International Mission Board (IMB) trustees have approved the most extensive strategic changes in a decade to help Southern Baptist representatives and churches multiply their results in reaching the world’s lost peoples.
At their Sept. 8–10 meeting in Atlanta, the trustees revised the mission board’s vision, mission and core-values statements in order to reflect what President Jerry Rankin called a “more relevant and biblical expression of the IMB’s task” in the context of global change.
The board also gave the green light to a major reorganization aimed at maximizing personnel effectiveness, simplifying overseas administration and increasing the direct involvement of Southern Baptists and their churches in missions.
“In 1997 we made some radical changes in our organization and strategy to accommodate growth in our missionary force,” Rankin said. “In these 10 years, we have seen more than a thousand people groups gain access to the gospel for the first time and church-planting movements accelerate.”
“But this is not the same world it was 10 years ago,” Rankin said. “We cannot presume that the methods and structure of the past will be relevant and effective in the future. Our world is changing and we must continue to change with it.”
Rankin emphasized that the IMB’s basic tasks won’t change — sending representatives, reaching the lost and planting churches — but some of the structure and mechanisms that make those tasks possible will. The idea is to maximize the effectiveness of frontline personnel while minimizing the administrative burden placed on the field.
Among the most dramatic changes is an internal reorganization that will replace the IMB’s 11 geographically based regions with eight “affinity groups” focused around commonality of language, culture and ethnicity. These affinity groups are designed to allow representatives to engage unreached peoples regardless of their location.
“This move recognizes the mobility of populations,” said Gordon Fort, vice president of overseas operations. “We know that in every country people are moving to other countries based on a number of factors.
“This change allows us to focus on peoples wherever they are in the world and provides the structure and support to facilitate that. There will be a lot of challenges as we put this in place, but in terms of its potential, this is way out of the ballpark.”
The changes, proposed by a joint trustee-staff task force, will unfold over the next year:
• Representatives’ basic task of reaching the lost and engaging unreached people groups with the gospel will not change. Field personnel — who already work in teams, focusing on specific people groups, population segments or urban areas — will continue to be grouped in clusters. Clusters will be the basic field component for guiding and implementing strategies.
• The most significant change is organizing clusters into “global affinity groups” that represent a commonality of language, culture and ethnicity. The affinity groups will focus on people groups no matter where they are based geographically outside the United States. Each group will be led by a global strategist with the responsibility of resourcing and training personnel teams and clusters in effective strategy.
• The administrative needs of field personnel will be served by geographically based support teams representing financial management, business and personnel services and mobilization assistance.
The refocused vision statement — “Our vision is a multitude from every language, people, tribe and nation knowing and worshipping our Lord Jesus Christ” — places the desired outcome ahead of the IMB’s role in reaching it.
Likewise, the revised mission statement — “Our mission is to make disciples of all peoples in fulfillment of the Great Commission” — reflects that the Great Commission is the responsibility of the church and refocuses the efforts of the board on assisting churches to fulfill that responsibility.
In the core values, trustees reaffirmed the IMB’s commitment to the lordship of Jesus Christ and to God’s inerrant Word, while shifting the role of the board from a primary focus on sending representatives to one that serves the churches in their involvement in the Great Commission and the sending of representatives. Trustees also reinforced a continuing commitment by the board to partner with Baptists and other Christians around the world to bring all peoples to faith in Jesus Christ. (BP)
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