About

William D. Taylor, Global Ambassador and Senior Mentor

Editor, Connections: the Journal of the WEA Mission Commission

Mission Commission, World Evangelical Alliance

Bill Taylor, a “Third Culture Person”, was born in Costa Rica of missionary parents and lived 30 years in Latin America.  He went to the USA for his last year of high school, and returned to Latin America after too many years of college, seminary and graduate school (Moody Bible Institute—certificate; University of North Texas—B.A; Dallas Theological Seminary–Th.M.; University of Texas, Austin–Ph.D. in Latin American studies).   A former Texas staff member of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, he taught for 17 years at the Seminario Teológico Centroamericano (CAM Int.). He was on the faculty of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School for two years in its school of world mission.  He serves today as a visiting professor in seminaries and missionary training schools internationally.  He also has broad experience in church planting and pastoral ministry. He and Yvonne were married in 1967 and have three Third Culture adult children born in Guatemala.

From 1986-2006 he served as Executive Director of the Mission Commission of World Evangelical Alliance. He currently serves as Ambassador to both WEA and senior mentor to the Mission Commission.  He is publications coordinator for the MC and co-leader of the global missiology task force. WEA is a network of churches in 128 nations that have joined to serve and provide a worldwide identity, voice and platform to more than 420 million evangelical Christians.

He has authored and edited a number of publications, among them:  Co-author with Emilio Antonio Núñez, Crisis and Hope in Latin America, An Evangelical Perspective (revised edition), WCL, 1996. Too Valuable to Lose:  Exploring the Causes and Cures of Missionary Attrition, (Spanish and Portuguese editions) WCL, 1997, (Spanish, Portuguese, Korean editions). Global Missiology for the 21^st Century: The Iguassu Dialogue, Baker, 2000.  (Korean, Spanish Portuguese editions). Co-author with Sergio E. Mijangos of La Familia Autenticamente Cristiana, (revised edition) Portavóz, 2002.

Global Mission Handbook: A Guide to Cross-cultural Mission, (with Steve Hoke), Inter-Varsity Press, 2009. He edits the global missional roundtable magazine, “Connections: the Journal of the WEA Missions Commission”. http://www.weaconnections.com/

In South Africa, 2006, Bill modeled a healthy leadership transition after serving as the Executive Director of the WEA Mission Commission for 20 years and continues to serve as catalyst to help both emerged and emerging global leaders innovate in mission.

Bill’s wife, Yvonne, an Italian/Irish 4^th generation Texan from Dallas, has ministered together with Bill in cross-cultural mission since 1967.  With a degree in liberal arts/music from the University of North Texas, Yvonne is Bill’s full partner, serving him as a critical thinker and sounding board, editing his writings, and ministering with him locally and internationally.  A long-time student of Christian spirituality in the various historic streams of Christianity, God’s calling on Yvonne has for many years been to minister in the areas of spiritual formation, spiritual direction and intercession.  She and Bill are patrons of the arts and young artists, enjoy Irish dancing, all things Italian, reading, photography, and travel.  Most of all, she loves her role as a mother and grandmother and being able to serve/love/pray for them in every way possible.

Bill and Yvonne have three adult children and six grand children.  Their eldest, Christine, is married to Cliff, an Evangelical/Anglican pastor of Christ Church—Austin, and they are parents of four children; their son, David, an arts pastor, now doing a doctorate in theology and the arts at Duke, is married to Phaedra; their younger daughter, Stephanie, is married to Scranton Twohey and they have two children, living also in Austin.

April 2010