United
Methodist finance leader plans to
retire early
By United Methodist
News Service
Dec. 17, 2007 | NASHVILLE, Tenn.
(UMNS)
|
Sandra Lackore
announced Dec. 14 that she
will retire at the end of
this year. A UMNS file photo
by Mike DuBose. |
The
chief executive of the finance
agency for The United Methodist
Church will retire Dec. 31 instead
of next June as earlier planned.
Sandra K. Lackore, who is on leave
to care for her husband as he
battles leukemia, has headed the
General Council on Finance and
Administration since 1996.
"In the months that Cecil has been
ill, it has become abundantly clear
to me that I must give my full
attention to him," Lackore said in a
Dec. 14 statement to her staff. She
said her husband, the Rev. Cecil
Lackore, is responding to treatment,
and she thanked her staff for the
time and space to care for him.
A search committee for her successor
will begin its work early next year,
said Bishop Mary Ann Swenson,
president of the council.
In the meantime, said Swenson, the
Nashville-based agency will operate
under the leadership of its current
team structure including the Rev.
Terry Bradfield, deputy executive
for operations; John Goolsbey,
deputy executive for administration;
and Marsha Base, associate executive
for organizational development.
The council coordinates and
administers finances for the 13.5
million-member worldwide church and
also safeguards the legal interests
and rights of the denomination.
Lackore, 63, announced in September
she would retire next June 30 and
close out a tenure that includes
consolidating the agency from three
geographically separate offices to
one central location, establishing a
foundation to endow churchwide
ministries and establishing a
denominational insurance company.
She had planned to return to work in
January after taking a three-month
family leave.
"I deeply appreciate the dedicated
service Sandra has given to the
church," said Swenson. "She has led
GCFA for the past 12 years, but the
church has benefited from her
leadership for over 30 years."
Lackore was an administrator and
treasurer for the New England Annual
Conference (formerly Southern New
England) when the council's
governing board chose her as the
first woman to head the agency.
Swenson said the council will
celebrate Lackore's service when its
board meets next March in Nashville.
News media contact: Marta Aldrich,
Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or
newsdesk@umcom.org. |
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