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The Missouri Methodists March 2023

The Missouri Methodists March 2023

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Features

A New Place at the Table

February 21, 2023

A New Place at the Table

Harrisonville United Methodist Church is a great place to be – Rev. Kevin Shelton will be the first to tell you that. But he’ll also acknowledge that some people are reluctant to attend any church.  Downtown Harrisonville is also a great place to be. The historic Cass County Courthouse ...

Dinner Church from the Beginning

February 21, 2023

Dinner Church from the Beginning

Church was not always done the way we do it. There was a time when Christians gathered around tables, including strangers and the poor, ate together, and talked about Jesus. This form of the church mainly occurred during the first three hundred years of Christianity and was highly ...

Evelyn Ezell: Making History in Missouri

February 21, 2023

Evelyn Ezell: Making History in Missouri

Evelyn Ezell bridged the watershed date of 1956 when women gained full clergy rights. She began pastoral ministry when women only had partial clergy rights, which meant women could attend school, attain degrees, and be ordained as ministers, but the bishop was not required to appoint them....

Seeing Red on Sundays

February 21, 2023

Seeing Red on Sundays

If you’ve been attending a United Methodist Church in Missouri for the past four years, you’ll know there’s that one special Sunday when everyone wears red. No, not Pentecost. You only get the most devout on the ball on that Sunday with their liturgical calendars. It’s on the ball with the...

Staying United Methodist

February 21, 2023

Staying United Methodist

The United Methodist Church is not splitting, which would mean churches need to choose a side. Instead, some individual churches choose to disaffiliate under the provision of Paragraph 2553 in the Book of Discipline, which provides for a disaffiliation process if the church cannot remain ...

Taking Coffee to the Next Level

February 21, 2023

Taking Coffee to the Next Level

Peculiar UMC has an ample foyer outside its modern sanctuary, presenting an opportunity. The church could improve its coffee service from standard to premium. They had the right guy to head up the endeavor with Jeremiah Slater, who had been harboring an ambition to open his coffee shop. ...

News and Updates

Mary Rodgers-Weaver Named to be Next Southwest District Superintendent

February 20, 2023

Mary Rodgers-Weaver Named to be Next Southwest District Superintendent

Rev. Mary Rodgers-Weaver is a lifelong United Methodist who has a pattern of accepting encouragement from those close to her to take her ministry and service to the church to the next level. She has seen the church come together when it matters most and is looking forward to being able to ...

Laity Voices

Lent: A Closer Walk with God

February 21, 2023

Lent: A Closer Walk with God

“What is Lent?” This is a question I have often wondered about. I decided to do some research. The basis for Lent is the fasting for 40 days and nights that Jesus performed before beginning his earthly ministry. It appears that Lent began being observed sometime before 325 CE. In the early...

From Bishop Farr

The Jesus Plan

February 20, 2023

The Jesus Plan

It has always struck me how our culture of misinformation today is similar to the one Jesus encountered just before his trial and execution. Luke 23 says, “they began to accuse him.” The religious leaders of the time said Jesus was misleading people while they were misguiding people all ...

Wesley in the World Today

The Pursuit of Happiness

February 21, 2023

The Pursuit of Happiness

The January 16/23 issue of Time magazine had a series of articles on The Secrets of Happiness Experts. The same week my magazine arrived, I received an email from The Atlantic about their podcast series How to Build a Happy Life. One of the basic rights enumerated in the Declaration of ...

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