Trustees of the International Mission Board (IMB), meeting in Spartanburg, S.C., Sept. 11–13, appointed 87 new missionaries — including four with Alabama ties. They also approved a two-year study concluding that the organization’s learning center provides “healthy, growing and sound theological training” to new missionaries.
As one of the largest IMB missionary groups to be appointed, the missionaries will scatter to 10 of the IMB’s 11 administrative regions around the world. Their appointment service was held Sept. 13 during a service at First Baptist Church, North Spartanburg, in Spartanburg, S.C., and brings the total number of IMB missionaries to more than 5,100.
The four missionaries with Alabama connections will be serving in parts of the world that are resistant — sometimes even hostile — to a gospel witness and cannot be identified.
“We cannot identify the places most of [the new missionaries] are going,” said IMB President Jerry Rankin. “Through their professional experience and training and education, they are able to gain creative access to restricted countries to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, many with people who will be hearing it for the first time.”
The study reviewing the board’s learning center in Rockville, Va., responded to concerns over the quality of new missionary work. It began in February 2004 and concluded with the report released during the trustee meeting. The report summary concluded the learning center provides:
• Programs found to be sound theologically, which includes but is not limited to missiology and ecclesiology.
• Adherence to biblical parameters as expressed in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.
• Healthy cooperative relationship between these training programs and the larger Southern Baptist theological-training system.
Trustees also heard reports of how nearly $4 million has been utilized for hunger and general relief projects around the world, including efforts related to the conflict in Lebanon.
In addition, Rankin announced an initiative to find new ways to respond more effectively to disaster relief efforts around the world. The plan entails better global coordination of disaster relief resources on the missions field — rather than a response being isolated to a region where one disaster occurs — as well as facilitating improved use of stateside resources and engaging disaster relief partners.
Details of the new effort will be presented at the next board meeting in November.
In other business:
• The board followed up with a report answering questions from the March trustee meeting about trustees’ right to access nonpublic information from the IMB upon request.
It concluded that adequate structures already exist regarding trustees’ requests for information. The existing structure shows that a trustee can request information at any time but is urged to follow a set of guidelines.
• Rankin proposed three other suggestions for trustees to consider, including: moving to four corresponding appointment services and four quarterly board meetings and reducing the number of trustees on the board. The board will hold five appointment services in 2006 and four in 2007. No action was taken on these suggestions. (BP)
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