News

By Yvi Martin Traditionally, the Ash Wednesday service in my church has been in the evening. People come for confession and repentance, carry the sign of the cross on their heads for 30 minutes, then go home and wash it...

By Fred Koenig Linda Harris’s father and grandfather were United Methodist ministers. So it stands to reason, when she was in college at Dakota Wesleyan University, majoring in social work and psychology, that she was ...

By Nate Berneking The Missouri Conference has worked hard over the last several years to monitor and improve upon the attendance in our local churches. The number of people worshipping in a local congregation is a clear...

By Fred Koenig Doors Open, Lives Changed “Marvin and Bettyrae Fluke have been the kind of church members that pastors pray for; always actively participating in worship and anything else that was happening here,” shared ...

By Fred Koenig Missouri Bishop Robert Schnase’s newest book, 7 Levers, addresses how we must pry loose the many ‘stuck’ places in our connectional system, so that the church structure supports positive movement. He here...

By Brian Hammons During this season of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, I’m pondering this question: “What would it be like if my entire congregation were filled with Spiritually Engaged laity?” I invite you to ponder that ...

By Linda Gastreich For some time, Sunday nights at a popular college hangout in St. Louis have been pretty quiet. That was then. Now a band starts warming up around 6:30 pm. At the same time, some tech equipment is set ...

By Nate Berkneking When I was serving as the pastor of a local church, I was highly committed to ensuring that we paid our apportionments. I always felt that being part of the greater connection was a privilege and ...

By Kendall Waller Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on Religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. ...

Missouri Bishop Robert Schnase’s newest book, 7 Levers, addresses how we must pry loose the many ‘stuck’ places in our connectional system, so that the church structure supports positive movement. He here answers several...

During this season of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, I’m pondering this question: “What would it be like if my entire congregation were filled with Spiritually Engaged laity?” I invite you to ponder that question, too.

By Gavin Richardson The Rise of the Media Device Tablet and smartphone devices continue to become more the norm than the exception. In 2013, more than a third of all American adults (18 and older) owned a tablet device ...

By Fred Koenig Since 2011, the people of the Missouri Conference have participated in Serve, a state-wide service event the first weekend of September. Through Serve, our churches have touched thousands of lives in ...

By Fred Koenig Some churches already had plans other than Imagine No Malaria for Christmas, and did some radical giving in a different direction.       Living Word Church in Wildwood collected $253,893.19 in December ...

By Fred Koenig Greg DeCamp came to North Star UMC in Liberty through a small group. He and his wife had a baby and a toddler, and friends invited them to a parenting small group. They really enjoyed it, and after ...

By Fred Koenig Christmas in a time of giving, and this year many Missouri Conference churches chose to make the Imagine No Malaria campaign the primary recipient of their gifts. Missouri Conference churches have now ...

By Fred Koenig My friend Mike is a former Marine, he’s from my hometown and he served with me in the National Guard several years ago. He was one of the sharpest guys in the unit. You could always count on him to get ...

By Fred Koenig If you live in rural Missouri, you probably read your hometown newspaper. Chances are, a new regular feature that has developed in your newspaper in the past decade or so has been stories about ...

By Jill Wondel We’re making great progress! Because of your generosity, the people of the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church have already saved almost 50,000 lives!       Because of the faith and work of...

By Fred Koenig A Time of Change The first iRun Conference was conducted January 16 – 18 in Houston, Texas. The International Rural and Urban Network is a new combination of ministry put together by the General Board of ...

By Fred Leist One of my favorite stories is of two rabbinical students who were caught by the Rabbi gambling and drinking in the company of undesirable characters – even before the sun set on the evening of the Sabbath....

By Sarah Bollinger March 6, 2014 marks the official grand opening of The Gondola Training Center (GTC) in Mozambique!  The GTC is an educational training center strategically positioned in the North of Mozambique, in an...

By Hal Knight When we hear the word “discipline” in United Methodist Church we tend to think of the Book of Discipline, which contains rules for organizing local churches, conferences, boards and agencies. That was not ...

By Shannon Meister I was recently asked to provide a testimony about why I give my resources and my gifts to the church. I’ve grown up in the United Methodist Church and have always been taught about giving and tithing....

By Fred Koenig Beverly Boehmer has referred to WOW, the January Missouri Conference youth rally, as being the most aptly named event in the Conference. Wow is the word people respond with when you tell them about it.  ...

Rural sociology Professor Dave Ruesink grew up in Michigan, and is now at College Station, TX, part of Presbyterian Church. He knows that more than half of seminary graduates go to rural areas for their first fulltime ...

How well do you know your mission field? Should mission strategies differ in rural and urban settings? As I considered these questions I realized that much about mission service and outreach is the same regardless of ...

Joe Connelly ran with the shift analogy, telling those gathered that if they have automatic, you just get in the car and go, and churches can run the same way. “The pastor opens the church, the choir sings, and the ...

Rudy Rasmus grew up near the restaurant where Bishop Swanson recalled working in Houston, but it was an earlier time. He remembers when oil money transformed that neighborhood, and it was time for all the black people to...

In 1968 James Swanson worked in the Tokyo Gardens Japanese Steak House in an all white neighborhood. Working late, he had missed the last bus home. A police cruiser approached him as he walked down the sidewalk, and the ...

When Diane Johnson was director of Metro Ministry (now Shalom House) in St. Louis, she partnered with the city of St. Louis, three universities and a shelter for men, and was able to leverage that partnership to receive ...

The first iRun Conference was conducted January 16 – 18 in Houston, Texas. The International Rural and Urban Network is a new combination of ministry put together by the General Board of Global Ministries. It opened with...

The snow was so powdery that in places on the church lawn you could still see the grass, and in other spots it was drifting three feet deep,” Osiel said. “That’s something we’re not used to here in Southwest Missouri.” ...

By Dan Steska All hands were raised and waving in unison as Mrs. Mitchell’s 4th grade class responded to her question, “Would anyone volunteer to...”       That’s all the further she spoke before being interrupted by 25...

By Fred Koenig Columbia’s emergency winter shelter for the homeless continues to evolve, and support from United Methodist Churches remain at its core.       The Room At the Inn ministry started as a temporary shelter ...

By Fred Koenig Garrett Drake has been named the new Missouri Conference Catalyst for Next Generation Ministry. He started January 15.       “The Catalyst for Next Generation Ministry is a newly organized position which ...

By Kimberly Jenne The community of Webster Hills recently unveiled a series of heraldic processional banners representing each of the seasons in the Christian liturgical year crafted out of repurposed chapel pews and ...

By Fred Koenig June Ungles has been part of three United Methodist Churches in the Pony Express District, and they’ve shaped her life along the way. Her parents were farmers near Skidmore, and were active in the ...

By Fred Koenig  We update the mailing address for the Conference publication twice a year (January and July), so you may be receiving this magazine for the first time. This monthly magazine replaced the Conference ...

By Bart Hildreth We Methodists have it in our D.N.A. to know that there is something about governance (method), which matters to missional effectiveness. But it’s not just about our heritage, it’s critical to our ...

By Fred Koenig Larry and Reverend Kristen Schmitz are Global Ministries missionaries from Missouri who have been serving in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for just over a year. Perhaps you saw the article ...

By Mark Roach I don’t know about you, but when a new year comes around, I sometimes find myself surrounded by people who get anxious for newness. New year, new budget, new platform setup, new approaches… “let’s not just...

By William Willimon This book came to me just when I needed it. This past June, the bishop appointed me to a church. The congregation had previously suffered decline but had recently experienced some modest growth. A ...

By Fred Koenig We are in the midst of that lovely quiet season on the church calendar between Christmas and Easter.  Although the weather may suggest that hibernation would be a good use of this time, students – and ...

By Dr. Royal Speidel  The average age of the congregation was 58, and worship attendance had plateaued for the last five years ending 2011 with 97. The HCI Consultation Team gave the church five prescriptions to work ...

By Fred Koenig The snow was so powdery that in places on the church lawn you could still see the grass, and in other spots it was drifting three feet deep,” Osiel said. “That’s something we’re not used to here in ...

By Gavin Richardson Mobile Responsive An extension of design trends from 2012 and 2013 is to build your websites to be mobile responsive. From 25 to 35 percent of many websites’ total traffic will come through mobile ...

By Hal Knight In John Wesley’s day, there was a dispute over how often people in the Church of England should receive the Lord’s Supper. The “High Church” view was to receive it frequently. In contrast, the “...

By Brian Hammons Do you ever get distracted and lose focus from something important? It happens a lot in our lives with the constant barrage of tasks, demands, and changes.       It also happens in organizations of all ...

Do you ever get distracted and lose focus from something important? It happens a lot in our lives with the constant barrage of tasks, demands, and changes.