Laura McDaniel has never waited for permission to carry out ministry.
The Lynchburg woman learned that lesson while serving the local church.
“If God calls you to ministry, why wait to be trained?” she asked. “If we all waited for pre-qualifications, we'd never get started.”
McDaniel's “can-do” attitude is likely to characterize her new role as Woman's Missionary Union of Virginia's first assistant executive director, a position she assumed this month.
“I know there are people in the workplace who have a passion for ministry,” she said. “They don't need permission to minister, but they need someone to encourage them to go for it.”
McDaniel's involvement at Rivermont Avenue Baptist Church in Lynchburg has left her keenly aware of the potential for ministry in lay Christians.
She watched as her former pastor, Jim Baucom, actively recruit church members to serve in a variety of ministry roles. Eventually, he came her way and she found herself filling several volunteer roles, including that of the church's director of discipleship and minister of administration.
“Rivermont Avenue is committed to equipping lay leadership,” she said.
McDaniel, who earned a law degree from George Mason University in 1987, leaves a high-powered-and high-paying-position as legal counsel for a Washington, D.C., insurance group to take on her new job. In the past she has held similar positions with contracting and construction firms in Lynchburg and California.
“Earlene [Jessee, executive director of WMUV] couldn't believe I'd leave my job and salary in D.C.,” she said. “But you know, God always provides. That's what God's been developing in me lately-trust.”
She said a growing involvement in WMUV, which began in 1999 following a renewed spiritual experience, convinced her that God was calling her to serve the mission organization.
“I first became acquainted with Earlene and WMUV while serving on the council of CrossRoads Camp and Conference Center [the WMUV retreat center near Lowesville, north of Lynchburg],” she said. “I saw an incredible opportunity to serve and become involved with the camp.”
Since then she also has served on the co-missioners council, a joint endeavor of WMUV and the Virginia Baptist Mission Board; and on WMUV's board of directors. She also serves on the board of directors of Virginia Baptists' new Ray and Ann Spence Network for Congregational Leadership.
When WMUV's board of trustees realized this year that the time had come to provide assistance to Jessee in carrying out her growing responsibilities, McDaniel seemed a natural choice to fill the new position they created.
In her new role McDaniel will help Jessee in the overall operation of WMUV, while giving priority attention to CrossRoads Camp and Conference Center, which is broadening its scope and transitioning into a major health and wellness center for Virginia Baptists. To make that job more efficient, she will continue to live in Lynchburg.
In addition to that responsibility, McDaniel will direct WMUV's volunteer mission connections and manage its corporate resources and partnering ventures.
“If I look back at the ‘memorial stones' of my life, I see how God has used every step of my journey … to encourage, empower and equip others for his Kingdom,” she said. “However, I can relate to what Paul wrote to the Philippians-‘Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me.”
Staff report