[1]ORLANDO, Fla. (BP)–The installation of a new executive director/treasurer, election of a new national president and a missions celebration will highlight the June 11-12 Woman’s Missionary Union Annual Meeting and Missions Conference. In addition, contemporary Christian singer Alicia Williamson will perform in the closing session of the meeting.
The yearly gathering of WMU members and guests will be held at the Orange County Convention Center on Sunday and Monday prior to the Southern Baptist Convention’s June 13-14 annual meeting. Sessions begin at 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon and conclude Monday evening. The meeting will develop the theme, “Dispelling the Darkness.”
Along with five annual meeting plenary sessions, the WMU event will also include a missions conference. Participants will attend four one-hour conferences covering such topics as women and the Web; storytelling; missions in the 21st century; and money management. Williamson and Sarah S. Groves will also lead a conference based on a their new book for New Hope Publishers, “A Seeking Heart: Rediscovering True Worship.”
The missions conference sessions will be held in the Peabody Hotel and restricted to registered participants only. The cost is $35 per person. Registration may be done in advance or on site. The annual meeting sessions are free and open to the public.
Wanda S. Lee will be installed as WMU’s seventh executive director/treasurer in the opening session of the organization’s annual meeting. Lee, who was elected Jan. 22 by the WMU executive board, served the organization as national president from June 1996 until assuming her new post March 1.
Among those scheduled to participate in the installation service are WMU’s three previous executive directors, Dellanna W. O’Brien, Carolyn Weatherford Crumpler and Alma Hunt.
[2]A new national president will be elected during the Monday morning session and assume office at the conclusion of the annual meeting. The WMU executive board will bring a nomination before the WMU members present for their approval. The new president will be eligible to serve five one-year terms. National recording secretary Janet Hoffman is eligible to be re-elected to a fifth and final term.
One duty of the president is to preside at the WMU annual meeting. Since the organization currently does not have a president, a different WMU vice president (state WMU president) will preside at each of the five sessions of the annual meeting. The states represented will be Florida, South Carolina, Texas, Georgia and Mississippi.
The Sunday evening session will feature a missions celebration, highlighting both North American and international missions. The session will open with a parade of flags and the introduction of a host of international and North American missionaries. The evening will also feature Robert E. Reccord, president of the North American Mission Board, and Jerry A. Rankin, president of the International Mission Board.
Other program personalities for the two-day gathering include Audrey Morikawa, president of the Baptist World Alliance’s women’s department, and a team of international and North American missionaries. Musicians for the event are Sarah Groves of Jonesboro, Ark., worship leader; Larry Lee, husband of Wanda Lee, pianist; and Missions Live, a performing team sponsored by the North American Mission Board.
For more information on the WMU annual meeting and conferences, call 1-888-968-0322 or visit www.wmu.com on the Internet.
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