Long is a former General Board of Global Ministries missionary and teacher. She is a member of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Sarasota, where her husband, the Rev. Neal Long, is pastor.

A new way to select candidates for mission service through the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) is taking shape in the Florida Conference. And that shape takes the form of a new Florida Conference Committee on Mission Personnel (CCMP).

The committee held its first meeting Dec. 11, 1999, in response to GBGM’s initiative to revamp how people are selected for mission projects.

Members were given a three-fold challenge: identify 10 candidates for placement in mission opportunities either in the United States or overseas; 10 projects or programs within the Florida Conference for placement of mission personnel; and 10 new churches to enter a covenant relationship for support of mission personnel through the Advance.

A training session for committee leaders was held in Atlanta Jan. 21-23 and led by the Rev. John McCullogh and staff of the Mission Personnel Unit. The Rev. Margaret Kartwe, pastor of Zion United Methodist Church in Ocala, and Long attended this challenging and informational meeting, which emphasized new programs, such as Missioners of Hope and the Bishop W. T. Handy Jr. Young Adult Missioners.

Kartwe says the CCMP is an "eye-opener" for her, but that it can also be for the Florida Conference. "By this I mean that the CCMP has made me to see and feel personally the work of GBGM in a positive way," she said. "CCMP makes it possible for the conference to participate more directly with the Mission Personnel Services, instead of standing in a distance and only supplying financial assistance. We can fully see how even local churches can be benefited. We can be a part of this whole process, and it feels good."

Donna Ratzlaff of the United Methodist Cooperative Ministries in St. Petersburg says she supports the initiative not only from the perspective of being a committee member, but as a former short-term missionary to the Philippine Islands and a deaconess related to GBGM.

"In the past the process of becoming a United Methodist missionary was often a long and lonely journey," Ratzlaff said. "The creation of the new Conference Committee on Mission Personnel now makes it possible for ‘one called’ to this special role to have available, locally, mentoring, spiritual support and monitoring as one moves through the process, from initial application to appointment.

"The members of the conference committee also serve as an advocate for the missionary applicant in relationship to the General Board as a means of ensuring the best interest of the church and the applicant are kept in focus."

The CCMP will receive and process applications from mission candidates and projects. Interviews will be conducted within the conference, and recommendations will be made to GBGM’s Mission Personnel office for final approval. Forms are available from committee members or the conference’s Missions Ministry office.