News

Fayette, Mo. – At its quarterly meeting this past week (Oct. 17-18), the governing Board of Trustees of Central Methodist University expressed its unanimous support for new youth ministry initiatives fostered by the ...

Start with a destination in mind. Yogi Berra knew it, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up someplace else!” If you don’t know where your spiritual life is going, where might you wind up? The first ...

In the conversation regarding faith development in children and youth, several important facts bubble to the surface: Deuteronomy 6:6-7 reminds us that discipleship is a parental responsibility Parents have 3,000 hours ...

Camping and Retreat Ministries FAQ One: Camping in 2015 This is the first in a series of three FAQs aimed at answering questions regarding the direction of Camping and Retreat Ministries in the Missouri Conference. This...

The recent shift in the camping division of Next Generation Ministries has created two openings that will be needed to facilitate the new approach to camping and intentional faith development of next generations. Mike “...

Information from the Camp Board Following two years of research and analyzing various options, the Camping & Retreat Ministries Board, over the past month, has outlined a bold new approach to camping and intentional ...

There will be United Methodists camping ministries in Missouri next summer. They will not be conducted at the four sites owned by the Missouri Conference. The future of those sites moving forward will be determined by a ...

  Brad Miller, Bob Farr, Todd Outcalt, Phil Amerson, Indiana, United Methodist Church To download the free podcast click here or on the Hoosier United Methodist website.

By Fred Koenig Rev. Bruce Baxter discerned his call to ministry when he was painting a house. He immediately came up with three good reasons why a career in ministry was not for him, but his pastor recommended that he ...

By Fred Koenig After two years of information gathering, conversations, visits to all camp sites, a financial and property analysis and prayerful discernment, the Missouri Annual Conference Camping and Retreat Board ...

By Dan Steska Why would someone travel hundreds of miles to a very small town in southern Missouri in the heat of August to work on moldy sheet rock and rotted floors? How does anyone adequately thank the unselfish ...

By Fred Koenig Some women from Taylor Chapel in Sedalia invited Elaine Ray to church for the Easter program. Then she started going to Sunday school, then youth choir, and MYF. That was more than 60 years ago.       “...

By By Andrew Jones & Patty Waterhouse In the conversation regarding faith development in children and youth, several important facts bubble to the surface: Deuteronomy 6:6-7 reminds us that discipleship is a parental ...

By Fred Koenig My son Henry started at rocket camp at Jo-Ota. He went for the rockets, and he got plenty of rocket time, but also had a faith-enriching experience. He was excited to return the following year. The next ...

By Fred Koenig The theme of Mission U had a familiar ring to it this year: Learning Together for the Transformation of the World, combining the United Methodist mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the ...

By Fred Koenig Even though it was a week before Labor Day, the KOA campground at Branson looked like a busy holiday weekend this week, with spots filled and people sitting up camp in an overflow parking lot. A closer ...

By Fred Koenig The Sanctuary, the Fellowship Hall, and the Education Building are all familiar structures for many United Methodist churches.  In addition, most United Methodist churches also maintain a house for the ...

By Fred Koenig Woods Chapel United Methodist Church in Odessa sponsored its first annual Smokin’ with Woods Charity Barbeque Contest at the Country Gardens RV Park this past weekend. It was proclaimed a Missouri State ...

By Kelly Hartnett Jimmy Cooper was serving as an associate pastor at Morning Star Church in Dardenne Prairie, and from the start of his appointment, he knew he would soon be leading their second church plant. (The Word ...

By Darby Jones If you click on a link to this article and share it on social media, should we think that you have actually read it? That’s what previous best practices would lead us to believe. Google was founded on the...

By Bob Farr The Missouri Conference has a 30 year history of new church planting. Most people date the modern day church planting movement from 1990. That’s the year Bishop W.T. Handy appointed four pastors to plant ...

By Hal Knight We’ve been looking at “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism,” an alternative to historic Christianity that Kenda Creasy Dean has shown is the dominant belief of American teenagers and their churches in mainline ...

That’s what an older adult told me when I was 18 and about to start college. A few years ago. Well, maybe a lot of years ago. Looking back, I don’t really think they were the best years, although they were very memorable...

Chair of Camping and Retreat Ministries Board provides detailed information about process that led up to recent changes in camping ministries in Missouri.

By Fred Koenig “Let’s leave this one to the professionals.”      It’s a call everyone makes at some point. Sometimes it is for easy things, and you go with the pros because even though you may not have much money to ...

An Open Letter from the Camping and Retreat Ministries Board September 18, 2014 Dear Sisters and Brothers of the Missouri Conference, Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ! As events have unfolded in the past couple ...

Most local congregations in Missouri have made great progress in internalizing the church’s mission of creating disciples for the transformation of the world, yet according to a recent survey conducted by the Core ...

The KOA campground at Branson looks like a busy holiday weekend this week, with spots filled and people sitting up camp in an overflow parking lot. A closer look reveals that most of the vehicles there are sporting a ...

After two years of information gathering, conversations, visits to all camp sites, a financial and property analysis and prayerful discernment, the Missouri Annual Conference Camping and Retreat Board will be shifting ...

Dear friends, People have asked about what the United Methodist Church is doing in response to the events in recent days in Ferguson, Missouri, and so I’d like to lift up a few significant points of engagement and ...

When Joy and Elliot Gonzalez came to Liberty UMC as youth directors a few years ago, their job description included one line about young adult ministry. When they turned their attention to that area, they found an ...

By Fred Koenig In early spring, Terri Williams announced she would be stepping down as the Festival of Sharing Coordinator to enter into a new phase of personal ministry. Terri had served as the coordinator for seven ...

By Brian Hammons It’s summertime! Annual conference is over, the fall activities haven’t started yet (including charge conferences), and some folks are still on vacation. While the pace is maybe a bit slower around most...

By Jeremy Steele If you followed our advice to get your podcast up and running, it's time to listen carefully and make sure you are recording great audio. Here is what you need to consider.  Recording Device Deciding ...

By Neil Richards On April 5, the Belgrade UMC, in conjunction with the Missouri Baptist Breast Health Care Center Mammogram Van practiced mission outreach as they offered free mammogram screenings to women without ...

By Fred Koenig When Joy and Elliot Gonzalez came to Liberty UMC as youth directors a few years ago, their job description included one line about young adult ministry. When they turned their attention to that area, they...

By Fred Koenig There will be United Methodists camping ministries in Missouri next summer. They will not be conducted at the four sites owned by the Missouri Conference. The future of those sites moving forward will be ...

By Fred Koenig Bible Kickback at Normandy | Linda Settles | Serving:  University of Missouri St. Louis | Saturday’s 6:00 p.m. at 8000 Natural Bridge Road, St. Louis, MO. 63121 | Normandy U.M.C. | Contact Information:  ...

By Barry Baugh Under the leadership of Pastor Baugh, Smith Chapel entered the Small Church Initiative process in 2010. The consultation team  of Bob Farr and Kotan gave the church three prescriptions, which the Church ...

By Fred Koenig It can be very discouraging listening to the news these days. Stories about civil wars, border disputes and the thousands who are fleeing their violent and impoverished homelands seem to dominate the news...

By Fred Koenig John Miller’s entry into the United Methodist Church was not uncommon: he grew up Baptist, and he married a Catholic. “We split the difference,” he said.       While they both may have thought they were ...

By Fred Koenig A group of 70 people coming together for worship on a Wednesday night is doing pretty well for any church. But when that group of 70 is made up entirely of the group that is noticeably absent from worship...

By Emanuel Cleaver the Third One of the most fundamental elements of any successful organization is leadership. However, it is also one of the most misunderstood qualities as it relates to congregational development and...

By Fred Koenig I’m an expert at boys ages 10 and under. Aside from having 10 years of experience at being one myself, I’ve also, together with my wife, raised two. If you need to know something about boys, from about ...

By Fred Koenig Three years after an F5 tornado ripped apart the core of Joplin, the town is recovering well. In the heart of it all, Saint Paul UMC maintains a focus on disaster response, for past, present and future ...

By Karen Hayden My family has come to expect “Dave’s famous pico de gallo” at every large family event.               My husband, Dave, likes to make pico, but he doesn’t have a hard recipe for it. Often, as he ...

By Hal Knight In her book Almost Christian Kenda Creasy Dean draws on the National Study of Youth and Religion to present a disturbing portrait of American teenagers in mainline Protestant denominations like the United ...

The landscaping at Saint Paul UMC is maturing and has filled in nicely. The surrounding neighborhood resembles a big-city suburb boom town – all new houses and only young trees. Three years after F5 tornado ripped apart ...

By Pam Ekey Open yourselves to the possibility of the difference you can make in worship if you focus a little more, if you improve a little more, Bishop Robert Schnase told those who assembled for the clergy session ...

By Susan Sneed Missouri Bishop Robert Schnase once again welcomed all to the 2014 Annual Conference. He lifted up this year’s count of 850 congregations, 1,000 active and retired clergy 170,000 members and 80,000 in ...