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July 2019

July 2019

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Features

Elections Go Down in Record Time

July 05, 2019

Elections Go Down in Record Time

By Fred Koenig and Susan Sneed It may be a first for Missouri Annual Conference delegation elections: The entire General Conference clergy delegation was elected on one ballot.  In one hour and 15 minutes the Missouri clergy elected its delegates to the 2020 General and Jurisdictional ...

Finding Passion for New Place

July 05, 2019

Finding Passion for New Place

By Ken Rosenauer   “You bloom where you are planted.”    That was among the points that the Rev. Joseph Daniels Jr. used to capture the attention of the body during his learning keynote on Friday afternoon. He recalled one of the things his father told him: “Treat this church like it’s ...

Getting a Jump on Conference

July 05, 2019

  When the Missouri Conference Sessions team decided to slim annual conference down to the three-day schedule, they knew it would be challenging to hold onto that schedule in an election year. To address that, they got an early start on the Annual Conference session even though ...

Healing in Uncertain Times

July 05, 2019

Healing in Uncertain Times

By Ken Rosenauer John Wesley considered Communion “the grand channel whereby the grace of his Spirit was conveyed to the souls of all the children of God.” Along those lines, it follows that the 2019 Annual Conference opened with Communion. Bishop Bob Farr considered it “a healing ...

Leaders of the Future Must Adapt

July 05, 2019

Leaders of the Future Must Adapt

By Pam Ekey If the church is to survive in the future, its leadership must change, says Tod Bolsinger, Ph.D., who is the chief of leadership formation at Fuller Theological Seminary. Unfortunately, most seminaries do not prepare pastors for the challenges of adaptive leadership; those ...

The Back Story

July 05, 2019

The Back Story

By Fred Koenig You don’t even have to be United Methodist to be familiar with the debate about how the denomination relates to, regulates, or restricts churches and clergy regarding same-sex marriage and homosexual clergy. What is missing from most of those discussions, though, is the ...

News and Updates

A Time of Remembrance

July 05, 2019

A Time of Remembrance

By Fred Koenig A christ candle was lit during the Memorial Service on Saturday morning of annual conference to represent the light of hope that shines on from generation to generation. Those in attendance were invited to remember the people and communities whose lives sang with love as ...

Apportionment Payout Sets Record

July 05, 2019

Apportionment Payout Sets Record

By Pam Ekey The Missouri Conference set a record for apportionment giving last year with 89.32 percent of apportionments paid. That is important because 72 percent of all apportionments paid stay in Missouri. A total of 602 churches paid 100 percent of their apportionments last year, with...

Discovering and Defining Steps

July 05, 2019

Discovering and Defining Steps

By Pam Ekey The Missouri Conference ordained 10 new elders, commissioned one provisional deacon and eight provisional elders, and recognized two new associate members in a special worship service Sunday morning.     Rev. Steve Breon, chair of the Board of Ordained Ministry, said the work...

Giving at Conference

July 05, 2019

$13,365 for Pathway Out of Poverty This offering was given during the opening worship service on Friday. Empowering the next generation for a different tomorrow is one of the Conference’s priorities. The Pathway Out of Poverty initiative dreams of supporting children in Missouri with ...

Holding Fast To Our Purpose

July 05, 2019

Holding Fast To Our Purpose

By Fred Koenig In a year of turbulence, Bishop Bob Farr reminded people in his address of the steadfast purpose of the United Methodist Church that binds the churches in Missouri together.  This is the 200th year of Methodist conferencing in Missouri and the 17th year of conferencing ...

Love of Christ and Love of Church Adds Up a Millennium of Service

July 05, 2019

Love of Christ and Love of Church Adds Up a Millennium of Service

By Susan Sneed   It takes a lot of love to follow a call to vocational ministry and build a life around being in service to God’s church. Throughout the retirement service a series love stories videos played with retirees telling their ministry love stories. They shared about the people ...

Multiplying With A New Place

July 05, 2019

Multiplying With A New Place

By Ken Rosenauer “We’ve changed the entire narrative of congregational excellence,” Rev. Roger Ross said.    As director of the Center for Congregational Excellence for the past year, Ross has made new places for new people his key focus. He reminded the body that a year ago he told the ...

New Is Easier Than Change

July 05, 2019

New Is Easier Than Change

By Fred Koenig Energy needed to create something new is less than energy needed to create change. Campus pastor Mitch Buhman credits Rev. Spencer Smith with that statement. They both agreed it was a motivating factor of why First UMC in Kearney launched a new site. The two were conducting...

Opening Business

July 05, 2019

Opening Business

By Susan Sneed Bishop Robert Farr formally opened the 2019 Missouri Annual Conference with the traditional singing of “And Are We Yet Alive.” It is a Charles Wesley hymn that has been sung at an annual conference gatherings since the early days of the Methodist movement.  Rev. Monica ...

Recovery Progressing in Puerto Rico

July 05, 2019

Recovery Progressing in Puerto Rico

By Pam Ekey One year into a partnership with the Iglesia Metodista de Puerto Rico, the Missouri Annual Conference has made considerable progress in helping with the recovery effort from Hurricane Maria. Rev. Lucas Endicott, Senior Mission Strategist, reported the Conference has nearly met...

Resolution for Inclusive Ministry Passes

July 05, 2019

By Susan Sneed Rev. Tina Harris, director of Mission, Service and Justice Ministry introduced the resolution and invited the author, Rev. Dr. Kyle Butler to formally present it to the Conference.  Resolution 1 will provide $30,000 to congregations desiring to create ministries ...

Service Recognizes Local Pastors

July 05, 2019

Service Recognizes Local Pastors

By Susan Sneed There are many types of pastors in United Methodism. The process of being commissioned and then later ordained into full connection as an elder or deacon is one of the highlights of annual conference. But other types of ministers are serving in increasingly numerous and ...

Shared Streets in St. Louis

July 05, 2019

By Susan Sneed Missional Communities are described as communities meeting outside the walls of the church without an intention of those persons ever being a formal part of the church. It is being Christ in the community, not bringing or programming Christ in the community.    Much of the ...

UMW 13th Annual Mission Walk

July 05, 2019

UMW 13th Annual Mission Walk

Each year during Annual Conference Session the United Methodist Women get up early for a neighborhood stroll. Mission Walk t-shirts were sold at the UMW Booth at Annual Conference Session for $20. The shirts were paid for out of the UMW budget so all the proceeds from the sale go directly ...

Thompson Lifts Up Laity Successes

July 04, 2019

Thompson Lifts Up Laity Successes

By Ken Rosenauer Conference Lay Leader Amy Thompson put meat on the bones of the 2019 conference goals as she ticked off one set of numbers after another. Most Missouri United Methodists are quite familiar with those three goals, which have been highlighted throughout the past year: new ...

Letters from the Editor

Connecting at Conference

July 05, 2019

Fred Koenig
By Fred Koenig If you were a lay member who attended annual conference this year, I have a favor to ask you: Don’t come back next year.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved our time together. It’s just time for us to start seeing other people. If it were up to me, I’d have you come back and bring...

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