Photo credit: UMC General Board of Global Ministries
The General Board of Global Ministries has named Rev. Dr. Amy Valdez Barker the new executive director of Global Mission Connections, the programmatic unit of Global Ministries focused on cultivating new faith communities as well as connecting the local church in mission through regional offices in Asia, Europe, Latin America, the United States, and Africa (opening in 2019). Barker succeeds Rev. Dr. Mande Muyombo, who was elected a United Methodist bishop in the Congo, March 2017.
Valdez Barker comes to Global Ministries after serving as the chief connectional ministries officer of the Connectional Table from 2012 to present. She has fulfilled increasingly expanding and diverse ministerial roles throughout The United Methodist Church since 1988. From serving as the conference youth coordinator for the Wisconsin Annual Conference to fulfilling a call to minister to families with youth for Athens First United Methodist Church in Athens, Georgia, and becoming an ordained deacon in the North Georgia Conference, Valdez Barker’s expertise extends across the United Methodist connection.
“Amy brings a wealth of international relations, strategic planning, and cultural awareness to the executive leadership team of Global Ministries. She is a true collaborator and passionate leader with a heart for the church in mission,” said Thomas Kemper, chief executive of Global Ministries. “We are grateful she will now serve the United Methodist Church in this critical role for Global Ministries as head of Global Mission Connections.”
“Equipping, enabling, and strengthening partnerships through regional offices is at the core of what the Connectional Table has discerned for a more authentic worldwide church,” Valdez Barker said. “Global Ministries has been leaning in this direction as they made the move to Atlanta and have now opened Asia and Latin America regional offices. I am humbled by the opportunity to serve God through Global Ministries in the Global Mission Connections Unit. I have witnessed the fruit of God’s mission ‘from everywhere to everywhere,’ and now I believe this is my chance to join in the planting and the harvest.”
Valdez Barker officially begins her new position at Global Ministries July 31.
This story originally appeared at http://www.umcmission.org/learn-about-us/news-and-stories. It has been reprinted with permission.
