Baum retires after 24 years of service to Mission Network

ELKHART, Ind. (Mennonite Mission Network) — Early in Richard Baum’s tenure as a board member for Mennonite Board of Missions, a predecessor agency to Mennonite Mission Network, he noticed that while the board had promised pensions to returning mission workers, the funding for the account was inadequate.

For Baum, leading the board in creating a plan to assure the pensions would be paid out was his most important contribution to the board and the mission workers who were counting on the funds for their retirement.

“We had people working overseas in long term commitments and living on, what I would call, a subsistence basis, so I felt an obligation to make sure that when they came home their pensions would be there,” he said.

Baum retired from the Mennonite Mission Network board of directors in July of 2011 after completing 24 years of service.  He was recognized during the worship service on Sunday, Oct. 16, at his church, Deep Run East Mennonite Church, in Perkasie, Pa.

His involvement with mission began in 1961 when he and Jeanette, his wife, led the Mennonite Voluntary Service unit in Glenwood Springs, Colo. After two years there, they moved back to eastern Pennsylvania, where Richard earned his degree in accounting. He founded his own accounting firm in 1973, Baum, Smith & Clemens, LLP, located in Lansdale, Pa.

Baum said the highlight over the years was meeting mission workers and visiting many of them in their assignments overseas. He took two trips with Stanley Green, executive director of Mission Network—one to Southeast Asia, and another to Africa.

“Visiting the mission workers just increases your appreciation of mission tenfold,” Baum said. “To actually visit the missionaries in the field and see what they’re able to accomplish with the scarce resources we had was very admirable in my opinion.”

In a letter read to the Deep Run East congregation, Green spoke highly of Baum’s service, citing the significant time commitment Baum has invested in his 24 years of service to the mission agencies. He highlighted Baum’s leadership in assuring that the organization was on sound financial footing.

“In Dick’s role on the Board, he helped give strategic leadership to the development of a range of creative programs that have served the purpose of bringing God’s healing and hope to many in North America and around the world,” Green wrote in the letter. “As we developed and managed these programs, Dick displayed an exceptional commitment to ground that growth in solid fiscal responsibility.”

Baum says the way the church supports mission efforts overseas has changed significantly since he first stepped onto the board. Originally, the church funded individual missionaries. Now, he said, Mission Network works to spread the gospel mostly through partnerships with churches and individuals around the world.

“I think the MMN board does a fantastic job with their limited resources,” he said. “I have a very fond feeling for what goes on. I’m not on the board any longer but my commitment and interest is still there.”

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Mennonite Mission Network, the mission agency of Mennonite Church USA, leads, mobilizes and equips the church to participate in holistic witness to Jesus Christ in a broken world. Media may contact Andrew Clouse at andrewc@mmnworld.net, 574-523-3024 or 866-866-2872, ext. 23024.