Increased Support Approved

ORLANDO, Florida — Delegates to General Council 2019 voted Aug. 3 to increase the operational support of Assemblies of God World Missions by 2 percent.

Under an approved resolution, 7 percent of all missionary offerings received (with the exclusion of special personal designations) shall be transferred to the General Emergency Fund. The support covers the administrative expenses and emergency field needs of AGWM and its missionaries.

AGWM Executive Director Greg Mundis offered a detailed rationale for the increase. Mundis noted that AGWM has set a goal to increase the number of missionary personnel to 3,900 by 2023, a 25 percent increase from the current total. AGWM plans to focus on 570 unreached people groups, he said.

Consequently, a larger and more efficient administrative support team will be needed at the national office in Springfield, Missouri, to process and equip field personnel, Mundis said.

Current expenses are tight, Mundis said, and reductions already have been made.

“We cannot cut our way to growth,” Mundis said. “We need additional income.” Mundis said the requested increase would amount to $1.7 million.

Rod Loy, senior pastor of First Assembly North Little Rock, spoke in favor of the resolution, noting that the requested increase would mean a church currently donating $50 a month to a missionary would simply need to add $1 a month.

“The burden is not on our missionaries, it’s on our churches,” Loy said. “It’s our responsibility, it’s our obligation, to support our missionaries.”

Brent C. Powell of Easley, South Carolina, opposed the plan, saying AGWM can’t regulate what churches give. He expressed concerns that the change would delay missionaries from reaching the field.

However, Mundis indicated with the extra staff hired, the expected surge in the number of new missionaries shouldn’t add to the length of itineration, currently averaging 15 months.

Mark A. Lehmann, pastor of Cornerstone Church in Bowie, Maryland, said a study he and other pastors had conducted of various missions-sending organizations showed they all had higher administrative costs than AGWM, ranging from 11 percent to 31 percent of operating funds.

Ultimately, more than two-thirds of delegates gathered in Orlando for the business session approved the request by a voice vote.

AGWM accounts for the largest share of annual contributions to the U.S. AG divisions, $187.7 million of the total $280.1 million given in the last fiscal year.