wfn.org | Budget woes stall new United Methodist missionaries

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

Nov. 3, 2003   News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New York 7   
E-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org 7  ALL {523}

A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*

NEW YORK--Lower than expected budget projections for 2004 by the United
Methodist Board of Global Ministries will mean a continued hold on new
full-time missionaries.

Despite that reality, the Rev. R. Randy Day, the board's chief executive, has
announced his "firm commitment" to training and assigning new missionaries in
the future.

"I expect that in 2005 we will achieve a sustainable level of mission
personnel," he said, during an address at the board's annual meeting in
October. "I hope that we can commission some deaconesses and short-term young
adult (missionaries) sooner."

Norma Kehrberg, chairperson of the United Methodist Missionary Association,
told United Methodist News Service that while she appreciated Day's words of
affirmation, the organization was concerned about the two-year gap in the
appointment of long-term missionaries

In response, UMMA is urging the board to launch a renewed fundraising
campaign to support missionaries, including the use of an appeal for funds
through the denomination's Council of Bishops.

During 2003, the mission agency did not renew the expiring contracts of 18
full-time missionaries because of financial shortfalls. Fifteen missionaries
retired in 2003 and another 18 asked not to be reassigned, leaving 93 in the
category of standard support missionaries. A freeze on recruitment of mission
personnel in any category also has been in effect through 2003.

Statistics released during the October meeting showed a total of 711
commissioned personnel in all categories. That figure compared to 949 in
2002. The overall total, including other types of non-commissioned mission
personnel and partner church mission personnel, was 1,050, a decrease of
1,001 from 2002. 

One of the reasons for the drop in numbers, Day said, was that "several
time-limited mission service categories," including the 10-10-10 missionaries
and Korean missionary pastors in the United States and missionaries of hope
in Africa, are being phased out. "These programs were never intended to be
permanent and they cannot be continued beyond their mandates," he told board
directors.

"We also will see a decline in the number of persons in mission and
international persons in mission funded through block grants to partner
churches," he added. "The reason is this: our grants for those purposes are
smaller."

The new statistics also reflected the deletion of the category of rural
chaplain, because there are no grants at present, and the fact that employees
of the nongovernmental organization formed as an offshoot of the United
Methodist Committee on Relief are no longer being categorized as mission
personnel.

Day said he "cannot imagine" the United Methodist Church would ever phase out
career missionaries, but added he does perceive a need for standard support
missionaries to be "mobile in terms of geography and in the employment of
their cultural expertise and language skills.

In a recent report to the missionary association, Kehrberg pointed out that
support of long-term missionaries has weakened under the Board of Global
Ministries' present structure. "This comes at a time when our church and its
communities need more face-to-face mission emphasis and interchange with
other cultures and religions to lessen misunderstanding," she said

But Kehrberg noted that the association remains hopeful that the board will
"reclaim the role of the longer-term, cross-cultural missionaries as one
avenue of mission service."

As an example of action taken by another denomination, Kehrberg's report
pointed out that the Presbyterian Church USA, under similar financial
constraints, has launched a $40 million campaign for mission of which $21.5
million "is designated to recruit, train, equip, send and support 54 longer
term, cross-cultural mission personnel, including those with expertise in the
various regions of the world." 

During the October board meeting, UMMA presented Day with several
recommendations regarding missionary support and communications between
missionaries and board staff and directors.

Besides utilizing a bishops' appeal, the association suggested using "all
relevant persons," including former missionaries to assist in interpretation
and fundraising in local areas and providing resource people with pertinent
materials, including accurate data regarding the costs of mission personnel.

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* Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.

 
 

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