Online Archives

By Elliott Wright 

Bishop Felton E. May (retired) will serve as interim general secretary of The United Methodist Church's international mission agency, the General Board of Global Ministries.

Directors of the board, meeting in Stamford, elected the bishop after they confirmed a personnel committee report that did not renominate Rev. R. Randy Day as general secretary, a post he had held since 2002. The general secretary is the chief executive officer of the organization.

'This action does not diminish our appreciation for the many talents and skills of Randy Day but indicates that directors are looking for a different style of administrative leadership to take us into the future,' said Bishop Joel N. Martinez of San Antonio, president of the board. 'Randy has made many new friends for mission and strengthened mission partnerships around the globe. We acknowledge his energetic service.'

Bishop Martinez said that a search committee for a general secretary would be named before the directors ended their meeting in Stamford on October 11 and would begin its work right away.

Currently affiliated with Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas, Bishop May, a former vice president of the General Board of Global Ministries, continues a strong involvement in global ministry as a retired bishop.  He is currently the chair of the United Methodist Holistic Africa emphasis. Bishop May retired in 2004 from his last episcopal assignment in the Baltimore-Washington Conference. He will assume the interim mission post immediately.

Bishop May is dean of the Harry R. Kendall Science and Health Mission Center at Philander Smith College. He works with students, faculty, and the community in the arenas of personal health, drug and alcohol education, and anti-poverty efforts.

None of the other members of the Global Ministries leadership team, executives who are also elected to their jobs by the directors, are affected by the decision involving Day. The failure to renominate was sustained on October 9 by a substantial majority of the 75 directors present and voting.

Day was deputy general secretary of the Global Ministries? unit on Evangelization and Church Growth prior to his election to the top mission post.  A native of Illinois, he is a clergy member of the New York Annual Conference and has served urban and suburban parishes in the Greater New York City Area.

'Important changes in the patterns of ministry of mission are taking place within The United Methodist Church,' said Bishop Martinez. 'Many of these will be thoroughly considered next April at our quadrennial General Conference. Board directors strongly affirm a collaborative approach with sister general agencies in serving our common mission in Jesus Christ.'

The General Board of Global Ministries has personnel or programs in some 125 countries around the world, including missionaries in 63 countries. Among its several program units are the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and Women?s Division, the corporate arm of United Methodist Women, which has 700,000 members in the United States.

Bishop Martinez, the board president, said that directors affirmed the four denominational priorities that are expected to be endorsed at the General Conference.  These are leadership development, global health, ministry with the poor, and new church starts. The mission agency has key roles in each of these.