The Mission Society

The Mission Society, commonly identified as TMS Global, is an interdenominational Christian mission organization based in Norcross, Georgia. Its work centers on recruiting, training, sending, and supporting cross-cultural workers who serve communities outside their home cultures. The organization emerged from a United Methodist context but developed an explicitly interdenominational identity, allowing people from a range of denominational backgrounds to participate in its missionary programs. The organization was incorporated on January 6, 1984, as The Mission Society for United Methodists. It was established as a supplemental mission-sending agency alongside the United Methodist Church's General Board of Global Ministries. H. T. Maclin, who had spent two decades serving with the General Board of Global Ministries in Congo and Kenya, left that organization in 1983 to establish the new agency with other United Methodists. Ellsworth Kalas and David Seamands are also identified among the founders. A significant institutional turning point came in 2006, when the board of directors approved the name The Mission Society. The change was intended to communicate that the organization was no longer limited to United Methodist participants and had become interdenominational in scope. The TMS Global identity is also used in reference material describing the organization and its international mission activity. TMS Global's operating model relies principally on individual and church support rather than denominational funding. Missionaries are expected to raise their own financial support, while the organization provides recruitment, preparation, administrative support, and ongoing partnership. Its activities extend beyond sending individual workers: the church culture department trains congregations in the United States and abroad to develop and conduct mission work. The organization has also communicated its work through a quarterly publication. The magazine was initially called Heartbeat and received a new design and the title Unfinished in 2006. Unfinished received an Award of Merit from the Evangelical Press Association in 2008 for its 2007 work. TMS Global is listed as a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, an accreditation body for Christian ministries. Reference material describes TMS Global as supporting more than 200 missionaries across several dozen countries, with one description specifying more than 225 missionaries in 32 nations and another specifying more than 200 missionaries in 34 countries. Because these figures are presented without a common date and differ from one another, they should be treated as period-specific rather than as a single definitive current statistic. The organization's enduring role is that of a Wesleyan-influenced, interdenominational mission-sending and church-training body with an international field presence.

TMS Global traces its institutional origin to the early 1980s, when H. T. Maclin and other United Methodists sought to establish a mission-sending agency that could supplement the work of the United Methodist Church's General Board of Global Ministries. Maclin had previously spent approximately twenty years with that board, serving in Congo and Kenya. He resigned from the board in 1983 and worked with other United Methodist leaders to form the new organization, which was incorporated on January 6, 1984, as The Mission Society for United Methodists. The original organization occupied a position adjacent to, rather than inside, the United Methodist denominational mission structure. It recruited and prepared workers for cross-cultural service while drawing financial support from individuals and churches. This model gave the agency an independent funding base and required its missionaries to raise their own support. Over time, the organization expanded beyond its initial denominational constituency. Its theology is described as Wesleyan, but its participants and supported missionaries have come from multiple denominational backgrounds. In 2006, the board of directors approved a name change to The Mission Society. The change marked the organization's interdenominational direction and was intended to avoid presenting it as an agency exclusively for United Methodists. The organization is also referred to as TMS Global, a name associated with its broader international mission identity. Its work has included more than the placement of individual missionaries. TMS Global has recruited, trained, and supported cross-cultural workers, while its church culture department has trained congregations in the United States and other countries to engage in mission activity. This combination of individual-worker support and congregational development has been central to its operating model. The organization has used publishing to explain its programs and report on mission activity. Its quarterly magazine was originally titled Heartbeat. Following a design change in 2006, it was renamed Unfinished. The publication later received an Award of Merit from the Evangelical Press Association on May 9, 2008, for work associated with its 2007 issue or publication program. TMS Global is identified as a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. Reference descriptions characterize the organization as supporting more than 200 missionaries in several dozen countries. The supplied material gives two different snapshots: one reports more than 225 missionaries in 32 nations, while another reports more than 200 missionaries in 34 countries. The difference likely reflects separate reporting periods, but no dates are supplied to establish that conclusively. Accordingly, the organization is best described generally as an active international mission agency supporting a substantial network of cross-cultural workers.

• 2008

  Unfinished receives publishing award

  [1]TMS Globalen.wikipedia.org

  Unfinished received an Award of Merit from the Evangelical Press Association on May 9, 2008, for work connected with its 2007 publication.

• 2006

  Name changed to The Mission Society

  [1]TMS Globalen.wikipedia.org

  The board approved a new name to reflect the organization's expanding interdenominational identity.

• 2006

  Heartbeat publication renamed Unfinished

  [1]TMS Globalen.wikipedia.org

  The organization's quarterly magazine underwent a design change and adopted the title Unfinished.

• 1984

  Organization incorporated

  [1]TMS Globalen.wikipedia.org

  The Mission Society for United Methodists was incorporated on January 6, establishing the organization as a supplemental mission-sending agency.

• 1983

  Founding effort begins

  [1]TMS Globalen.wikipedia.org

  H. T. Maclin resigned from the United Methodist Church's General Board of Global Ministries after prior service in Congo and Kenya and began organizing a new mission-sending agency with other United Methodists.

An interdenominational, Wesleyan-influenced Christian mission organization that equips churches and individuals for cross-cultural service, with a support model based primarily on individual and congregational giving rather than denominational funding.

• Missionary placement and support · 1984

  Cross-cultural missionary service

  TMS Global recruits, prepares, sends, and supports Christian workers serving outside their home cultures. The service encompasses relationships with sending churches and donors, missionary support structures, and ongoing organizational coordination in international settings. Missionaries are responsible for raising their own financial support, while the organization provides the mission-sending framework.

• Training and preparation · 1984

  Missionary training

  The organization prepares prospective cross-cultural workers for international service. The supplied reference identifies recruitment and training as core activities, although it does not provide a detailed curriculum, certification structure, or list of training locations.

• Congregational mission development

  Church Culture

  TMS Global's church culture department trains congregations in the United States and abroad to conduct mission work. This offering extends the organization's role from supporting individual missionaries to helping churches develop practical structures and habits for participation in cross-cultural ministry.

• Mission publication · 2006

  Unfinished

  Unfinished is the organization's quarterly magazine about its mission work around the world. It followed the earlier publication title Heartbeat after a redesign and renaming in 2006. The magazine received an Award of Merit from the Evangelical Press Association in 2008 for work associated with 2007.

• 2006

  Adopted the name The Mission SocietyStrategy

  Background

  The organization had originated as The Mission Society for United Methodists but had developed an interdenominational constituency and operating scope.

  Action taken

  The board of directors voted to change the organization's name to The Mission Society.

  Aftermath

  The new name was intended to communicate that the organization served people from multiple denominational backgrounds rather than United Methodists alone.

  Source

• 2006

  Redesigned and renamed its quarterly magazineOther

  Background

  The organization's publication had previously been known as Heartbeat.

  Action taken

  The publication was redesigned and renamed Unfinished.

  Aftermath

  Unfinished continued as a quarterly magazine reporting on the organization's international mission activity and later received an Evangelical Press Association Award of Merit for work associated with 2007.

  Source

1. 1TMS Globalen.wikipedia.org