Agreement Unites 35,000 North American Missionaries Globally
On October 1, 2011 in Scottsdale, Arizona, the memberships of CrossGlobal Link (formerly IFMA) and The Mission Exchange (formerly EFMA) agreed to merge, forming a body representative of 35,000 evangelical missionaries deployed in every country by more than 190 agencies and churches. According to statements released from Marv Newell, Executive Director of CrossGlobal Link, and Steve Moore, President and CEO of The Mission Exchange, the merger will create better synergy, more effective use of resources, and provide a more streamlined structure for the future of North American missions.
The new organization will continue to deliver all its existing services for its combined constituency during an interim period of restructuring and rebranding (information, news, and services are at www.TheMissionExchange.org). Both agencies went through name changes in 2007. A new name and brand identity is expected to be announced during a special bi-centennial celebration in Salem, Massachusetts on February 6, 2012.
“Salem and Scottsdale are significant markers,” said Dr. Grant McClung, President of Missions Resource Group (www.MissionsResourceGroup.org), “representing the heritage and horizon of the North American missionary enterprise. From Salem, 200 years ago, the first North American missionaries were commissioned for overseas service by an organized mission society.” The historic merger in Scottsdale came on the heels of the North American Mission Leaders Conference which focused on the theme, “Reset: Mission in a Context of Deep Change.” McClung has served on the Executive Board of The Mission Exchange during the transition years of rebranding, developing the road map to the historic merger, and creating the Scottsdale conference programming. “We are living in a ‘Reset’ moment,” McClung stated, “in which a new North American missions network will be ideally positioned to leverage the collective wisdom and experience of missions pioneers while engaging a new generation of Great Commission workers for the future.”
McClung is Missiological Advisor to the World Missions Commission of the Pentecostal World Fellowship and International Missionary Educator with Church of God World Missions, a founding member of the original EFMA. The EFMA was birthed in 1946 out of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) as an umbrella association for mission agencies including denominations.
