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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
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November/December 2006 |
The Mission Society for United Methodists takes a shorter name for planned wider outreach in world
NORCROSS, Ga. - The Mission Society for United Methodists has shortened its name to The Mission Society.
"The emphasis is on The Mission," says the Rev. Dr. Philip R. Granger, "because it is the mission of God that we are all about." The removal of the phrase for United Methodists "does not represent a departure away from The United Methodist Church," says Granger, who heads this 22-year-old ministry.
"The fact is that God has blessed us with a ministry that includes Methodist and other church bodies and missionaries from many denominations. So we have not left The United Methodist Church; we have enlarged our borders," he said.
Granger, the president and CEO of The Mission Society, is an Elder in the North Indiana Conference and, for more than three decades, has served in ministry within The United Methodist Church, in both the local church and in district leadership.
The Mission Society began in 1984 as a alternative missionary sending agency for United Methodists and receives no denominational funding. It is supported by gifts from individuals and churches.
In support of its new identity, The Mission Society has redesigned its logo. A roughly drawn globe reminiscent of a passport stamp, the logo is meant to communicate the international character of The Mission Society. Across the face of the globe is the most ancient of Christian symbols, the fish. The left side of the globe and the fish are incomplete, indicating that the Great Commission task remains unfinished.
The Mission Society's 192 cross-cultural witnesses (missionaries) presently serve alongside an estimated 3,500 nationals in 32 countries around the world. In addition to mobilizing, training and placing missionaries, The Mission Society serves the United States and international congregations by providing mission speakers, outreach seminars and mentoring services, which help equip churches and church leaders for strategic global outreach.
In 2003, The Mission Society began exporting its "Global Outreach Seminar" to countries beyond the United States. As fruit of these efforts, congregations in parts of East and West Africa and in South America have begun actively sending their own missionaries to un-evangelized and under-evangelized communities within their own nations and beyond.
"Rather than 're-inventing' The Mission Society," says Granger, "we are simply responding to what we believe God is calling us to become.
For more information about The Mission Society, contact info@themissionsociety.org or visit www.themissionsociety.org.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008