The Multiply Board of Directors has announced plans to reorganize the mission agency’s leadership team based on the recommendations from the Multiply Review Task Force, specifically recommendations regarding Multiply’s culture and leadership.
In a Dec. 14 letter to Multiply staff and missionaries, board chair David MacLean says the board has “grown in its understanding of the distinct nature of both the United States and Canada. As a global mission organization, it is our desire to grow the mission investment in both the U.S. and Canada to fit into the unique cultural context of both nations.”
To better accomplish this goal, the board is “implementing a strategic direction to create two national directors, one in Canada and one in the U.S,” says MacLean. Both national directors will serve on the Executive Team and the Global Lead Team and will answer to the general director.
MacLean reports that the Multiply board has initiated the process of recruiting a general director, formerly the role of president. The general director will give collaborative leadership to the U.S. and Canadian national offices and will lead the executive team.
Until the Board of Directors hires a new general director, Randy Friesen will remain in his current role as president of Multiply.
“The board is grateful to Randy for his continued commitment to facilitate a stable transition,” MacLean says.
The new general director will have the authority to hire who they deem to be the best fit for the Canadian and U.S. national director roles, working in close collaboration with the owner conferences, the Canadian Conference of MB Churches and the U.S. Conference of MB Churches.
In a related development, two U.S. board members, Fred Leonard and Yvette Jones, were not in agreement with some of the board’s recent decisions and instead of creating disunity chose to resign, according to Don Morris, USMB national director. The USMB Leadership Board will begin the process of determining replacement members in January 2021.
