When Wanda Lee assumes the leadership of the national Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) March 1, she will face several immediate challenges. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) auxiliary is operating on a deficit budget. Debate about its mission continues both inside and outside the organization. Staff morale has been adversely affected by recent downsizing decisions. Dealing with any one challenge would be a major assignment for a new leader. Dealing with all three at the same time will be a monumental task.
The latest WMU annual report shows the organization experienced a $300,000 deficit for its last full year of operation. Previously released information indicates the current budget will also require deficit spending. Whether the budget approved at the January meeting of the WMU board of directors (made up of state WMU presidents) will be a third consecutive deficit budget is not known. However, it is likely. Declining sales of its magazines translates into declining income for the organization. The national WMU does not receive funds from the Cooperative Program. It is supported by sales of its magazines and curriculum products.
Declining sales is one indicator of the debate about the mission and ministry of the national organization. WMU has forthrightly contended that it is “a missions organization for women.” It is not “a women’s organization that does missions.” The organization has resisted efforts to expand its emphasis into areas such as women’s ministries.
State conventions and churches have not been so hesitant. Most state conventions, including Alabama, have asked their WMU organizations to assume leadership for women’s ministries. In Alabama, more than 3,500 women gathered at Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Vestavia Hills last March for a joint program emphasizing women’s ministry and WMU. The successful event drew the largest adult registration in Alabama Baptist history.
Many churches have initiated women’s ministries to provide guidance and encouragement for women in areas beyond missions. Most have been so successful that several church growth leaders concluded “women’s ministry is ‘hot.’ WMU is ‘not.’ ”
Some have argued that helping women cope with their perceived needs of life would permit WMU to develop a wider base for its missions message. Others have said to add anything to the missions emphasis of WMU would only dilute the organization’s effectiveness. While the debate goes on, the statistics of WMU continue to slip in all age groups. As the statistics drop, so do the sales and so does the income. That is one reason WMU is trying to establish other income channels and sever its dependence on curriculum sales.
A generation ago, Royal Service, now known as Missions Mosaic, was a major curriculum piece. Every WMU woman had to have a subscription in order to effectively participate in the organization. Now the magazine contains no curriculum. It is not necessary for WMU members. The result is a steep decline in subscriptions.
Declining subscriptions is not unique to WMU. The two SBC mission boards abandoned subscription-based magazines and now give them away. LifeWay Christian Resources, formerly the Baptist Sunday School Board, has faced declining circulation for its curriculum pieces for several years, long before the present administration. Baptist state papers also face circulation challenges.
Each organization must respond to these changes. LifeWay went through a difficult period involving downsizing. WMU has already experienced some of that. It may face more. Downsizing hurts staff morale and raises questions about the organization. In turn, those dynamics negatively impact performance which ends up hurting the organization’s mission and ministry. It is a vicious downward cycle that is hard to stop.
Wanda Lee knows all of this and more. As national president, she has been through countless discussions about WMU. She accepted the leadership post knowing the challenges. After her election, she told friends she had received her “last unanimous vote.” One does not face challenges like those before her and still win the “most popular” contest.
Mrs. Lee promises to be a capable leader for WMU. Her dedication to missions is lifelong. As a nurse administrator, her business and administrative skills have been honed. She knows how to face and solve tough problems.
But no administrator can overcome challenges alone. It will take energetic participation by national staff members, by state staff members, by state presidents and by WMU members in churches across the nation. It will take a willingness to change, if necessary, in order to reach more people with the missions message.
Woman’s Missionary Union has a proud history. From its organizations have come the majority of Baptist missionaries. It has led the missions education efforts of our denomination. It is hard to envision an effective missions program without WMU leadership. That is why Alabama Baptists will be praying for Wanda Lee as she leads national WMU to overcome the challenges awaiting her as she assumes office.
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