The Anglican mission agency CMS – the Church Mission Society – has appointed commercial strategist and consultant Alastair Bateman as its new Chief Executive Officer. When he begins his new position in May, Mr Bateman will succeed Philip Mounstephen, the former Executive Leader of CMS, who stood down last year having been selected as Bishop of Truro. Mr Bateman is currently Chief Operating Officer of Christian social transformation charity the Resurgo Trust.
CMS described their new CEO as “a gifted strategist” and said he brings “a unique and proven ability for balancing strategic planning with exploration and pioneering.”
In a statement, CMS said: “throughout his career both in the charity sector and consulting with blue chip companies, he has honed his ability to quickly grasp the big picture and understand key challenges. At CMS he sees developing an environment for healthy growth as one of his key focuses and says his previous roles in Christian charities, where he has repeatedly seen the power of prayer, have prepared him for this challenge.”
Prior to his appointment at Resurgo Trust, Mr Bateman was director of marketing strategy at the evangelical relief and development agency Tearfund. Before that he spent more than a decade consulting with companies including GlaxoSmithKline, Vodafone and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals.
“I’ve known of CMS for a long time, both through the work of individual mission partners and through the significant part CMS as a whole has played in the history of the last two centuries”, Mr Bateman said. “This CEO role seems like the perfect fit and it will be a privilege to continue to work in a context where prayer and worship are integrated with organisational life.
“Mission is as urgent and as relevant as it has always been. The needs of the world are enormous, expressed in broken relationships everywhere. These issues are too great to solve without God, which is why prayer is central. I value building relationships for life and look forward to doing this more at CMS.”
The Chair of CMS’ trustees, Charles Clayton, said: “Alastair’s experience in the business sector and international Christian organisations, his leadership and strategic development abilities and his passion for mission will all be key to CMS at this time – as the world of mission is changing and we must keep a clear focus for the future.”