Annual Conference Speaker Rev. R. Randy Day, UMC GBGM

The Rev. R. Randy Day, General Secretary of the  General Board of Global Ministries, will be the opening session guest speaker at the  NTC Annual Conference, on June 4. Rev. Day will also be the speaker for the Sunday afternoon Laity Dinner and the Monday noon Sending Servants Luncheon.

Before assuming his current responsibilities in 2003, Rev. Day served as Global Ministries' deputy general secretary with responsibilities for evangelization and church growth, and community and institutional ministries.

Since taking office as general secretary, Rev. Day has emphasized mission as it relates to children and youth, persons emerging from crisis, and those who are pushed to the margins of their societies. He led one of the first delegations to visit the churches and people most affected by the tsunami disaster of December 2004 and was on site surveying needs within days of the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes.

Rev. Day has been instrumental in refocusing UM attention on health as a mission priority, and in 2005 he announced the eradication of malaria as a mission objective. This cause has caught popular attention and was a stimulus for denominational participation in the "Nothing but Nets" campaign.

In his ministry around the world, Rev. Day works to support evangelistic and humanitarian work, including starting new churches in Southeast Asia, Mongolia, Honduras, and West Africa.

Born in Roodhouse, IL, he attended Illinois Wesleyan University and began his ministry in Illinois before moving to New York City where he worked in urban ministry. He has served as a local church pastor and as a district superintendent.

Rev. Day holds the bachelor's degree in sociology and a certificate of competency in Southeast Asia Studies from Silliman University in Dumaguete, Philippines. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Yale University Divinity School.