News
June 25, 2018
Pastoral Excellence Transforms to Leadership Excellence
By Pam Ekey The Missouri Conference is expanding its focus on the development of church leaders by transforming the Center for Pastoral Excellence into the new Center for Leadership Excellence, according to Director of ...
June 25, 2018
Remembered: Clergy, Churches Memorialized for Faithful Service
By Ken Rosenauer The bell tolled 36 times. The first 18 were for Missouri United Methodist clergy who died in the past year. The next 13 were for clergy spouses. Then, four for clergy and one for a spouse from ...
June 25, 2018
Sunday Morning Learning Time
By Ken Rosenauer “Welcome to the largest Sunday School class in the state of Missouri.” With that, Bishop Bob Farr opened the Sunday morning Bishop’s Learning Time. In short order, he turned over the mic to the Rev. ...
June 05, 2018
Obvious Wisdom Offers Pragmatic and Poignant Lessons on Ministry
COLUMBIA, Mo. – June 4, 2018 – Bishop Bob Farr’s latest book, Obvious Wisdom: 52 tips for effective ministry, is now available for purchase. Published by Market Square, the book provides succinct, practical advice ...
June 01, 2018
Quilts Cover Hurricane Survivors in Florida
By Fred Koenig As the Missouri Conference is beginning to assist local churches that want to send mission teams to Puerto Rico or support recovery projects there financially, some United Methodists in the Missouri have ...
May 24, 2018
Bishops, The Upper Room launch Phase 3 of Praying our Way Forward
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Council of Bishops in partnership with The Upper Room is launching Phase 3 of Praying our Way Forward. Phase 1 involved 84 members of the Council of Bishops praying for The United Methodist Church...
May 22, 2018
1968: Church Unites, Country Divided
By Fred Koenig Fifteen years ago the United Methodist Church celebrated John Wesley’s 300th birthday. It’s been 278 years since the first Methodists society formed. The 50-year celebration of the United Methodist ...
May 22, 2018
1968: History Converges, A Church Comes Together
By Heather Hahn On April 23, 1968, two bishops followed by two children, two youths, two adults, six ordained ministers, two church officers and finally all 10,000 people present joined hands and repeated in unison: “...
May 22, 2018
1968: Those To Be Merged
By Fred Koenig In Missouri the formation of the United Methodist Church wasn’t too significant for most Methodists, but it was more life-changing for the clergy of the Evangelical United Brethren who were about to ...
May 22, 2018
1968: Uniting to End Segregation
By Fred Koenig The Uniting Conference in 1968 had much more significant meaning for African-American pastors than the merger of the Methodists with the Evangelical United Brethren. It brought about the end of the ...
May 22, 2018
Freed To Lead Together
By Bishop Bob Farr It’s Annual Conference season in Missouri and across America. In Missouri, Annual Conferences for Methodists have been gathering for 202 years! This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the United ...
May 22, 2018
Harry Denman Evangelism Award
By Fred Koenig The Harry Denman Evangelism Award honors one lay and one clergy for their exceptional ministry of evangelism - expressed in Word (what), Sign (why) and Deed (how) – that brings people into a life ...
May 22, 2018
Journey For Justice
By Fred Koenig While in seminary, Rev. Sheila Sledge made use of some of her prescribed quiet time to take a five-hour drive to Memphis alone to visit the Civil Rights Museum. The experience was profound, and she wanted...
May 22, 2018
New Conference Staff
By Fred Koenig Accounts Receivable Coordinator Lindsay Denny is from Jefferson City and previously worked for the State of Missouri for 11 years. She is married to Eric, who works for the Department of the Interior. She...
May 22, 2018
ONE Matters Discipleship Award
By Fred Koenig The ONE Matters Discipleship Award recognizes churches who in recent years have moved from zeros in baptisms and professions of faith to positive numbers with a renewed focus on intentional discipleship. ...
May 22, 2018
Open Doors
By Fred Koenig In April I was back in Boston for my second go at the Boston Marathon – as a spectator. I’ve been a runner for several years and really enjoy it, but don’t run anywhere near fast enough to qualify to ...
May 22, 2018
Parting Shot
By Eric Mattson Ansel Adams said, “Sometimes I do get to places just when God’s ready to have somebody click the shutter.” Good photography is born from readiness and opportunity. Readiness applies to the largest or the...
May 22, 2018
Right Start
By Fred Koenig Come July nearly 50 Missouri Conference clergy will begin answering their call to ministry in a different church. Before they begin, they already share one thing in common with their new congregation: ...
May 22, 2018
Right Start with Bishop Farr
By Fred Koenig The Right Start event for moving clergy in the Missouri Conference is a familiar event for Bishop Bob Farr. For several years before being elected Bishop, he led off the event with a presentation advising...
May 22, 2018
Robert & Martha Mission Award
By Fred Koenig The Robert and Martha Marble Mission Award is given to an individual in the Missouri Annual Conference who exhibits outstanding commitment to mission. This year’s recipient of the Robert and Marble ...
May 22, 2018
Serving With A Changed Heart
By Dr. Hal Knight While we focus attention on clergy such as John and Charles Wesley, the truth is that early Methodism was a lay movement. Most of the preachers were unordained lay persons, as were all of the society ...
May 22, 2018
Sing Along
By Ryan McLouth “Help! People aren’t singing during worship at my church. What do I do?” According to numerous blogs shared endlessly on Facebook, this is a growing problem in the modern church. Though I think these ...
May 22, 2018
Steward Family Foundation and World Wide Technology Foundation Give Leadership Gifts to the Clergy and Church Financial Ministry (C2FM) Initiative
By Fred Koenig The Missouri United Methodist Foundation has received leadership gifts from the Steward Family Foundation and the World Wide Technology Foundation for the C2FM Initiative. As part of the Lilly Endowment ...
May 22, 2018
Unity Award
By Fred Koenig The Unity Award celebrates the spirit and work of an individual in light of the values of the Conference with particular emphasis on inclusiveness, justice and worth. This year’s recipient of the Unity ...
May 22, 2018
What Leading Meant To Me
By Amy Thompson It’s June and time for Annual Conference. The theme this year is Freed-2-Lead. As I attend meetings and talk with directors and district superintendents, I find myself in many conversations centered ...
May 18, 2018
Bishops clarify statement on Commission on a Way Forward recommendation
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Council of Bishops is issuing the following statement, written by the bishops who served on the Commission on a Way Forward, and approved by the Executive Committee of the Council of Bishops this ...
May 17, 2018
Commission ends its work; hears bishops’ recommendation for a way forward
NASHVILLE — The 32-member Commission on a Way Forward for The United Methodist Church concluded its ninth and final meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, yesterday (May 16). The Commission met nine times over 17 months. The ...
May 07, 2018
A Pastoral Letter to the People of The UMC from the Women Bishops
Grace and peace! We, the active and retired women bishops of The United Methodist Church, are writing in response to the news release this week, announcing the results of five proposed amendments to our Constitution that...
May 07, 2018
Bishop Farr's Statement in Support of Women’s Equality and Full Inclusion
I am saddened and disappointed that two of the constitutional amendments related to the right of girls, women, and other vulnerable groups did not receive the necessary 2/3 aggregate vote of all the annual conferences in...
May 07, 2018
Bishops announce results of five constitutional amendments; two fail to get required two-thirds majority
WASHINGTON, D. C. The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church has completed canvassing of the votes of annual conferences on the five constitutional amendments that were approved by the 2016 General ...
May 07, 2018
Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church Statement in Support of Women’s Equality and Full Inclusion
The Council of Bishops notes with dismay that two amendments to the Constitution of The United Methodist Church regarding gender equality did not pass. While we are not completely clear concerning the motivation that ...
May 07, 2018
Thoughts on the Council of Bishops’ Work on the Way Forward
Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I have been in deep and prayerful reflection for the past several days since the Council of Bishops concluded our spring meeting. I want to thank you for your prayers ...
May 04, 2018
United Methodist Bishops Recommend a Way Forward
CHICAGO – United Methodist bishops, meeting in Chicago, engaged in a prayerful process to discern a way forward. At the conclusion of the discernment process, the Council of Bishops strongly approved the following ...
April 23, 2018
A Time of Connection
Freed 2 Lead is grounded in scripture as we consider the words of Paul in Ephesians, “The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints ...
April 23, 2018
Annual Conference Offerings
OPENING WORSHIP Mozambique Sustainability Reboot This offering will relaunch the Mozambique Initiative’s efforts to create opportunities for church-going entrepreneurs through sustainability projects. In 2012, the ...
April 23, 2018
Community Playground
In October, Church of the Shepherd opened a Community Playground on their lot. As soon as it opened neighborhood families started coming to play. They aren’t just Church of the Shepherd families. They are families who ...
April 23, 2018
Connect: People + Resources + Ministry
The Methodist movement has always been about making connections. We are a ‘connectional’ church in structure, and we seek to bring individual human hearts into community with one another and with the Living Lord. Your ...
April 23, 2018
Creative Ministries
Artistry, technology skills employed to help churches make disciples The call to ministry doesn’t always mean the call to pastoral ministry. Some creative professionals have found their calling in employing their skills ...
April 23, 2018
From Facts to Faith
The journey of the next new member to your church may be a long one. Andrew McFarlane is now an active leader at Bolivar United Methodist Church, a place where he would have not conceived himself being part of for most ...
April 23, 2018
Message From Cody Collier
One of the great joys of my life is being a part of the Conference Sessions Committee. This group prayerfully discerns the theme for Annual Conference and works on every detail, so Conference delegates will experience ...
April 23, 2018
Missouri Conference Represented in Wespath's Young Leaders Advisory Board
Jordan Ault, from the Missouri Conference, will be working in 2018 to help shape the way Wespath Benefits and Investments (Wespath) serves The United Methodist Church by participating in Wespath’s inaugural Young Leaders...
April 23, 2018
Missouri Religious Leaders Unite on Gun Violence
Missouri faith leaders held a press conference at the Catholic Charities office in St. Louis on April 11 to express their opposition to House Bill 1936, which relates to taking firearms into churches. Currently in ...
April 23, 2018
Parting Shot
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than they love the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their personal intentions may ...
April 23, 2018
Pentecost Now & Forever
We normally think of Pentecost as the event described in Acts 2: The coming of the promised Holy Spirit, falling on the followers of Jesus, forming them into a community and empowering them to spread the good news. But ...
April 23, 2018
Price Points for Quality Sound
Help! My church needs to buy new praise band equipment, and we don’t know where to start! Never fear, this is a common dilemma. Whether your congregation is starting a new contemporary service, wants to upgrade existing...
April 23, 2018
Restoring Hope in Puerto Rico
By Lauren Miers Driving through Puerto Rico, downed power lines, debris and broken trees still line the roadways eight months after Hurricane Maria impacted the island. Some houses appear unscathed; Others have blue ...
April 23, 2018
Shareable Messages
I recently had a chance to hear Len Wilson speak. Like seemingly most people who speak at religious conferences, he has written a lot of books. At least he’s realistic about the outcome. “Studies have found the average ...
April 23, 2018
Small but Mighty: Elm Grove Church Serves the Lord
In the footprint of time, little Elm Grove Church has served the Lord in myriad ways through the hands and hearts, mouths and minds of its disciples. They’re focused on making more disciples for the transformation of ...
April 23, 2018
United Methodists Stand, Act to End Racism
United Methodists joined with their hearts, feet and faith on the 50th anniversary of the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., as people around the world pledged anew to combat the sin of racism. Gathering at ...
April 10, 2018
Bishops seek declaratory decision from Judicial Council on Special Session
WASHINGTON – The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church is asking the Judicial Council for a declaratory decision on what petitions can be submitted to the denomination’s Special Session of General Conference...