Celebrating a superhero: 26 years of service with BMS

Discovering a prestigious medal, travelling the world and a deepening faith. These are just a few of the highlights that Mike Quantick, our Corporate Services Manager, has from his 26-year career. He reflects on his incredible experience working for BMS World Mission.

To the outside world, Mike Quantick may seem to be an ordinary man, but within the walls of BMS World Mission, he is a superhero.

No, he doesn’t strut around the office in a cape. Rather, in a humble manner with an evident dedication to his work and a cheerful smile. Invaluable is a word that comes to mind when people in the office think of the man who has worked for BMS for 26 years.

Mike began work at BMS in 1989 as an administration secretary and he remembers what initially appealed to him about the position.

“For half of my working life I had worked in local government in a secular environment,” says Mike. “The opportunity to work at BMS was the chance to work in a faith-based organisation that was doing work that reflected my faith and beliefs.”



Over time, Mike’s job evolved into the Corporate Services Manager and you might understand why we see him as a superhero when you read his long list of responsibilities. Supervision in the Finance and Corporate Services Department, staffing recruitment, managing BMS properties and oversight of the BMS archives are just a few of his many important tasks he has had at BMS.

A significant part of Mike’s work has been organising events. One of the most important roles that he has held for most of his career at BMS was being the Assembly Administrator for the Baptist Assembly.

A particularly memorable experience for Mike was when he had a part in helping with the logistics of the Baptist World Alliance Congress, which was held in Birmingham in 2005. It was a hugely successful event with over 13,000 people in attendance and it gave Mike the chance to travel to some other countries as part of the preparations for the event.
 
Although travelling has never been the main part of Mike’s job, he has always enjoyed getting the opportunity to visit new places with BMS.



“It’s been incredible to have the opportunity to see what BMS mission personnel are doing around the world,” says Mike. “It’s how I initially was introduced to the work that was being done in El Salvador.”

Ever since the time Mike had a chance to visit El Salvador with BMS, he has had a heart for the country. He has been involved in a number of mission trips there through his church. Eventually it led Mike to take a team from his church over to El Salvador to run a children’s holiday club in a small community that had been affected by an earthquake in 2001. To this day, the church in El Salvador continues to run this Christian holiday club.  

Besides discovering a love for travelling, Mike also had a few other surprises in his time at BMS. One of these surprises was when he happened to discover a prestigious medal in the BMS safe. He found BMS had the Medal of the Order of the Lion of Africa – a medal presented to Rev George Grenfell by King Leopold II of Belgium in 1891 for his work he had done in the Congo with BMS in the 1880s.  

“That was an interesting find,” says Mike. “We’re still very lucky to have it in our possession at the BMS archives.”



As Mike is about to retire he has mixed feelings – he knows he will miss the work and staff at BMS, but he also knows it is the right time for change in his life. Yet there is one thing that he’s certain about.

“BMS was nothing like I imagined it would be,” says Mike. “It most certainly has had a positive impact on my faith.”  

Although Mike will hang up his superhero cape at BMS, it doesn’t mean that he’s done doing great work in the world. He has plans to continue helping BMS on a part-time basis, will be a project manager as part of a venture with the Revd Dr David Coffey in 2017 and plans to go to El Salvador again sometime within the next year. But, just in case you’re worried, Mike also has plans to relax and enjoy life a bit more too – he’ll be taking advantage of his chance to see a few more movies in his spare time (action films are his favourite, in case you’re wondering!).

Simply put, Mike will be deeply missed by BMS.

“We are so grateful for Mike’s unique contribution to BMS,” says David Kerrigan, General Director of BMS World Mission. “From property management to the pastoral care of some of our retired mission workers and staff – it’s been an amazing mix and he’s handled it so well. We wish him every blessing in the future. From all of us at BMS, thank you Mike.”

Please pray for Mike. Give thanks to God for his commitment to serve God and others through his work at BMS. Pray that Mike’s time of retirement can be a time of refreshment and renewed joy in his life.

16/06/2016

This article first appeared on the website of BMS World Mission and is used with permission.