wfn.org | Mission leader sees assets in faith, hope, love

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

April 11, 2003	News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New York
10-71B{218}

NOTE: This report is a sidebar to UMNS story #217. A head-and-shoulders
photograph of the Rev. R. Randy Day is available at
http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (UMNS) - When the Rev. R. Randy Day pushes for asset-based
development in mission, he's not talking dollars and cents.

The new chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries is
looking beyond the agency's financial constraints to find ways to achieve its
goals. He believes the church's assets of faith, hope and love can propel it
forward.

"Our spiritual assets equip us to utilize material resources in ways that
achieve the goals of mission: making disciples and making a difference for
Christ in the world," Day said during an address at the April 7-10 Board of
Global Ministries meeting.

He considers the agency's greatest challenge not to raise funds but to lead a
mission revival within the denomination. "The will and the determination to
make disciples, to make a difference, is strong but not strong enough - not
as strong as it must be if we are to fulfill our mission mandates," he told
board directors. "Money for mission is a means, not a motivation or an end."

Day did acknowledge that significant investment income and other financial
contributions in the 1990s helped make that decade "one of unprecedented
mission accomplishments for us around the world." But he believes such
momentum can be sustained even in a time of lower economic expectations.  

He called upon mission leaders to "be on fire for mission," to make strategic
use of financial and human resources, to further cultivate mission
partnerships through the United Methodist connectional system and to use
effective communication to spread the gospel.

Difficulties remain at the agency, however, because of	"the ongoing
financial challenge," he said. The loss of nearly 100 staff members over the
past two years, coupled with the layoff of 18 missionaries and the inability
to appoint new missionaries during 2003, has been painful.

"It hurt to tell 18 missionaries that their terms would not be renewed," Day
said. "It hurt to skip a year of new US-2s (youth missionaries). It was
painful for the missionary community, active and retired, which we hold in
such high regard. It was painful for churches that support individual
missionaries and projects associated with them."

He pledged to "move quickly" to resume the assignment of new missionaries,
especially the youth categories of US-2s and mission interns, and reaffirmed
the importance of the entire missionary community. "Missionaries represent a
vital aspect of our commitment to God's vision for wholeness, peace and
justice," he said.

Day also declared his desire to strengthen the board's commitment to mission
volunteers and to undergird the organizations "that form the backbone of the
Volunteers in Mission movement."

He considers global mission partnerships, with entities ranging from
congregations to conferences to other denominations, as being "among our best
options for growing the United Methodist investment in mission."
Strengthening relationships with other denomination's national boards and
agencies is a priority as well, he said.

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United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org