NEW YORK, May 31
---- When the Rev. Dr. Rodney Page took the helm of Church World Service and Witness
(CWSW) in 1996, the income was $42 million. As
he retires, CWSW income has swelled to over $62 million, thanks to his work broadening the
streams of income to include government funds as well as to fundraise with foundations,
major gifts and planned giving campaigns.
Of this record,
Dr. Page has a sense of accomplishment, but he is more proud of the human side of his
work, from hiring “talented, committed, creative people,” to encouraging a more
collegial style of working, to visiting CWS projects all over the world in order to
demonstrate “care for our common ministry.”
The connections Dr. Page has forged both
internally and externally are ones he hopes will be a “lasting legacy.”
“He came in during a difficult period
in the life of the Council and of CWS,” said David Weaver, Director of the Middle
East Office. “He managed to effect
powerful transformations in the way CWS envisions and does its work, as well as increasing
the revenue streams.”
“What struck me about Rodney Page from
the first was his energy and vision,” said Ronda Hughes, CWS Director of Program
Information and Resource Creation. “Rodney’s
leadership and discernment have seen Church World Service through some important
milestones.”
The transformations to which his colleagues
allude include a strategic plan process which has led to a plan calling for the complete
reorganization of CWS. Dr. Page describes
the new organization as one which moves from “semiautonomous units” to a more
“dynamic, collegial way of working.”
Working collaboratively has served the
council well in crises such as the war in Kosovo. “Our
meetings to share information, ideas and resources stood us in good stead to respond
there,” Dr. Page said.
Dr. Page is also satisfied that before he
leaves, a new relationship between Church World Service and the National Council of
Churches has been envisioned. “This new
structure will enhance and enrich both organizations to fulfill their missions in a much
better way,” he said.
Yet all of these accomplishments are only
important to Dr. Page, a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) minister, because they
demonstrate a commitment “not only to the distribution of food, aid and development,”
but to “the ministry of Jesus Christ.” He
reflects, “there are two kinds of time, regular time and kairos time, and the real
accomplishments only take place because of kairos, the fullness of time.”
He recalls a
visit to the Burma/Thai border, where CWS is feeding and aiding refugees, and listening to
the story of a refugee who had been an indentured soldier in the Myanmar army while aid
workers were building the rudiments of a hospital out of bamboo. “On every bed in that hospital was a blanket
from CWS,” Dr. Page said. He remembers
with sadness visiting a children’s hospital in Baghdad, Iraq and seeing a baby die
before his eyes because the doctors didn’t have basic medicine they needed to help
because of the embargo.
In all these
places, Dr. Page explains, CWS is present for the long haul and works with local partners
to encourage empowerment of local people. “Our
work, through partners, builds up the church while also going to people of all kinds of
faiths,” Dr. Page said. “The work
we do, as well as the relationships, are mandated by scripture.”
In his
retirement, Dr. Page will be living in Austin, Texas and Portland, Oregon. He has taken courses to become a certified
mediator and hopes to do some mediation work.
-end-
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