Meet your NEW Global Missions Advocate!
After four years of serving as our Global Missions Advocate, Rev. Katie Hamlin is now focusing her time on planting a church in Maryland. (Learn more about Church of the Holy Comforter.) Thank you, Katie+, for all you have done to support global missions around the Diocese!
Alan MacDonald is stepping in as the DOMA Global Missions Advocate.
Advocates connect their congregations and their dioceses to opportunities to pray, partner, support, send or serve cross-culturally. The Global Missions Advocates facilitate global mission engagement through events, training, resources and collaboration, working closely with the New Wineskins Anglican Partners network.
Alan will continue to connect DOMA parishes with resources to encourage serving globally. Alan will also help connect ministries that are doing similar work or work in similar places. You will hear more as Alan steps into the role. And make note of the webpages Katie helped to create. Alan will work with DOMA staff to make updates and add resources. Stay tuned!
Meet Alan MacDonald
Alan has been involved in missions for almost 50 years. He joined Wycliffe Bible Translators in 1974 and has served in government relations and program administration in Mexico, Philippines and China. He also served as the director of international communications as well as vice president of public affairs. After eight years in Hong Kong, he returned to the U.S. to become the director of international relations in Washington, DC and served as the principal representative to the United Nations for ten years. His work has taken him to more than 80 countries.
In 2006 Alan joined the staff of Fairfax Community Church as the pastor of global engagement. In 2017 he returned to Wycliffe as the partnership facilitator for Eurasia. He retired from Wycliffe in 2020.
Alan and his wife Doris joined Truro Anglican Church in 2019. At the invitation of Mary Hayes, who was the priest in charge at the time, Alan provided leadership for Truro’s missions and outreach programs for three years. In 2022 Alan facilitated the creation of the Anglican Church Missions and Outreach Leaders Roundtable to provide a place of connection and encouragement from churches around Northern Virginia.
Alan currently serves as vice chair of the New Wineskins Partners Network and as the Global Missions Advocate for DOMA.
Alan received his B.A. from Houghton College in History and Political Science. He earned an M.A. from the University of Southern California School of Journalism. He also has done graduate studies in ethnology at the University of Oklahoma and completed the Yale-in-Asia Program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong to gain proficiency in spoken and written Chinese. He served as an adjunct professor of Intercultural Studies at Houghton University in New York as well as an adjunct professor in international relief and development for Nyack University’s Washington Program.
Alan is married to Doris who led worship for 10 years at what was Church of the Word (now St. Thomas) in Gainesville. It was Doris who introduced Alan to the Anglican Church.