Longtime Disciples Leaders Announce Plans To Step Aside
Editor’s Note: Please note the corrected headline. Johnny and Deborrah Wray are not retiring, but are leaving their positions at the end of the year.
(Indianapolis, Ind. - DNS - May 30, 2008) - Two longtime general ministry servants have announced their plans to step aside so that they can spend more time together.
Johnny Wray, director of Week of Compassion since 1992, and Deborrah Wray, a development officer with the Christian Church Foundation since 1992, will leave their positions at the end of 2008.
The couple wed in 2002, and desires to spend more time together in less travel-dominated fields.
"Johnny has done a tremendous job in connecting Disciples with the poor, the victims of war and natural disasters and those who have been oppressed," said Sharon Watkins, General Minister and President. "He has been the face of Week of Compassion, and he has served the church well."
During his tenure, Week of Compassion has become one of the church’s most well-known ministries, providing emergency funding and humanitarian aid through church partnerships around the globe, every day.
"The past decade and a half have been the most fulfilling and rewarding years of my life," Johnny Wray told the Week of Compassion Committee. "But I believe now is the time for new leadership at the helm of WOC, and Deb and I look forward to returning to our place in Mississippi."
John Richardson, chair of the Week of Compassion Committee, said: "We respect Johnny’s desire to spend a greater amount of time on his farm with family. People around the world have been blessed by Johnny’s ability to raise money and then ensure that it gets to those in need. His name will forever be linked to the Disciples of Christ ministries of disaster relief, political or economic crisis, and the ministries of self-help and development to lift the poorest people in the world out of poverty, hunger and injustice. He has connected the individuals in our local church pews to the needs of the whole world."
His wife, Debbie, will leave the Foundation as the vice president serving donors and congregations in an area that stretches from Illinois to New York and into the Northeast.
"The church has been blessed by Debbie’s faithfulness, attentiveness and leadership," said Gary Kidwell, Foundation president. "Her passion for the ministries of the church is unwavering, and her love for the church helped her play an important role in connecting Disciples donors with their passions."
"This was not just a job for Debbie - this has been ministry."
Kidwell said Darwin Collins, who had been announced to join the Foundation staff in the fall, will assume sole responsibility for the Great Lakes Zone after Debbie leaves. "We are grateful that there will be some significant time for the two people to overlap so that our services to donors and congregations in that area will be seamless," Kidwell said.
The Office of General Minister and President, in consultation with the Week of Compassion Committee, will appoint a search committee to seek Johnny Wray’s replacement.
The Christian Church Foundation is a general ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) devoted to helping Disciples make a difference through planned gifts and permanent funds that undergird church ministries. To find out more about Christian Church Foundation, visit: www.disciples.org/ccf/
To learn more about Week of Compassion, go to: www.weekofcompassion.org
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