TALLEDGA, Ala. (BP)–The awarding of $91,264 in grants and scholarships and the affirmation of a statement on the formation of Global Women were among the items acted on by the WMU executive board during its meeting Jan. 12-15 at Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center in Talladega, Ala.
The statement on the formation of Global Women, originally released Dec. 17, was affirmed unanimously by the WMU executive board. WMU executive director Wanda S. Lee released the statement to media following the Dec. 13 announcement that Global Women had been formed.
Lee’s statement reads:
“Global Women has no affiliation with Woman’s Missionary Union, Auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention. While many of our former leaders are involved in the new organization, their participation is a personal decision and not one connected to national WMU. While I was informed of their plans to launch Global Women two weeks prior to their formal announcement, the current leadership of Woman’s Missionary Union has not been involved in the planning nor the incorporation of this agency.
“While there are commonalities between Woman’s Missionary Union and Global Women, there are distinct differences in our purposes. WMU’s desire for 113 years has been to create the kind of environment through missions education in the church that enables individuals to hear God’s call to serve in whatever way He leads, and to support our missionaries.
“While the formation of Global Women has generated questions and concerns for many of our constituents, WMU’s commitment is to remain true to our founding purpose. We will not become distracted from our calling to share Christ with a lost and hurting world. Woman’s Missionary Union is looking ahead to a future filled with bright hope. Just as indicated by our Vision Statement, we will continue to challenge believers to understand and be radically involved in the mission of God.”
The WMU executive board, made up of WMU presidents from each state or multi-state WMU organization, awarded $79,675 in Second Century Fund grants and $11,589 in other grants and scholarships.
This year’s Second Century Fund grants pushed the total awarded from the fund to $1,009,148 since its inception in 1988. The grants went to nine international projects, 12 state WMU projects and the 2003 MK Re-Entry Retreat.
The Second Century Fund, which is managed by the WMU Foundation, is a permanent endowment created by WMU during its centennial year in 1988. All contributions are invested permanently. Each year five percent of the corpus value principle and earnings is awarded. At the end of 2001, the corpus value stood at more than $1.5 million.
An additional $3,000 award was made to the Baptist Women’s Union of Africa from the Missions Education Endowment Fund. The grant will be used to help fund the organization’s 10th Continental Leadership Conference later this year.
The scholarships, totaling $8,589, were awarded to six college students, including four missionary children, and three international educational institutions. The latter awards carried the designation that the funds were to be used for financial support for women students.
In other business, the executive board:
— received a clean auditor’s report on WMU’s 2000-2001 financial statement.
— approved the redesign of Acteens and its related resources. Acteens is WMU’s organization for teens in middle school/junior high through high school.
— approved the dates for Training Effective Leadership (TEL) conferences in 2004 and 2005. The dates and locations are Feb. 19-22, 2004, and Feb. 10-13, 2005, Shocco Springs, Ala.; and Feb. 26-28, 2004, and Feb. 24-26, 2005, Las Vegas, Nev.
— approved the hiring of John Jordan of Birmingham, Ala., as the first director of the Operational Services Center at the national office. The center includes the teams relating to corporate marketing, customer service, information technology, mail services, warehouse and production.
Jordan comes to WMU with 21 years experience in sales and inventory management in the steel industry. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in marketing and management from Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, N.C. He and his wife, Laura, have a son, Bryan. They are members of Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Birmingham.
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*Name changed for security concerns.
