My Own Box on the Org Chart

by: Doug

May 6, 2010

This week was an important time for the U.S. Center for World Mission. Last year on May 5th Dr. Ralph Winter named Dave Datema the new General Director. This year, on May 4th Dave presented the new structure to the members. It has been a long time coming, but this process was much more than just a new Org Chart. It was a very intentional, thoughtful and prayerful process. One that we had never done so the leadership moved with caution and much external guidance to make sure we do it right. So what is this box I mention?

First, a reminder. The U.S. Center for World Mission is just one name/brand/DBA in our organization. The legal entity I belong to is the Frontier Mission Fellowship (a religious order). Below that it has always been somewhat cloudy how the different groups operate. We have William Carey International University and the U.S. Center for World Mission as the main institutions. Then there were programs like Mission Frontiers, Perspectives, World Christian Foundations, Insight, and more. There was often a lot of cross over. The ‘training’ or educational programs (Insight, WCF) were part of WCIU,  however the people running these programs were usually part of the USCWM. They would not report to WCIU staff on a day to day basis, but needed to in terms of the big picture. Confused? Good.

Much (nearly all) of the confusion has been removed. They have gone with 4 main sub-organizations. Think of them as DBAs (Doing business As) of the FMF.  WCIU, USCWM, Roberta Winter Institute (new and Dr Winter’s last initiative), and Judson School (a k-8 school we run here on campus). There is no longer the confusing crossover that used to exist (an attempt at a matrix structure that really does not work here).

An entirely new division has been formed. We used to have 4: mobilization, training, services, and strategy. There is now a Communications Division. This is a HUGE plus for my work. The communications division is going to focus on exactly what it sounds like. Communicating with people. There will be a Print Media group (Mission Frontiers, IJFM, WCL Publishers and Global Prayer Digest). There is also going to be another box (my box), Web Media. I’m very happy to see that there. Since arriving here I’ve tried emphasizing the need to have a much more deliberate and active presence on the internet. That is entirely what we will be about. Tapping into the biggest communications tool there is, the internet.

I’m very excited to be part of this new focus. The leader of this group is a man who I have worked closely with the last few months on the FMF website project. Someone who really makes things happen. I’m confident that going forward we will be able to get the message of the USCWM out to an audience far bigger and across more borders than ever before. God has blessed our organization with a wealth of training materials, strategic thinkers, and mobilization tools. We look forward to using the technology available today to make an impact for God’s Kingdom in ways we never have before.