President-Elect Glenn C. Burris Jr. and the board of directors are pleased to announce that Dr. James (Jim) C. Scott Jr. has accepted the appointment as director of Foursquare Missions International (FMI). His term of service will begin November 1.
Jim has most recently served as the supervisor of the Northeast District of Foursquare Churches, a position he has held since May 2009. He will commute to Los Angeles from the Northeast for a season as he transitions into this role. He and his wife, Melinda, have been well known throughout The Foursquare Church for their involvement with and love for missions. Jim’s appointment follows the conclusion of Jonathan Hall’s leadership; Jonathan had served as FMI director since 2008.
Jim’s appointment was the culmination of a process that began with the board of directors, and was then shaped by a 19 member, board-approved selection committee, dubbed the Blue Ribbon Panel, that comprised pastors, missionaries, FMI staff, board members, supervisors and people involved in global leadership. Once the Blue Ribbon Panel finalized the candidates, the missions committee served as the interviewing body, and selected Jim’s name to be presented to the board of directors.
Jim has served The Foursquare Church as assistant general supervisor and vice president of regional operations; as advisor to Foursquare Church Multiplication; and as regional supervisor of the Southern California/Southwest region. In addition to those primary responsibilities, he was a member of the Foursquare board of directors and served on numerous Foursquare committees.
Jim and Melinda also served in the Southwest District as pastors and, later, as district supervisors; during the district multiplication process, they served as supervisors in the New England District. Together Jim and Melinda have demonstrated a wonderful love for people of all cultures and nationalities in their ministry around the world, serving as conference speakers, ministering on behalf of FMI, and working with leaders in the disciplines of church planting, church health and leadership development.
Jim is a 1975 graduate of California State University at Fresno (B.S. in criminology, minor sociology), a 1981 graduate of Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Calif. (M.A. in theology), and a 2008 graduate of Bakke Graduate University in Seattle, Wash. (D.Min. in church multiplication and leadership development). Jim’s doctoral dissertation is titled Aimee Semple McPherson and Spanish-Speaking Ministry in Los Angeles: Lessons for the 21st-Century Foursquare Church. The Foursquare Church, through Foursquare Media, has published an adaptation of the dissertation as a book in Spanish titled Aimee—La Gente Hispana Estaba en Su Corazon.
President-Elect Glenn Burris stated that he is delighted with Jim’s acceptance of this new role: “I have known Jim and Melinda for many years, and I worked closely with Jim during the time that we both served in executive roles at the central office. Jim’s education and experience more than qualify him to be FMI director—but it is his commitment to the Great Commission and his love for people of all cultures that will ensure his success in this office. I am excited about the future of FMI.”
Commenting on his appointment, Jim expressed his appreciation for the board’s support and confidence. He also noted that the U.S. Foursquare Church and the international Foursquare church “must discover or create opportunities to work together. We must inspire our Foursquare family with the miraculous stories and glorious testimonies of all God has done through the global Foursquare church. It will be then that our slogan ‘pray, give, go’ will become reflective of what intentionally we do together.”
The Fousquare family is invited to pray for Jim and Melinda as they transition to this new ministry position. In addition, pray for the board of directors and General Supervisor Tammy Dunahoo as they immediately begin the search for a new supervisor for the Northeast District. Further developments regarding the restructuring of FMI will be communicated as they unfold.
