Missouri Annual Conference Begins National Search for Center Director
News
Media Contact: Kim Jenne, Director of Connectional Ministries
kjenne@moumethodist.org
(573) 441-1770
Missouri Annual Conference Begins National Search for Center Director
COLUMBIA, Mo. – September 7, 2016 – Bishop Robert Farr and the Missouri appointive Cabinet announced plans to fill the Director vacancy in the Center of Congregational Excellence through a national search. The position has been vacant since Farr was elected to the episcopacy in July at the South Central Jurisdictional Conference in Wichita, Kansas.
“The Center for Congregational Excellence is one of two core areas of focus for the Missouri Annual Conference,” said Bishop Farr. “We place a high priority on identifying the most gifted person to take our church planting and church revitalization efforts into a new era.”
The search will include internal and external candidates and will be open to laity and clergy from across the United Methodist connection. The Congregational Development team, chaired by Rev. Robyn Miller, will help serve as recruiters for the search. Qualifying candidates will be interviewed and selected by Bishop Farr and the affirmed by the Cabinet. The Bishop desires to have someone on the ground in Missouri by January 1, 2017.
“We want to use this as a strategic opportunity to do a thorough search, both inside and outside the Conference, ensuring that the best candidate takes the Center for Congregational Excellence into the future,” said Rev. Robyn Miller, chair of the Congregational Development team and senior pastor of Woods Chapel in Lee’s Summit.
Rev. Kim Jenne, current Director of Connectional Ministries, will serve as acting Director for the Center during the search process. Mission strategists, Revs. Lia McIntosh and Suzanne Nicholson, are providing oversight and day-to-day management and accountability of the Center.
Please see the job description for more information. Interested Missouri clergy should contact their District Superintendent. Interested applicants outside of the Missouri Annual Conference should send cover letter and a resume/vitae that demonstrates effectiveness in a new church plant or in church transformation to Rev. Elmer Revelle, Assistant to the Bishop, at ERevelle@moumethodist.org. Applications will be received until October 31.
###
The United Methodist Church in Missouri is made up of 800 local churches, approximately 1,000 retired and active clergy and 80,000 weekly worshippers. In the past 10 years, the Center for Congregational Excellence has guided 35 church starts into life and has overseen over 150 Healthy Church consultations in the Missouri Conference. Learn more about the United Methodist Church in Missouri at www.moumethodist.org.