RICHMOND — Laura McDaniel is resigning as executive director of Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia to assume a newly-created position with the Spence Network, a leadership development organization with ties to Virginia Baptists.
In her new role as network catalyst, which begins April 1, McDaniel will work closely with Spence Network leader John Chandler to provide “strategic imagination” in nurturing and developing the leadership organization’s networks, according to a press statement released Feb. 22.
Laura McDaniel will assume her new role with the Spence Network on April 1. (WMUV photo)
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McDaniel has been on WMUV’s staff since 2005, serving as its executive director since 2008. Earlier she was a corporate attorney working in Washington. Currently she lives in Lynchburg, Va.
“While I am excited to follow what I believe is God’s call to the next step of my ministry, I will miss being a daily part of WMUV,” McDaniel said in the press statement. “I will remain an advocate of this wonderful organization as it continues to invest in missional leaders who are women. I am deeply grateful to have served the Kingdom through WMUV during the last eight years, and look forward to opportunities afforded in the future.”
“We are thrilled to have Laura bring her energy and talent toward developing the leadership pipeline,” Chandler said. “Having worked closely with WMUV as a strategic partner in the calling to inspire influencers, we believe Laura’s new chapter of ministry will greatly enhance our mutual investment in missional leaders who happen to be women.”
WMUV worked closely with the Virginia Baptist Mission Board to create the Spence Network about 10 years ago. It has long partnered with its Uptick program, which identifies, equips and deploys cohorts of young leaders engaged in mission.
WMUV president Pat Wright of Williamsburg, Va., expressed gratitude for McDaniel’s leadership. “Although she will be dearly missed, we fully support her decision and are excited for her as she lives out her passion in the fulfillment of WMU’s mission to ‘inspire and equip’ young women leaders in Virginia Baptist life,” she said.
John Upton, executive director of the Virginia Baptist Mission Board, added his support. “I would like to express my genuine appreciation to Woman’s Missionary Union of Virginia for their ongoing commitment to cultivating rising young leaders, both women and men, through the Spence Network,” he said. “That partnership only deepens with Laura’s move to this new position. Laura will help the Spence Network advance to the next level of effectiveness in cultivating future leadership for all Virginia Baptists.”
Robert Dilday (rdilday@religiousherald.org) is managing editor of the Religious Herald.