
head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the 
first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be 
preeminent.  For in him all the fullness of God was pleased 
to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, 
whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood 
of his cross."   
--Col 1:15-20
 "My vision for ABCUSA is that we become 
increasingly centered in Christ as his disciples.
"To be centered in Christ is to find in him our true 
home and our true identity as children of God.  As Baptists 
we are unabashedly Christocentric in our worship, our 
theology, our hymnody, and our spirituality.  We are a 
Jesus people, captured by his love and grace, who know 
that life--true life, eternal life--is found in Christ alone.
 "Centered in Christ, we will become a disciplined 
people.  We will discover that God has set us radically free 
in order that we might become radically obedient.  Our 
lives will be marked by the disciplines of prayer, study of 
Scripture, meditation, faithful stewardship, spiritual 
practices and worship which center us and open us to 
Christ's presence and will. We will know the joy of living in 
Christ's Spirit in a manner which transforms our lives.  
 "Centered in Christ, we will embrace his cross and 
his resurrection.  We will understand that to die to 
ourselves is to experience the power to be reborn in God.  
We will take up our cross daily knowing it will transform 
our perspective, our priorities, our purposes.  In dying 
daily, we will discover the power of new life, resurrection 
life, flooding our souls.  Empowered by God, we will 
embrace the sorrow and alienation of the world in 
ministries of reconciliation, hope, healing and life.
   "Centered in Christ, we will be a worshipping 
community.  We will anticipate and celebrate the mighty 
acts of God in our midst.  The heart of our life together 
will be worship.  We will glorify the one true God in the 
power of the Spirit through Christ Jesus.  In our worship 
we will sing the wondrous deeds of our God and rejoice in 
God's goodness to us.  We will proclaim God's unfailing 
love and grace.  We will manifest God's majesty and 
experience God's presence.  We will boldly declare before 
all the earth how great is God's salvation.  
 "Centered in Christ, we will be a good news 
people.  The heart of our gospel is that God is love.  In 
our life together, the world will see the power of 
forgiveness to overcome alienation, the strength of love to 
transform hate, the potency of grace to break the bonds 
of guilt, the triumph of hope over despair, the victory of 
faith over doubt. In ministries of evangelism, we will share 
Christ's gracious invitation to new life in him with all.   We 
will invite them to share in the life of his body, and to 
commit to his mission.
 "Centered in Christ, we will be a confessional 
people.  We will acknowledge that we hold the treasure of 
the gospel in earthen vessels.  Humility will characterize 
our life together as we remember that God's ways are not 
our ways, nor are God's thoughts our thoughts.  We will 
understand ourselves as sinners saved by grace who still 
manifest the brokenness of sin in our lives.  Such humility 
will enlarge our hearts to receive others.
 "Centered in Christ, we will be a missional people.  
As the church, we will understand we exist for the sake of 
the world because God wills that all might be reconciled in 
Christ Jesus.  Local congregations will find renewal as 
mission outposts established to do the works of Christ, to 
call the world to faith in God in Christ. Through renewed 
congregations, people will encounter the life-giving, life-
transforming power of the Spirit present for them.  
Through renewed congregations, communities will 
experience the power of God to transform unjust 
structures and dysfunctional relationships. Through 
renewed congregations, the people of God will be 
empowered and sent forth in ministry in Christ's name.
 "Centered in Christ, we will embrace the world as 
neighbor.  Our vision for world mission will energize a 
multitude of servant ministries of evangelism, new church 
development, social justice, healing, peacemaking, 
economic development and education.  We will welcome 
the vitality of the younger churches of the two-thirds world 
in mission to us, and we will work together in mutual 
submission, humility, and love that the gospel might be 
preached in all the world.
 "Centered in Christ we will treasure the insights of 
our Baptist tradition.  We will hold dear the authority of 
scripture; soul freedom; a believer's church; the 
priesthood of all believers; religious liberty and the 
separation of church and state, while being open to the 
richness and insights and mutual correction of other 
communions.  
 "Centered in Christ, we will model a new 
multiracial/multiethnic community.  For a small band of 
believers we have made a disproportionate contribution to 
modern history.  Our contribution has included: Religious 
Liberty in the 17th-18th centuries; World Mission in the 
19th century; and Social Justice in the 20th Century.  
 "Centered in Christ, in the 21st Century we will be in the 
forefront of creating a community of faith where people of 
every race, nationality and culture are gathered as one in 
work, service, and worship of Christ our Lord and Savior:  
not a color-blind community, but a color-affirming 
community where we celebrate the kaleidoscope of God's 
creation and relish the rich hues of humanity.

As General Secretary
 "Centered in Christ, the General Secretary will 
bear the people of God before God in prayer.
 "Centered in Christ, the General Secretary will 
model compassion, mercy, justice and humility.
 "Centered in Christ, the General Secretary will lead 
with integrity, passion, and fidelity.
 "Centered in Christ, the General Secretary will help 
forge a common vision which empowers all of American 
Baptist life for mission and ministry. 
 "Centered in Christ, the General Secretary will call 
American Baptists to be a servant people.
 "Centered in Christ, the General Secretary will 
invite American Baptists to a deeper walk with Christ and 
greater unity with one another.
 "Centered in Christ, the General Secretary will 
assist American Baptists to proclaim the gospel and its 
power unto salvation."

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