On Wednesday, July 14, the president of World Relief announced his resignation, effective September 30, 2004. Dr. Clive Calver, best known for his efforts in helping local churches make a difference to relieve the worldwide humanitarian crises, has served as the group’s president for seven years.
Dr. Calver and his wife Ruth will continue serving the humanitarian arm of the National Association of Evangelicals until March 31, 2005. The World Relief’s board named Admiral Tim Ziemer – the current Executive Director of the organization – to serve as the Chief Executive Officer during the transitional period to new leadership.
According to World Relief, Dr. Calver “led a difficult restructuring of the organization and consolidation effort to a central office in Baltimore Md.,” during his presidency. The July 14 press release mentioned that Dr. Calver will be remembered for his “unwavering commitment that the mission of World Relief be accomplished through the local church” and it is “because of a growing desire to move toward a position in local church ministry that Dr. Calver resigned.”
“I have marveled at Clive’s giftedness to tell the story of God’s concern for the poor. I regard him as the best there is when it comes time to awaken the hearts of Christians to an often-forgotten part of the passion of Christ: to move in the direction of the weak, the poor, the suffering,” said Gordon MacDonald, the chair of World Relief’s Board of Directors. “World Relief will always regard Clive Calver as the man who led the organization to a place of respect and partnership with a growing number of American churches. We both believe that World Relief is heading into an exciting future.”
As the humanitarian arm of the 50-million member National Association of Evangelicals, World Relief has been creating sustainable solutions to help the poor and suffering for over 60 years. The World Relief programs that span across 20 countries and 26 U.S. cities include disaster relief, refugee assistance, AIDS ministries, community health, agricultural development and community banking.
