International Mission Board (IMB) missionaries and staff members have been asked by IMB President David Platt to seek God’s will for their lives as if they were putting a “blank check” before God. The reason for this spiritual search is Platt’s announced goal of reducing the IMB missionary force and staff by between 600 and 800 people in order to balance expenses and income.
In addition to missionaries and staff working with a “blank check,” it increasingly appears that Platt himself is working with a blank check as he reshapes the international missions strategy of Southern Baptists.
A first step for practically all new leaders is to reorganize to reflect that person’s vision and Platt was no exception. Six months after being elected IMB president Platt proposed what he called a “reset.”
Where previous administrations had decentralized certain tasks such as logistical support, Platt brought them back to Richmond headquarters. Five IMB vice presidents were reorganized out, including a former finalist for the IMB presidency. But no one complained. A new president has the right to shape the organization according to his vision and to surround himself with his own team.
At the February 2015 meeting where the reset was approved, Platt shared that IMB had operated with a $21 million deficit in 2014 and was empowered to work with missionaries and staff to implement the reset. Later IMB officials acknowledged that even though income had gone up each of the last five years, the board had engaged in long-term deficit spending.
Long-term financial viability
In late August, Platt announced his plan to eliminate between 600 and 800 missionary and staff positions and restore long-term financial viability to IMB. The operating reserves had shrunk to four months instead of the desired six-month level, he said.
The previous administration had been aware of the financial problem but had opted to reduce the missionary and staff force through attrition rather than any drastic measures. Platt announced to IMB trustees that he was solving the problem through prompt action. Some board members pushed back, but the decision was Platt’s to make as CEO.
Some argued the reduction in force was unnecessary. Others praised Platt for taking decisive action to change IMB’s finanical structure.
While working on the structure, Platt also outlined a new strategy for sharing the gospel around the world. He called for “missional living” rather than “missionary living.” Platt projected a strategy where the reduced missionary force would largely serve as church planters, each surrounded by a team of short-term volunteers.
“We need a strategy that doesn’t cap our number of missionaries merely based upon how much money we have,” he said repeatedly.
Platt led the board to broaden eligibility guidelines for missionary service by removing barriers such as divorce, speaking in tongues and teenage children in the home.
He also pushed the board more toward a role of resourcing churches to implement the church’s missions strategy rather than IMB developing a worldwide strategy on behalf of churches with which churches could cooperate.
Eighteen months after being elected Platt has succeeded in reducing the missionary staff to the desired level. Though official numbers will not be released until late February, IMB reports that initial responses to reduction efforts indicate Platt’s goal will be met.
He has reorganized IMB’s structure, selected new leadership from inside and outside the organization, eased qualifications for missionary appointment and tilted the IMB’s role in the denomination. That is a lot to accomplish.
On Jan. 14, Platt announced he was eliminating the IMB’s communications department. Forty positions were eliminated, though 10 people were offered other positions in the organization.
The public announcement touted “no missionaries will be required to leave the field.” Unfortunately, former missionaries who had been asked by IMB to work as staff in the communications department were not as blessed.
Unexplainably IMB planned no announcement about eliminating its entire communications department. Nothing was to be said about jettisoning about 10 percent of its staff or about how IMB would tell its missions stories going forward.
Only after the news leaked on social media and several state paper editors asked about the development did IMB release any information at all. Even then the news was buried in the ninth paragraph of a 15-paragraph release.
Going forward communications work is to be done by IMB’s global network communications teams headquartered in London and Chiang Mai, Thailand, and “other trusted partners.” Sources indicate “other trusted partners” includes a Brentwood, Tennessee, organization called The A Group which markets Platt’s Radical organization.
Needed changes
Again, as president of IMB, Platt has the right to reorganize the board structure and to do communications tasks in the way he deems best. Reports from IMB communication insiders indicate some changes may have been needed. At the same time he has the responsibility to operate transparently and not secretively before Southern Baptists.
IMB may be a corporation but it is not like a private business. At its core Southern Baptists are a volunteer body which demands transparency and open communication in order to function effectively.
And there is the question of strategy. The book “Marketing 3.0: From Products to Customers to the Human Spirit” argues that effective marketing today is driven by values. People connect with companies who share their values or who engage in initiatives that reflect their priorities.
That means IMB has to personalize the missions story for Southern Baptists in a way that impacts our being — our prayer, our giving and our going. Otherwise we will not have the volunteers, the money or the power of prayer behind our efforts.
That outside public relations firms can do a better job of connecting with our values and priorities than professional Southern Baptist communicators is yet to be demonstrated.
Closing the communications department was not a financial decision, according to IMB. The reduction in force to solve the deficit spending problem had been met in other ways. This was a strategic decision and now we will see if it works.
In the meantime Platt has written a large sum on his “blank check” from IMB. We pray the board of trustees works closely with him and others in senior leadership to “cash” that check through the best possible efforts to take the gospel to the unreached people of the world.
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