Executive Director Search Prayer Updates
Executive Director Search Prayer update #7
Dr. Stephen Coertze has been appointed to succeed Dr. Kirk Franklin as Executive Director of the Wycliffe Global Alliance. Agnes Lid, Chair of the Alliance Board of Directors announced the news on 26 September 2019. Stephen is a member of Wycliffe South Africa and currently serves as the Director for Missiology on the Alliance leadership team. He will assume the role at the Global Gathering in September 2020.
Thank you for praying with the Alliance during the entire selection process. We can rejoice and praise God together for his leading and the ways that he guided this important process and helped the Search Committee and the Board.
Please pray for Stephen, his wife Lezelle and their family as they prepare to take up these new responsibilities. Pray also for Kirk Franklin and his wife Christine in their final months of service in this role. Ask God to protect, provide abundantly for their needs and strengthen both families. Pray that God will equip them for his service in their next steps. Pray for a smooth transition and handover period.
Executive Director Search Prayer update #6
From 9-12 July the Executive Director Search Committee gathered in Germany to interview the candidates and their spouses. It was a rich time of engaging with the candidates, making decisions based on the Executive Director profile, and discerning the leading of the Holy Spirit. The search committee has given their report to the board. The board will conduct the final stage of the process at their meeting in September 2019. During this meeting, the board will make the final decision about who God is calling to be the next Executive Director of the Wycliffe Global Alliance.
Thank you for praying for the interviews and throughout recent months as the selection process has unfolded. The Search Committee has had a great sense of the Lord leading and was unified in their report to the board. Please continue to pray that the candidates and spouses who have been in the process would experience God’s grace in this season and equipping for the next season. Please also continue to pray for wisdom and discernment for the board as they make the final decision in September. An announcement will be made soon after this meeting.
Executive Director Search Prayer update #5
In April, all leaders, Board Chairs of the Wycliffe Global Alliance organisations and the Alliance Leadership Team were informed about the four candidates who will be interviewed in July. They were invited to give feedback to the Executive Director Search Committee and to continue to pray for the candidates and the selection process. As the Search Committee members continue to receive feedback they are integrating it into their prayerful, ongoing discernment.
During May and June the Search Committee will gather virtually in order to plan the interview process. Interviews will be based on the key characteristics and criteria that have been approved by the Alliance Board.
The candidates and their spouses will be interviewed in Frankfurt, Germany July 8-12, 2019. After these interviews one candidate, or possibly two, will be presented to the Board for the Board to make a final determination at its September meeting. There will be an announcement about the next Executive Director by October 2019.
Continue to pray for the Search Committee as they seek to know God’s will and guidance through the selection process. If God speaks to you as you pray, please share your insights, verses from Scripture or impressions with the Search Committee. You can email on ed_search_[email protected]wycliffe.net.
Pray especially during the week of interviews; Psalm 121 provides a good outline to guide our prayers.
verses 1-2
“I look up to the mountains— does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!” (NLT)
Praise God for helping the Search Committee this far. He has guided them and brought unity through each stage of the decision-making process; thank God for his faithfulness. Ask him to continue to help the Search Committee and the Board in these final stages of the selection process. Pray that he will give wisdom, discernment and clear guidance.
verses 3-4
“He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber.
Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.”
Sometimes we struggle with weakness but let us remember that God is more than able to watch over the selection process. Praise him for this and ask him to watch over the interviews and be glorified in the process.
Ask him to strengthen each of the candidates, their spouses and families as they are nearing the end of a long and challenging process. Pray for grace and rest to be poured out onto each of the candidates. Ask him to help each of them to go through the interview process humbly and help each one of them to submit to God’s will. Pray that they will understand how precious they are to God and grasp the value he places on each of them regardless of the outcome.
verses 5-6
“The Lord himself watches over you! The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.”
Pray for each of the Search Committee members, the candidates and their spouses as they travel to attend the interviews. May no harm come to them and may they experience stress-free journeys. Ask God to give strength and good health to each person. May he watch over their families and other relationships, their work and other ministries.
verses 7-8
“The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.
The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.”
Continue to praise God for the leadership of Kirk Franklin and how God has used him to lead and shape the Alliance. Please pray for him to finish his term as Executive Director well. Pray that God will be preparing the next Executive Director and family members for the challenges of the role. Ask God to guard the hearts of the other candidates as they continue in their current ministries. Ask God to accomplish his purposes in the lives of each of the candidates through this process.
Executive Director Search Prayer Update #4
“Thus far the Lord has helped us.” 1 Samuel 7:12 (NIV)
Thank God that as we enter this next phase of the Executive Director (ED) Search that he has led us so far. The ED Search Committee members report that at their meetings in Oxford in March there was deepening sense of community amongst them as a team. They considered deeply the applications that were submitted. As they prayed and read Scriptures they sensed the Lord’s guidance very powerfully. Four people were asked to continue in the search process.
Interview dates have been set for the week 8th July. Interviews will take place in the USA at a central location that best fits with the applicants’ work commitments and travel schedules.
Please pray for each of the candidates that were not invited to interview. May they experience God’s grace and leading in their current roles and in what he would have them do in the future. Pray for the four selected candidates and their families as they prepare for the interviews. Ask God to accomplish his purposes in their lives through this process, whether or not they are selected as the next ED. This is a long process. Pray that they will experience grace and rest in the waiting.
The Search Committee are now in consultation with people who can advise them on how to craft the interview process and which questions to ask based on the Executive Director Profile that has been approved by the board. Ask God to guide these discussions. The Search Committee will have virtual meetings once a month between now and the interviews in July.
During the week of prayer and fasting in February, we asked for feedback from the Global Alliance as individuals and groups listened to God. We are thankful for those who took time to send in responses. What emerged was a picture of a leader who was someone after God’s own heart. This person should have discernment, integrity and humility and demonstrate love. The next ED should be someone who is strong in listening to God and to the Global Church. This person also should be wholeheartedly committed to obeying God, no matter the cost. The Global Alliance should see this time of searching for a new Executive Director as well as the handover period not so much as a time of waiting but as a time of waiting on God.
With this in mind, please continue to listen to God as you pray for this search process. Share anything you feel he has said to you with the ED Search Committee by emailing ED_search_[email protected]wycliffe.net. The Committee are keen to hear from the whole Alliance. They want this process to move forward through every Alliance organisation listening to God and sharing what they feel he is saying.
Executive Director Search Prayer Update #3
Those on the Search Committee volunteer their time for this effort. Each one has other responsibilities and jobs. Some are Global Alliance Board members who do not serve with the Alliance or an Alliance organisation. Ask God to help them as they seek to balance all their responsibilities and still make time to hear the Lord’s voice on this important matter. Pray for health, strength and protection over them and their families and in all they do.
The Board has called for a week of prayer and fasting for the Executive Director search from 18 to 24 February. Resources for that week are available to download (see below). Please pray that the Search Committee will be attentive to the words that come to them from the Alliance community. You are invited to share what you feel that God is saying during this time by emailing the committee at ed_search_[email protected]wycliffe.net .
Praise God that several people are moving forward with submitting formal applications to the Search Committee. The deadline is 28 February. Please pray for each one who is applying and that they will be supported by those around them with words of insight, direction and encouragement. Pray also for an enduring sense of God’s presence and words for them in this season.
The Search Committee will meet from 6 to 8 March in Oxford, UK. Please pray for safe travel for Committee members and for a fruitful time together. It will be their first face-to-face meeting since June 2018. During that meeting they will consider each application. Ask God to give them robust analysis, a continued sense of his guidance and the ability to see varied perspectives without confusion. The Committee aims to compile a short-list of applicants for interview during these meetings. Ask God to give each Committee member personal discernment in this process and to lead the Committee to communal agreement.
Week of Prayer and Fasting for the next Executive Director of the Wycliffe Global Alliance: 18-24 February
As the Alliance moves through the significant leadership transition we call upon each of the Alliance Organisations to participate through prayer. The Board of the Wycliffe Global Alliance has called for a week of prayer and fasting between 18th and 24th February for the search process.
Why fast?
Fasting is a way of submitting ourselves to God and seeking his perfect will for us during the process of selecting a new Executive Director (ED). As we humble ourselves through fasting, we will ask God to guide us and we will listen to his voice. We long to hear what is on God’s heart for the Alliance community. What does he want us to become, as a movement, in preparation for what is to come? Praying and fasting this week is also an opportunity for us to participate with the ED Search Committee in the process of discernment through prayer and in listening to God.
How should we fast?
We are fasting from 18th – 24th February 2019. Staff of each individual organisation can decide how much of that time to fast from food or something else, and whether also to fast from other distractions such as social media. We have created these materials as an outline. They consist of ideas to shape our prayer times over five consecutive days. However, you are free to shape your prayer times as you wish. We encourage you to join together with other members of your organisation and pray corporately as much as possible.
When we listen to God corporately he will often give part of the picture to one person and another part to another person. Unless we all share what God has said to us each as individuals we receive only a partial picture. If you feel God is speaking to you through this period of prayer and fasting about the selection process or the direction in which the Alliance should go, please share it with the Search Committee at ed_search_[email protected]wycliffe.net.
Day 1
Read: Psalm 29
Reflect on who God is. Take time to meditate on his power and greatness, his majesty and strength. Praise him.
Pray: Acknowledging that God is “The Lord” who “reigns as King forever.” (Ps 29:10) Ask God to strengthen his people and give them peace. Pray this for the whole Alliance, for the Search committee, Kirk Franklin and the current Alliance Leadership Team as well as the person that God has selected to be the next ED. These types of selection process can be gruelling, ask God to give grace to everyone involved and draw them close to him.
Listen: Ask God to show you how you can best support, care for and strengthen those involved in the selection process. Feel free to send words of encouragement or anything that you feel God is saying to the Search Committee today and in the days following.
Day 2
Read: 1 Chronicles 29:10-20
Reflect: Let us join David in bowing before the Lord, our God and maker. We must submit to his plans and paths. Our desire is for God to be honoured and glorified; how can we serve him so that his name will be exalted? Make God your focus today.
Pray: Ask God to glorify his name throughout this ED search process. Ask him to give us a new spirit of gratitude. May all our thoughts, actions and words give glory to him. Pray especially for the Search Committee to act with wisdom, integrity and purity. May we others see how we behave through this transition and be drawn to God as a result.
Listen: Each leader is given certain tasks to accomplish. God did not allow David to build him a temple. That was the task of the King who followed him. David laid the groundwork and helped prepare all the necessary resources for that task. How can we prepare for this change of leadership? Ask God to show us what we should do through the selection and handover process to prepare for our new leader.
Day 3:
Read: Acts 5:26-40
Reflect: “We must obey God rather than any human authority.” (Acts 5:29) Take time to submit to God and gladly accept his will for our new Executive Director, whomever that will be.
Pray: Ask God to give us a godly person of integrity, wisdom and strength to lead the Alliance. Pray for his or her family. Pray for the ministry he or she is currently involved in during this transition. Ask God to give the new leader steadfast prayer warriors and faithful financial supporters.
Listen: Ask God to show us individually whether there is anything that is stopping us, as a community, from fully obeying God. Pray for the members of the Search Committee to have hearts that will be uncompromisingly obedient as they seek God’s will.
Day 4:
Read: 1 Samuel 16:1-13
Reflect: The next person that God has chosen to lead us may not be an obvious choice. How should we respond if the person chosen is not someone we would have chosen?
Pray: Ask God to help us to have his perspective and give us courage to obey his leading. Pray for each person who has been nominated and has proceeded through the candidate application process to discern God’s leading in their lives. Pray for the Search Committee to have special discernment at their meeting in the United Kingdom from 7th to 9th March as they consider which applicants to invite to interview.
Listen: “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way we see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Sam 16:7) God’s ways are not our ways. Ask God to give us his perspective and understanding as we go through this leadership transition. As characteristics and traits come to mind about the Executive Director, please send them to the Search Committee so that these insights can be part of the discernment process.
Day 5:
Read: Ephesians 4:1-4
Reflect: The Wycliffe Global Alliance is an alliance of widely diverse organisations, from different cultures and backgrounds and with different involvement in Bible translation. How can we grow in unity?
Pray: Ask God to continue to grow unity amongst us. May the Search Committee function in complete unity. May we all be united behind the person that is appointed. Ask God to help us lay down our own agendas, hopes and fears. May we support each other and carry one another’s burdens.
Listen: Ask God to show us barriers to unity amongst us. Be ready to repent if needed to and put relationships right with others in the Alliance and our partners. What verses or images of unity come to mind as you pray? Please share these with the search committee as they arise.
Download the PDF prayer guide.
Executive Director Search Prayer Update #2
The Board of Directors of the Wycliffe Global Alliance has called for a week of prayer and fasting between 18th and 24th February for the search process. We will provide resources to help you pray specifically that week. Please note the dates and ask God how your organisation should participate in prayer and fasting during this week.
At the meeting held on 10th December, the Search Committee members experienced a strong sense of God’s guidance. They rejoiced at the significant response and are particularly grateful to all who made nominations. The Committee is also deeply thankful to God for a strong list of potential candidates, male and female and coming from all regions of the Alliance. They were nearly completely in agreement about which nominees should be asked to become candidates, based on the leading of the Holy Spirit and the criteria set forth in the Executive Director profile. Their next step is to ask the agreed upon list of nominees to submit applications. Based on the direction of the Board and the strength of the current list of candidates the Committee will not pursue external nominations.
Please pray:
- Praise God for his guidance during the recent meeting of the Search Committee. Thank Him that, as they have a robust list of internal nominees, the Committee will not pursue external nominations.
- The application process is rigorous and therefore time-consuming. Pray for each candidate as he or she decides whether or not to submit an application. Pray for their individual communities to encourage them to submit an application and support them through the selection process.
- Pray that each candidate will be able to complete their application well and before the closing date of 28th February.
Executive Director Search Prayer Update #1
The Board of the Wycliffe Global Alliance has called for a week of prayer and fasting between 18th and 24th February for the search process. We will create some resources to help you pray specifically that week. Please note the dates and ask God how your organisation should participate in prayer and fasting during this week.
Here are some ways to pray now:
- The nominations phase of the process runs until 1 December 2018. All staff of Wycliffe Global Alliance organisations are invited to nominate those they believe would be suitable to take up this position. Please pray that God would prompt people to make appropriate nominations.
- Ask God to speak to the person that will ultimately lead the Alliance beginning in 2020. Pray that this person would be Christlike and full of the Holy Spirit. Ask God to prepare him or her for the task that lies ahead.
- Praise God that the Search Committee is working well together yet some in the group have faced illnesses. Please pray for them to continue to be men and women of great personal discernment. Ask God to protect them and sustain collective wisdom and insight as they work together. May they sense God’s Spirit leading them clearly as they steward this process of transition for the Alliance community.
- Through December please pray for the Search Committee as they consider the nominations and ask some of those nominated to apply for the Executive Director role. They will have a virtual meeting on 10th December between 1:00pm and 3:30pm (UTC). Ask God for clarity and wisdom as they process together.
Throughout this process of selection and transition over the coming months ask God to show us as the Alliance community how He is at work amongst us, where He is taking us as a whole and how he would shape us in this season.
What a privilege we have to seek God together for the person who will become the next Executive Director of the Alliance.
The latest
View all articles
01/2021 Africa
A Ministry of Reconciliation
South Africa’s Recent Past Offers Guidance to the Bible Translation ...
Read more
12/2020
New Milestones in Digital Scripture Availability
Recent years have seen a dramatic and steady increase in the number of...
Read more
11/2020
Who better than God to receive our best?
Who better than God to receive our best? from Wycliffe Global Allianc...
Read more