JOY FENNER(left), outgoing WMU executive director, and successor Carolyn Porterfield.	NEW OFFICERS of Texas Woman's Missionary Union are Toni English, Nelda Taylor-Thiede, Beth Campbell, Kay Kolb and Kathy Hillman.

Texas WMU passes the mantle this year–twice
___By Jerilynn Armstrong
___For Texas Baptist Communications
___CORPUS CHRISTI--The 125th annual meeting of Texas Woman's Missionary Union was filled with hellos and goodbyes.
___At a unique time in the organization's history, members welcomed both a new

JOY FENNER hugs her successor, Carolyn Porterfield, as state WMU President Jeane Law looks on.

executive director-treasurer and president and said farewell and thanks to two women leaving those posts.
___During the Oct. 30 meeting of Texas WMU's executive board, the group voted unanimously on the selection of Carolyn Porterfield as executive director-treasurer. She will follow Joy Fenner's 20-year tenure, which began in 1981 and will end March 1 with her retirement.
___The WMU board also voted to name Fenner executive director-treasurer emeritus.
___Porterfield has served the past eight years as associate executive director of Texas WMU. She also has served on the staff of Arkansas WMU and national WMU.
___Kathy Hillman was elected president of Texas WMU during the annual meeting Oct. 31. She succeeds Jeane Law from First Baptist Church of Lubbock, who served four years in the position, the maximum allowed. Hillman is a member of Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco and previously served WMU as a promotional vice-president, associational equipper, conference leader and writer.
___In her last address as executive director-treasurer, Fenner challenged more than 500 participants to "discover the joy of missions."
___This joy can be found through the development of leadership, fostering ministry opportunities for all age groups and celebrating the diversity of Texas Baptists, she said.
___"One of the nicest compliments I have received in recent years came from Ken Camp who serves in our building's communication's office when he said he did not have to

OUTGOING Texas WMU Executive Director Joy Fenner and her husband, Charlie, greet well-wishers during a retirement reception.

'discover the joy of missions since he had known her for years,'" Fenner said.
___"My hope and prayer is that Woman's Missionary Union will continue to be a viable and valuable vehicle in the church," she added.
___"I do not know how history will record my 20 years of service, but it has been a pilgrimage of discovery, understanding and personalizing that God has saved me, and I must share it," Fenner said. "I am still awed that I can touch the world and make a difference."
___In her farewell address, Law shared her missions pilgrimage from her days as a Sunbeam through her years as a GA, YWA, associational leader and state officer. "WMU has had me hook, line and sinker since I can remember," she said.
___"In my four years of service as Texas WMU president, I have spoken to large and small groups, traveled throughout the United States and been on trips to Germany, Cuba, Romania and Turkey," she recounted. "It has been an awesome experience as I have seen the great needs and many challenges. What we do in WMU is of eternal significance for our Lord."
___The theme of the afternoon meeting was "God's Plan ... Our Part." Bill O'Brien, co-director of Bell Mitra Associates and former Southern Baptist missionary and executive, led the group throughout the afternoon as they thought about God's plan in creating the world, God's plan to touch the world through the church and God's plan to touch the world through women.
___"Women were a part of God's plan from the beginning," O'Brien said. "Women have been affirmed throughout the Bible and share many common traits such as intuition, persistence, nurturing and servanthood.
___"Stand tall on your knees alongside of men as you serve Jesus Christ and share the good news," he said.
___Dellana O'Brien, former executive director of national Woman's Missionary Union, spoke on the topic "Women of the World."
___"I am grateful to the women who have gone before me and stood against the odds to make the world a different place," she said. "And in the midst of women still struggling in many parts of the world, I believe the new millennium bodes well for women.
___"As you leave here today, depart as women of the world, claiming God's power and knowing his joy," she said.
___Don Sewell, director of Texas Partnerships, shared the needs and opportunities of two new partnerships--one in the northeast United States and another in Spain.
___Porterfield closed the meeting thanking the women for the opportunity to serve.
___"Never in my wildest dreams growing up in Colorado did I imagine myself accepting this responsibility as executive director," she said. "I am very humbled and grateful, but look forward to the future walking together with you."
___Other Texas WMU officers elected for the coming year include Kay Kolb, Greenwood Baptist Church of Midland, recording secretary; Beth Campbell, Indian Hills Baptist Church of Grand Prairie, first promotional vice president; Nelda Taylor-Thiede, First Baptist Church of Gonzales, second promotional vice president; and Toni English, Immanuel Baptist Church of San Angelo, third promotional vice president.
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