By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector
Vickie Anderson
MOUNT JULIET — Vickie Lynn Anderson was unanimously elected executive director/treasurer of Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union Nov. 1.
Anderson currently is associate director/ministry specialist for missions growth and leadership development for Tennessee WMU. She has been on the staff for 20 years.
She was elected to the role by the Executive Board of Tennessee WMU from about 50 candidates. Candy Phillips, current executive director, will retire Dec. 31 after serving for 12 years. Formerly Phillips was president for four years.
Phyllis Cobb, chair of the search committee, said of the decision, “Vickie has great knowledge of and love for Woman’s Missionary Union, but most of all she has a heart for missions. I know that God has placed her in this position and with His leadership she will represent Tennessee WMU to the utmost, now and in the years to come.” Cobb is a member of Rock Springs Baptist Church, Greenbrier.
Bobby Turner, Tennessee WMU president of Knoxville, commented, “With Candy’s retirement coming at the end of this year, we feel blessed to find one of our own staff to step up to fill her shoes.
“Vickie has great leadership skills and a great passion for missions. We look forward to what God has in store for Tennessee Woman’s Missionary Union.”
Phillips noted, “Vickie will be an excellent director. She has experience, knowledge, and relationships across the state.
“God called her to missions and she has been faithful to that call. Tennessee WMU will be blessed to have her as director.”
Randy C. Davis, executive director, Tennessee Baptist Convention, said, “On behalf of our network of churches and the TBC ministry team, we congratulate Vickie and look forward to being strong Great Commission partners for years to come.”
Of her calling to the role, Anderson commented in writing that she was “humbled and honored” and “grateful for the chance Tennessee WMU took on me 21 years ago as a new seminary graduate, for the intentional development and many opportunities given to me during these past years, and now for the trust and confidence they have in me to lead us into the future.
“I am excited for the coming days as we work together to encourage and equip individuals to engage in missions learning and involvement that impacts lostness in Tennessee and around the world.”
Prior to coming to Tennessee WMU Anderson served as camp director for Florida WMU. She also directed camp for Tennessee WMU; was program assistant at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry of Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, while a student there; and was a substitute teacher, tutor, and secretary. Anderson is a member of First Baptist Church, Spring Hill, where she has been Mission Friends leader, Girls in Action leader, and WMU director.
Currently she is a volunteer for Christian Women’s Job Corps of Middle Tennessee. Anderson is single and her extended family lives in Lebanon.
A native of Tennessee, Anderson is a graduate of Tennessee Tech and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, Texas, from which she earned a master of arts in religious education degree.
In other business of the Executive Board, which met at the TBC Mission Mobilization Center in Mount Juliet, the new Tennessee WMU missionary house was dedicated (see story, “WMU Dedicates Missionary House”).
