Fourteen new United Methodist missionaries answered “yes” to the question, “Do you believe you have been led by the Holy Spirit to do this work?” as they were sent for ministry placements in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the United States.
A solemn yet joyful service of “commissioning” took place on Friday evening, October 11, at Christ Church United Methodist in New York City during the annual meeting of directors of the General Board of Global Ministries, the denomination’s mission agency.
“Will you do your work in love and humility, with integrity and sincerity?” Bishop Hope Morgan Ward of Raleigh, North Carolina, president of Global Ministries, asked the 14. They responded in union, “With God by my side, I will.”
The necessity of integrity in mission was one theme of the commissioning sermon by Bishop John K. Yambasu of Sierra Leone, himself a former missionary and a Global Ministries director. To “commission” is to designate or set apart for particular purposes.
The United Methodist Church commissions missionaries in several categories.
See more at: http://www.umcmission.org/Learn-About-Us/News-and-Stories/2013/October/1016-New-Missionaries-Confirm-Call