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INTERIM DIRECTOR FOR BOARD OF WORLD MISSION

Memorandum Date: February 26, 2003

To: Congregations and Agencies of the Moravian Church

From: Kevin Staggs; Vice-chair, Board of World Mission, Robert Sawyer; President, Southern Province PEC, David Wickmann; President, Northern Province PEC.

Greetings in the name of Jesus our Lord.

It is with joy that we write to you today to inform you that Reverend Gordon L. Sommers has accepted the position of Interim Executive Director of the Board of World Mission.

Over the years Brother Sommers has had a long-standing relationship with the Board of World Mission of the Moravian Church. He served in two appointments to Nica-ragua while a student at Moravian Theolo-gical Seminary. Following ordination he served as missionary pastor for ten years in Guyana, South America, including serving as Superintendent of the Province.

Brother Sommers served as a Board member for 16 years and as an advisory member for 8 years. He led the Board on several occasions in a process of goal-setting. He also served as President and Board member of the Society for Promoting the Gospel, the oldest Missionary Society in North America.

Brother Sommers participated in the Unity Synod of 1988 and 2002 and in the Unity Delegation to Star Mountain in 1990.

He has visited all of the nations where the 19 Unity Provinces of the Moravian Church and the Unity undertakings are located.

While President of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA he participated in Ecumenical delegations to Haiti, South Korea and North Korea, Cyprus, Syria, Palestine, Jerusalem, Lebanon, and Jordan. He was religious advisor to the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's) at the UN Conference on Population and Development in 1994 in Cairo. He is Chairman of the Board of Religion in American Life, an inter-faith organization and is participant in several Inter-faith Conversations. He chairs the Planning for the Robert K. Campbell Ecumenical Lectures sponsored jointly by the Lehigh County Council of Churches of Pennsylvania and de Sales University. A Rotarian, he recently led a Group Study Exchange to North India.

Brother Sommers has been pastor of congregations in York, PA and Upper Marlboro, MD. He served the Provincial Elders' Conference of the Northern Province, as vice president and president of the Eastern District for 8 years and for 12 years as its President. During that time the Inter-Provincial Faith and Order Commission was organized and he served as its coordinator for 10 years.

Since retirement, Brother Sommers has been Interim Pastor in 4 congregations. He continues to teach the Wednesday Morning Men's Bible Class at Central Moravian Church.

Brother Sommers will begin his work on March 6, 2003