The United Methodist Church is a global denomination that opens hearts, opens minds and opens doors through active engagement with our world. The Mission of The United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
John Wesley and the early Methodists place primary emphasis on Christian living, on putting faith and love into action. This emphasis on what Wesley referred to as “practical divinity” has continued to be a hallmark of the United Methodism today.
The United Methodist Church is a church organized around connection. Local churches and clergy are connected to each other in relationship and ministry through the work of conferences. Conferences are regional areas with boundaries that are served by a bishop. United Methodists believe and practice that we are better together. Within the conference, local churches and clergy are connected and resourced for the work of ministry in their context. The boundary of the Missouri Conference is the state of Missouri. We are made up of nearly 700 local churches of various sizes in almost every county in the state. Ministry contexts vary from rural to urban.
The mission of the Missouri Conference is to relentlessly lead our churches to become outwardly focused and spiritually centered Christ followers. We desire to be a brave, empowering place for people from diverse cultures and generations so that we can become a Church for all God’s people. We seek to do this by equipping Conference leaders and local churches for multicultural leadership, cross-cultural connection and healing justice. The Missouri Conference has six expectations of all clergy and lay members: Christ-centeredness, accountability, collaboration, excellence, diversity and fruitfulness. These values are central to our pursuit of Unity in Christ through Diversity in the Kingdom.