By Michael Wacht

LAKELAND — Recent financial cutbacks at the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) have not dampened the missionary spirit of the United Methodist Church, according to the Rev. Dr. Larry Rankin, director of the Florida Conference Council on Ministries’ Missions office. He hopes negative perceptions resulting from announced cutbacks will not cause people to lose faith in the denomination’s missionary agenda.

“The greatest witness to the strength of our mission ministry is the fact that the United Methodist Church is growing faster in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe than in the United States,” Rankin said. “If churches perceive the cutbacks negatively and decide to withhold World Service funds, all of us will be hurt. There will be fewer missionaries and fewer dollars to support the growing missions around the world.”

At a meeting last October Board Treasurer Stephen Feerrar summarized GBGM’s decline in assets and outlined challenges for 2003, including constraints on cash flow, the need for ongoing cost containment and the importance of financial development, according to an article by the United Methodist News Service.

Feerrar acknowledged the difficulty the agency faces with “dwindling assets and escalating costs” as the needs of the world increase. He said he struggled with the fact that the denomination gives less than $4 per member to its international mission agency and seems inclined to reduce that figure even further.

Rankin said the downturn in the economy is to blame for the decline in funds to support missionaries, and he hopes United Methodists will not accuse the general board of mismanagement. “The biggest detriment is the perception we may have that GBGM is in disarray or may have misused the funding they have,” he said. “I believe that is not the case.”

In November, GBGM announced it would reduce the number of mission personnel it employs, according to the News Service. Currently, GBGM employs 2,151 people serving in 74 nations. The number and scope of the cuts has not been decided, but GBGM has declared a moratorium on recruiting missionaries for 2003.

Rankin said the hiring freeze is a negative because it delays people from answering God’s call. “Persons who are called to missionary service through GBGM may have to wait a year,” he said. “However, the Florida Conference Committee on Mission Personnel is ready to receive, interview and recommend them for service.”

The cutbacks at GBGM may also hinder some Florida Conference ministries from receiving grant money from the general church. He said this would affect “mostly ethnic ministries wanting to expand their ministries…”

Rankin said the cutbacks should not negatively affect either the ministries of missionaries serving in the Florida Conference or missionaries from Florida serving other parts of the world.

“Local churches can choose to support any of these missionaries,” he said. “The cutbacks won’t affect us because local churches are already supporting missionaries and will continue to do so.”