Summary
Village Missions ("VM") provides full-time, qualified, spiritual leadership primarily to rural areas in the United States and Canada where there exists a definite need to win and disciple people to Jesus Christ through the proclamation and demonstration of the Gospel and to continue such leadership as long as requested. Village Missions conducts a missionary ministry in a local church context by placing leadership in rural communities of North America. Each missionary is appointed for an unspecified period of time, ministering in a given location as the Lord directs. Wives are an important part of the missionary team, but must balance their ministry with family responsibilities. The objective is to reach the entire community; therefore, denominational issues are avoided. Missionaries are encouraged to extend their ministries beyond the community of their residence through visitation, home Bible studies, and wherever other opportunities exist. Rev. Walter Duff founded VM in 1948. This organization is a nonprofit organization. Contributions to it are fully deductible to the extent allowed by law. It is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).
Contact Information: [ Back to top ]
| Mailing Address: | PO Box 197
Dallas, OR
97338-0197 |
| Website: | www.village-missions.org/ |
| Phone: | (503) 623-4107 |
| Email: | You need to enable javascript to see the email |
Organization Details [ Back to top ]
EIN: 436043847
| CEO/President: |
Rev. Brian S. Wechsler |
Tax Deductible: |
Yes |
| Chairman: |
Mr. W. Edward Allan |
Fiscal Year End: |
June 30 |
| Board Size: |
10 |
Financial info from: |
990 |
| Founder: |
Rev. Walter Duff |
Member of ECFA: |
Yes |
| Year Founded: |
1948 |
Member of ECFA since: |
1994 |
Village Missions ("VM") provides full-time, qualified, spiritual leadership primarily to rural areas in the United States and Canada, where there exists a definite need to win and disciple people to Jesus Christ through the proclamation and demonstration of the Gospel, and to continue such leadership as long as requested.
Village Missions conducts a missionary ministry in a local church context by placing leadership in rural communities of North America. Each missionary is appointed for an unspecified period of time, ministering in a given location as the Lord directs. Wives are an important part of the missionary team, but must balance their ministry with family responsibilities. The objective is to reach the entire community; therefore, denominational issues are avoided. Missionaries are encouraged to extend their ministries beyond the community of their residence through visitation, home Bible studies, and wherever other opportunities exist. Rev. Walter Duff founded VM in 1948.
This organization is a nonprofit organization. Contributions to it are fully deductible to the extent allowed by law. It is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA).
Village Missions uses the following to express its mission:
It is the aim of the dedicated leaders of Village Missions to provide a Christ-centered community church program capable of involving the entire population.
Program Accomplishments [ Back to top ]
Need Program Accomoplishments info
Statement of Faith [ Back to top ]
Village Missions uses the following to express its Statement of Faith:
- The supernatural and plenary inspiration of the Scriptures - that they are inerrant and that their teaching and authority are absolute, supreme, final and complete;
- The trinity of the Godhead - God, the Father; God, the Son; and God, the Holy Spirit;
- The personality of God - the personality and deity of Jesus Christ, begotten of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, very God and very Man; the personality of the Holy Spirit;
- The resurrection of Jesus Christ - that His body was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that He ascended into Heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God as the believer's Advocate;
- The sinfulness of man - that all human beings are born with a sinful nature, are totally depraved and need a Savior from sin;
- The Atonement - that Jesus Christ became the sinner's sacrifice before God and died as the propitiation for the sins of the whole world;
- The necessity of the new birth - salvation is by grace through faith and not of works; saving faith will maintain good works in the life of the believer;
- The literal resurrection of the body, both of the just and of the unjust;
- The everlasting blessedness of the saved, and the everlasting punishment of the lost;
- The evangelization of the world - the supreme mission of the church in this age is to preach the gospel to every creature;
- The second coming of Christ according to Scripture.
VM was founded in 1948 as an outgrowth of the work being done by Mrs. Helen Duff Baugh and Miss Mary Clark in their formation of Christian Women's Clubs. As they traveled around they saw the tremendous number of churches that were closed or without a pastor. God led them, along with Mrs. Baugh's brother, to organize VM. The Mission was launched on September 9th, 1948 at Cannon Beach, Oregon with the Rev. Walter Duff, Jr. as National Director.
From that time until his death in 1993 Rev. Duff was the guiding hand that shaped and directed the mission. VM is what it is today because he was the type of man that he was. It was his strong faith and deep concern for the unsaved people in rural communities that defined the call for the entire mission. Through his efforts many churches have received pastors and thousands have come to know the savior through the work of village missionaries.
In 1968 VM began providing missionaries in Canada as well as the United States. There are now more than 30 Canadian communities have received full-time missionary pastors through VM.
In 1993, with the passing of Rev. Duff, the mission entered a new phase. It was now too large for one man to personally oversee all the missionaries. The leadership passed to Dr. Jack Canady, who is assisted by Regional Administrators for the Western U.S., the Eastern U.S. and Canada. Under them there are District Representatives who are constantly involved in supporting and advising the missionaries in their districts.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ does not change, but the world around us changes constantly. As the culture evolves the mission has stood fast on the Gospel while attempting to grow and adapt so as to most effectively reach the unsaved people throughout rural North America. The testimony of how well that job is being done is found in the over 250 fields in the U.S. and over 30 in Canada that Village Missions is serving.
This organization has not offered MinistryWatch.com with specific needs to be posted on the profile. At such a time that MinistryWatch.com receives a response from the ministry, it will be posted immediately.
Research Analysis
Transparency Grade [ Back to top ]
| Transparency Grade of : A |
| Criteria category | Grade | Other Comments |
| Timeliness: | 100 | 11/12/2008 8:54:20 AM: Village Missions posts its audits and IRS form 990s on its website (along with other good information in a prompt fashion). They are an example to follow for other ministries. |
| Financial Information: | 100 | 11/12/2008 8:54:29 AM: Organization provided all financial information requested. Information was clear and thorough. |
| Foundational Clarity: | 100 | 11/12/2008 8:56:19 AM: Descriptive information was abundant and thorough. |
| Level of Cooperation: | 100 | 11/12/2008 8:56:27 AM: Answers to questions were thorough. |
Click here to compare ministries on transparency and other stats
Click here to learn more about how ministries are graded
MinistryWatch.com 5 Star Financial Efficiency Ratings [ Back to top ]
| Ranking Category | Rating | Overall Rank | Evangelism Sector |
|---|
| Overall Efficiency Rating |  | 122 of 353 | 8 of 27 |
| Fund Acquisition Decision |  | 120 of 353 | 14 of 27 |
| Resource Allocation Decision | | 138 of 353 | 13 of 27 |
| Asset Utilization Decision | | 176 of 353 | 16 of 27 |
Learn how the ratings are calculated for this ministry
Learn how ratings are calculated in general --
or here for a longer explanation
Click here to compare ministries
2009 MinistryWatch.com Shining Light top ministry list
MinistryWatch.com’sTake
August 2003
By Andy Preslar, Research Fellow
Rural Churches in Dire Straits
Imagine that you are a member of a small, Bible-believing church somewhere in rural North America. Imagine further that your church is the only church, or least the only one of its kind (evangelical and evangelistic), in your community. Imagine still further that (1) your church is without a pastor, (2) your church leadership is desirous of finding someone to fill this position and provide spiritual leadership in the church and community, and (3) your church, unfortunately, lacks the monetary funds and/ or other means necessary to find and employee a full-time pastor. What, in such a dire situation, is a church to do?
Sad to say, this scenario is not an imaginary one for many churches in rural North America. Without the denominational ties and/ or financial resources that provide other types of churches with virtually unrestricted access to trained spiritual leaders, many small, rural churches stand in danger of disappearing altogether. Furthermore, whenever the church goes, the surrounding community suffers devastating spiritual effects. Village Missions was founded and exists today for the express purpose of counteracting this problem by providing these struggling churches with the spiritual leadership they desire and so desperately need.
The Solution: Village Missionaries
Village Missions (VM) is an evangelical Christian ministry that exists in order to reach rural communities in the United States and Canada with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. VM seeks to carry out this mission by means of sending missionary pastors to provide ongoing spiritual leadership in struggling local churches. A VM missionary seeks to strengthen the church and reach out to the community through friendship building, evangelism and discipleship.
In what follows, we will briefly portray the nature of VM; that is, its basic beliefs and plan of ministry (or, “field strategy”). We will also describe, from the standpoint of its organizational structure, just how VM goes about implementing and maintaining its mission of “ministering to the spiritual needs of rural communities in North America.”
Serving in Churches and Communities
As stated above, VM is an evangelical ministry. This distinction is clearly reflected in its doctrinal statement and field strategy. Details concerning VM’s basic beliefs are given below, in the “worldview considerations” section. VM’s plan of ministry may be summarized under six points:
- Evangelistic- a Village Missionary is not a social servant in the sense of working under a mandate to do particular social good works. Rather, a Village Missionary becomes involved in the community (and this may involve social good works) as a representative and spiritual leader of the local church whose mandate is to proclaim the Gospel.
- Non-denominational- VM avoids denominational distinctive, largely in order to appeal to a wider base of people in the community.
- Local church based- VM works closely with the local church leadership. VM’s community activities are outreach ministries of the local church. A VM missionary’s prime directive is to “assist the local church in becoming a strong church reaching the local area with the Gospel.”
- Community-oriented- a Village Missionary’s ministry is not confined within the church walls. VM seeks to actively engage the community in the activities of the local church by extending those activities into the community (home Bible studies, special activities, personal contacts, etc.).
- Committed to family- VM only sends married couples into the field. A VM missionary couple must have a divorce-free past (presumably in deference to biblical requirements for church leadership; cf. 1 Tim. 3:2). VM considers wives to be qualified missionaries, but stipulates that they must balance ministry with family responsibilities.
- Friendship-building- None of the above takes place apart from developing trusting, personal relationships with members of the church and the community. To be an effective Village Missionary is to become involved in people’s lives.
A Village Missionary is not sent to be an aloof pulpiteer. He is to be a spiritual leader among the people, strengthening the church and reaching out personally to the community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. VM’s plan of ministry takes into account the specific challenges of rural ministry (e.g., the need to build trust through friendship in places where newcomers may be the exception rather than the norm), the needs of missionary families, and the needs of the local church. All of this is geared towards the missionary endeavor of spreading the Good News in rural North America.
Built to Last
The organizational structure of Village Missions is designed (1)
to provide qualified missionary pastors for qualified rural churches, (2)
to help each missionary reach and remain in those churches, and (3)
to help the missionaries become increasingly effective in their ministries. In this section we will briefly describe each of these three aspects of Village Mission’s organizational structure.
(1) Regarding the first aspect of this structure, VM has established definite guidelines for placement in ministry. There are several “service requirements” that the missionary pastor must meet in order to qualify for initiation and placement as a Village Missionary. Among these requirements are:
- Personal salvation
- Married; divorce-free
- Conviction of God’s special leading/ desire to do the work of a Village Missionary
- Leadership ability and sufficient formal training (e.g., Bible College or seminary)
- Agreement with VM doctrinal statement and willingness to cooperate with VM policies
- Ability to raise some personal financial support
There are also several requirements placed upon the church to which a VM missionary is sent. These include:
- The local church must have its own leadership structure in place. The Village Missionary is sent to supplement this structure as a “spiritual advisor,” not as the “primary leader.”
- The local church must be in agreement with VM’s doctrinal statement.
- The local church must provide a place of worship.
- The local church must provide housing and utilities for the missionary, pay the benefit package, and contribute toward the salary (if possible).
- The local church must send 10% of its monthly offerings to VM’s general fund.
A local church that meets and agrees to abide by these stipulations is placed on a waiting list for a Village Missionary. It is generally the case that “there are more churches waiting for a missionary than missionaries waiting to be assigned.”
(2) In addition to the above criteria for missionaries and local churches, VM utilizes a system of collection and distribution of funds that is designed to ensure that each missionary receives an adequate amount of support, in order to be able to reach and remain in the field. As has been noted, the missionary is required to raise a minimal level of support, and the local church must be able to provide somewhat towards the missionary’s support. There are, however, cases in which the amount of money generated from the missionary’s own support raising efforts and the resources of the local church is inadequate to support a missionary family in the field. In such cases, VM is committed to supplementing to the missionary’s salary, up to a certain amount of financial support each month, from the mission’s general fund.
The general fund of the mission is supplied by the following sources:
- Donors
- Village Missionaries (each Village Missionary gives a certain amount of money raised from his individual supporters to the VM general fund)
- Local Churches served by VM (each church gives 10% of its offerings the VM general fund)
This system does not entail that each Village Missionary receives the exact same amount of financial support. It does help to ensure that every Village Missionary receives a sufficient amount of financial support. This system enables missionaries who struggle to raise funds (due to lack of church contacts, etc.), and/ or is sent to churches without the ability to provide more than the minimum of their end of the missionary’s support, to reach and remain in the mission field. The goal of VM (with regards to missionary support) is for each church to be able to fully support its missionary pastor. It is recognized, however, that this does not always happen. VM’s strategy of sharing resources by means of regulated contributions to and distributions from a general fund appears to be a reasonable and responsible way of helping to maintain the mission’s presence and work in every church and community that it serves.
(3) Finally, VM supports its missionaries by placing District Representatives throughout the missionary field of North America. These District Representatives serve three primary purposes, each of which increases the missionary’s potential for effective ministry. These purposes are:
- District Representatives are a ministry resource for VM missionaries. District Representatives meet with missionaries and church boards on a semi-annual basis to review progress in the mission, to discuss ministry strategy, and to support and encourage the missionary family in their ongoing efforts. In general, the District Representative works to maintain harmonious relations between VM, the missionary, and the local church.
- District Representatives serve as counselors to churches that are awaiting a Village Missionary. By this means, the missionary, when he arrives, finds the field in a more cultivated state than it would have otherwise been.
- District Representatives share the ministry of VM with interested individuals, churches, and Bible Colleges. This helps to raise awareness about Village Missions. When sympathetic people hear about the work of VM, donations increase; thus, more funds are available for those missionaries who are struggling to maintain their minimum support level.
Overall, VM’s organizational structure appears to be an effective means of implementing its mission of “ministering to the spiritual needs of rural communities in North America.” VM is organized to send qualified missionaries to struggling churches which desire spiritual leadership of the sort provided by VM. The mission’s financial policies are structured to ensure that these missionaries can continue their work despite financial difficulties that may accrue to particular situations. Finally, VM, through its District Representatives, provides for multi-level accountability, spiritual support and exhortation, and continued promotion of its mission. One indication of the effectiveness of this organizational structure for maintaining ministries is the fact that “many Village Missionaries have served one church for 10, 15, 20 and more years.” *
* (note: all quotations in this report are cited from VM’s website or from other written communications from a VM representative)