News
January 24, 2019
Addressing Atheism
At a time when many United Methodists are struggling with the question of whether they can understand each other and get along, Rev. Greg Weeks has set his focus on reconciling two broader groups – atheist and ...
January 24, 2019
Calendar of Events
Rural Ministry Now Saturday, February 9 at 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM Location: Emerson Fields, 35932 US Hwy 63, Excello, MO 65247 Contact: John Pinkston, (816) 520-7841, johnpinkstonii@gmail.com Rural churches are vital to ...
January 24, 2019
Lead So You Can Be Followed
Are you leading music in a way that can be followed? As we all know, the goal of leading song in a worship service is to engage congregation members to sing along. One challenge that the modern church faces is a lack of ...
January 24, 2019
Parting Shot
In Confessions, Augustine wrote: “[People] go abroad to admire the heights of mountains, the mighty waves of the sea, the broad tides of rivers, the compass of the ocean, and the circuits of the stars, yet pass over the ...
January 24, 2019
Ways to Read the Missouri Methodists
Individual Mailed Subscription This magazine is automatically sent to all clergy and selected church leaders, but is also available to anyone for $20 per year. Send checks payable to the Missouri Conference to Susan ...
January 24, 2019
Working Towards Resolution
By Amy Thompson The General Conference of the worldwide United Methodist Church has called a Special Session. It will take place for a few days at the end of February in St. Louis. Methodists from the Missouri ...
January 23, 2019
Blessings Flow: C2FM Gains Momentum
The Clergy and Church Financial Ministry – C2FM – is providing a new level of educational and financial resources in support of Missouri’s pastors and congregations. Two recent developments affirm the progress and value ...
January 23, 2019
Four Ways to Fit Yoga Into Your Day
#1 Breathe When we slow down our breath, we help signal to our bodies that all is well. This can decrease our stress response, lower our blood pressure and calm our minds. Take a moment wherever you are to notice your ...
January 23, 2019
Leadership Practices for a Healthy & Happy New Year
By Cody Collier There is a true crisis concerning the physical, mental and spiritual health of leaders serving the church today. Rae Jean Proeschold-Bell and Jason Byassee’s timely book, Faithful and Fractured, believes...
January 23, 2019
Let Us Hold Fast to Hope
By Brian Hammons As a lay delegate to General Conference, I’ve been reading a lot to prepare for the upcoming special session on February 24-26. Scripture has been a big part of that, seeking God’s guidance in grace and...
January 23, 2019
Meeting God on the Mat
A QA with Jill Wondel, a yoga teacher who specializes in holy yoga as a way to calm the mind and focus on God.
January 23, 2019
Pan-Methodist Emancipation Proclamation Celebration
Missouri Bishop Bob Farr opened his sermon at the Pan-Methodist Emancipation Proclamation Day service with a confession: Prior to his participation in the service his previous year, the concept of celebrating ...
January 23, 2019
Precautionary Measures
Safeguarding your church's finances and taking steps to prevent theft.
January 23, 2019
Twittering Away Your Reputation
A biblical perspective on how to watch what you say on social media.
January 23, 2019
Wesley on Schism
Last month we looked at the question of how Christians should disagree with one another and learned that Wesley believed our controversies should be carried out in a spirit of love and mutual respect. But how should ...
January 16, 2019
Important Year-End Report Information: Vital Signs Simplified for 2019
Vital Signs provides churches and Cabinet members with vital data about the health of our congregations. These revised questions more accurately define vitality in worship. Vital Signs questions have been simplified for ...
January 07, 2019
40 Days of Doubt: Devotions for the Skeptic
Have you ever questioned whether everything you believe in as a Christian is false? 40 Days of Doubt explores questions readers may be asking about their faith in 41 (with bonus day) devotions. Why would God care what I...
January 07, 2019
A Big Year for Old McKendree
Missouri’s only Heritage Landmark of the United Methodist Church is celebrating its 200th birthday
January 07, 2019
Background and Harmony Vocals
In the last few installments, we’ve discussed the practical role of instruments in the contemporary worship ensemble. So far we’ve discussed keyboard, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums. This month ...
January 07, 2019
Beer and Bible
First UMC in Rolla is trying several different approaches to reach out to new people, including small groups that are outside the norm of what many people expect at church. The Beer and Bible small group meets at 6 p.m. ...
January 07, 2019
Check
Last June Rev. Sheila Bouie-Sledge left Annual Conference Session inspired by the urging of Conference leaders for local churches to partner with neighboring schools. She was newly appointed to North Park United ...
January 07, 2019
Congregational Excellence Provides Funds to Kick Start New Places
To encourage and support innovative ways to create New Places for New People, the Office of Congregational Excellence is offering grant opportunities to all Missouri churches. Grants are available for each of the five ...
January 07, 2019
Divisions in Our Denomination: Maintaining Unity and Theological Integrity
By Hal Knight We are approaching a called General Conference in February to address deep divisions in our denomination. There is disagreement over the best way to maintain our unity and theological integrity. It is only...
January 07, 2019
Foundation Scholarships
Growing Resources for Missouri Students Ah, the new year … spring is just around the corner, and a young student’s thoughts turn to … SCHOLARSHIPS! For many students and parents, the search for scholarships is a ...
January 07, 2019
Missouri Deaconesses Participate in National Gathering
They’ve been around in the Methodist Church for quite a while, these women called Deaconess. With roots traced to Phoebe in Romans 16:1, in our Methodist tradition the office of Deaconess was officially recognized as an ...
January 07, 2019
MOAC Announces Staffing Change
The Office of Mission, Service and Justice has named Rev. Lucas Endicott as Senior Mission Strategist. In this redefined role, Endicott will provide daily management for the Mozambique Initiative, Global Connect ...
January 07, 2019
Parting Shot
By Eric Mattson The joy of serving others witnessed by this person’s face captured my attention. The joy of the Holy Spirit alive within produces a glowing radiance in you and me. In Philippians 4:13, the apostle Paul ...
January 07, 2019
Reaching Others In The New Year
By Fred Koenig “I’m not sure how I feel about the Christmas Experience tour...” So opined one of my fellow coworkers here at the Conference office, and I didn’t disagree – I too had mixed feelings about it. For the...
January 07, 2019
The Chaplaincy Connection
How one pastor’s chaplaincy united the church and community around giving back to those who protect them
January 07, 2019
Trying Something New
First UMC in Rolla has accepted that if they want to involve new people in the church, they are going to have to try doing something new. They’re approaching that in several different ways, including a new mid-week ...
January 07, 2019
We Need a GPS Reroute
By Bishop Farr Last fall I heard Australian evangelist Christine Caine speak at the New Room Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Caine is a popular international speaker. She and her husband, Nick, founded a global ...
January 07, 2019
Witnessing in Our Daily Life
By Amy Thompson A couple of months ago I was serving in the Welcome Center at my church on a Sunday morning. I entered into a conversation with a church friend. She mentioned that she would like to read something about ...
January 03, 2019
New Year’s Message from the Moderators of the Commission on a Way Forward
WASHINGTON, D.C. - As we turn to the new year and the approaching February meeting of the called Special Session of General Conference, the moderators would like to encourage delegates to the General Conference, as well...
December 11, 2018
Delivering Christmas invitations and cheer by the truckload
National Christmas tour coming to Kansas City on December 17
November 30, 2018
Applying Advent
By Fred Koenig One came and said to him, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” And he said, “You know, the commandments and all of that. Do those. Say, did you know that my mom was ...
November 30, 2018
C2FM
Making a Difference for Missouri Clergy & Churches Since 2016, Missouri’s United Methodist clergy have benefitted from a new resource called C2FM the Clergy & Church Financial Ministry administered by the Missouri United...
November 30, 2018
Keyed Up
By Ryan McLouth In the last four issues, we’ve been talking about the standard role of instruments in the contemporary worship ensemble. So far we’ve discussed acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar and drums. ...
November 30, 2018
Kindness, Confidence Encouraged
Missouri Conference Welcomes Two New District Superintendents with Installation Services By Fred Koenig You only get installed as a District Superintendent once. Rev. Melissa Dodd had a few ideas about what she wanted ...
November 30, 2018
Love Divine
By Hal Knight Love was at the center of John Wesley’s theology and ministry from beginning to end. It was at Oxford in 1725, 13 years prior to his famous Aldersgate experience, that Wesley became convinced that to be a ...
November 30, 2018
National Workshop on Christian Unity Coming to St. Louis
By Fred Koenig Next spring Missouri Methodists will have a unique opportunity to participate in a conference in St. Louis that aims to bring Christians of different faiths together for a time of learning and faith ...
November 30, 2018
Parting Shot
By Eric Mattson The ongoing practice of photography is like creating a mirror made up of images. Imagine gazing at a glass mirror fractured into a web of cracks. By viewing the mirror at different angles, the ...
November 30, 2018
POV: Conversations About Human Sexuality
By Kim Jenne Over the course of three weeks in late autumn, nearly 85 members of Church of the Shepherd engaged in a structured, conversational experience called Point of View (POV) designed to foster conversation and ...
November 30, 2018
Progress in Puerto Rico
By Lucas Endicott “We’re seeing God at work.” Pastor Alex Gerena of the Methodist church in Ezperanza, Puerto Rico recently reflected on the year since Hurricane Maria devastated the island. On September 20, 2017, ...
November 30, 2018
Radical Hospitality
By Jill Wondel In the summer of 1996 I gazed out the window as my plane landed in Kiev, Ukraine. It wasn’t my first international trip, but it was the first trip I would take to a country entirely foreign to me, the ...
November 30, 2018
Responding to Community Need
By Fred Koenig Court Street UMC in Fulton is addressing food security, with some literacy and community engagement added as well. How they got there wasn’t according to plan, but it progressed naturally. In 2016, ...
November 30, 2018
Sharefests Bring Givers Together in Seven Locations
By Sidney Owens This year brought many new and exciting adventures for Festival of Sharing. For six weeks during September and October there were seven Sharefests across Missouri: Kansas City, Tipton, Macon, Cameron, ...
November 30, 2018
Taking On Big Challenges In A Small Church
By Fred Koenig Gaye Lynn Blankenship knows that much of rural Missouri is plagued with substance abuse. Alcoholism, opioid addiction and methamphetamine use top the list of social problems. She knows her Dent County ...
November 30, 2018
The Beauty of Our Story
In Christian tradition, beauty, goodness and truth are known as the “transcendentals.” They help us transcend beyond our own physical world to something much more spiritual; something deeper within all of us; something ...
November 30, 2018
UMM Look to the Future
By Fred Koenig The new leadership team of the Missouri Conference United Methodist Men are anxious to go to work to help support a vital future for UMM groups across the state, but before they make plans, they are going...
November 30, 2018
Wrapped in Prayer
By Fred Koenig Sometimes having a physical, artistic representation of a metaphor helps bring home the message. Webster Hills UMC was doing just that when the church came together to wrap the church in prayer one Sunday...