News
July 25, 2019
Parting Shot
By Eric Mattson We lose our spiritual power if we cease to focus on the right thing. In contemplative photography, photo walks seek to see with fresh eyes and receive what God desires for you to see. Ending this walk, I...
July 25, 2019
Restored: 1901 craftsmanship reigns supreme
By Fred Koenig When you see the object of Rev. Jim West’s affection, you may assume it’s her beauty that drew him to her. You would be wrong – it’s what she has inside that means the most to him. “She plays better ...
July 25, 2019
Sidney Owens Named to New Position
By Fred Koenig Sidney Owens has a drive to help communities have healthier lives, which led her first to a dual-degree in health science and communications and then to a Masters of Science in Public Health from the ...
July 25, 2019
Strategies for Discerning God’s Will for Your Church
“Discernment is the capacity to recognize the presence and activity of God. Paul says that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can discern what the will of God is, that which is good, acceptable, ...
July 25, 2019
The Breath of Our Spiritual Life
Prayer is our road home to a God who loves us, and the way in which, through trials as well as the good things in life, we can continually rejoice in the Lord.
July 25, 2019
The Hedgehog Concept
By Matt Miofsky Perhaps the number one question I get from church leaders is this: “How do you explain the growth of The Gathering?” My answer usually begins with this: Any rapidly-growing church, ours included, is ...
July 25, 2019
Turning the Church Inside Out
By Fred Koenig On an appropriately hot first day of July, Beloved Community UMC buzzed. As various groups headed this way and that, Rev. Kevin Kosh walked around beaming. The church was being turned inside out, and that...
July 05, 2019
GC2020 Petitions Submissions Process Opens
United Methodists can now submit petitions for consideration by the 2020 General Conference to the petitions secretary. The deadline for submissions is September 18. Detailed instructions for submitting a petition are ...
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 ...
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...
July 05, 2019
Connecting at Conference
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 ...
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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
July 05, 2019
Getting a Jump on Conference
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 ...
July 05, 2019
Giving at Conference
$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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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...
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 ...
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 ...
July 05, 2019
Resolution for Inclusive Ministry Passes
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 ...
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...
July 05, 2019
Shared Streets in St. Louis
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
June 28, 2019
Missouri Conference Announces Staffing Change with Focus on Rural Poverty
The Office of Mission, Service and Justice has named Sidney Owens as Community Engagement Specialist. In this full-time role, Owens will serve as the primary Conference contact for local churches in the development of ...
June 27, 2019
Sunday of Solidarity for Suffering Children and What You Can Do To End Child Detention
What You Can Do To End Child Detention Firsthand report of ‘inhumane conditions’ at a migrant children’s detention facility in Texas has stirred people of faith to respond. If you’re wondering what you or your local ...
June 20, 2019
2019 Annual Conference Recordings Now Available
2019 Annual Conference session recordings are now available! These resources are free for you to use in your local church. Visit www.vimeo.com/channels/moac19 to view and download videos of the following: Opening ...
June 15, 2019
After the Cyclone, Faith Abides
Story by Kathy L. Gilbert, Photos by Mike DuBose With winds up to 125 miles per hour, the cyclone ripped tin roofs off houses and hurtled them like deadly missiles that killed and maimed. Otherwise placid rivers jumped...
June 15, 2019
Better Data, Better Services: C2FM Surveys Pastors
Take the survey will be the drumbeat over the next few weeks, including at the Annual Conference, from the Clergy and Church Financial Ministry (C2FM). Chris Bouchard, C2FM Director, hopes to get at least 80 percent of ...
June 15, 2019
Choosing Songs for the Right Reason
By Ryan McClouth Are you choosing music that’s right for your congregation? This is a question we should all be considering as church leaders. Are we choosing music for the right reasons? Sometimes we tend to make ...
June 15, 2019
Denomination Lay Leaders Meet
By Brian Hammons, SCJ Jurisdiction Lay Leader Conference lay leaders from United Methodist annual conferences all over the U.S. (and one from Africa) met in April for their annual meeting. This group truly represents ...
June 15, 2019
Finding Resiliency
Sarah Ciavarri, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America pastor, preached her first sermon after seminary 10 days after the terrorism attack on the United States on September 11. Her sermon was on resiliency. Resiliency ...
June 15, 2019
Having a Prayer
If I’m going to be gathering with a group of people with divergent opinions, I’m going to be all for everyone praying to be led by the Holy Spirit. This is tricky on my part. It’s almost like I’m cheating. You see, I ...
June 15, 2019
I'm Doing a New Thing: Can You Perceive It?
Two thoughts have encouraged my spirits as we go through some very uncertain times in our church and in our world. The first is a prayer shared in cabinet this winter titled, “Slow Work of God” by Pierre Teilhard De ...
June 15, 2019
Laity Leadership: Grounded In Solid Faith That Includes Making Space For Discernment
By Amy Thompson In our society today we see many images of leaders. Amid all these images, it can be hard to determine who might be a good leader and worth following. In thinking about leaders and what makes them good, ...
June 15, 2019
Parting Shot
By Eric Mattson Presence is vital to both our relationship with God and with people. Presence requires an inner knowledge of what’s going on within us as well as an awareness and alertness to who and what is around us. ...
June 15, 2019
Pastors on the Move: Many Pastors on their Way to New Appointments in 2019
For pastors on the move, the 2019 appointive season has been a year of opportunity for Missouri Conference clergy. There are 64 full-time clergy that will be reporting to new churches this year. Appointments changes ...
June 15, 2019
Seminary 2019
Saint Paul School of Theology is alive and well and very different from the seminary many Missouri Conference clergy remember. With campuses at Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, and at Oklahoma State ...
June 15, 2019
Take Care In What You Pack
Every spring the Missouri Conference offers Right Start to help pastors who are changing churches make a successful exchange of the baton in the “change-over zone.” The seminar provides nuts and bolts information ...
June 15, 2019
The Enneagram at Soul Connections
This year the Missouri Conference’s Soul Connections retreat embraced a tool that many people have used for growth for decades: the Enneagram. The Enneagram is a personality system that combines both psychology and ...
June 15, 2019
The Holy Spirit to All
By Hal Knight Pentecost Sunday — which the Wesleys would also know as “Whitsunday” — is celebrated as the time of the coming of the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the church. Both are important, as long as it is ...
June 15, 2019
The Island Near the Island
Standing on the western shore of Haiti and looking out to sea, the large land mass looks relatively close. It is the island of La Gonave, farther away than it appears because it’s high country rises 2,500 above sea ...
June 15, 2019
UMC Next
On March 27 and April 4, 2019, leaders interested in a fully inclusive church from across The United Methodist Church gathered in Dallas, Texas and in Atlanta, Georgia. Facilitated by Gil Rendle and Bishop Janice Huie, ...
June 15, 2019
What's Next?
Missourians know Dr. Lovett Weems as a previous president of Saint Paul School of Theology, an author of many books relating to United Methodism and the current director of the Lewis Center of Church Leadership. ...