Pathway Out of Poverty
Connect 100,000 students with 100,000 books by December 31, 2020
Pathway for Resourcing Local Churches:
- Resourcing: Establish and create tools for partnerships to utilize (e.g., devotionals, sermon series, tutorials for initiating church-school partnerships, poverty training for churches, etc.).
- Innovation: Brainstorm big ideas to help us reach our goal – experiment, test and dream.
- Information: Determine the starting point, collect and share information, search for best practices and search for community partners.
- Celebration: Celebrate and highlight mutually beneficial church-school partnerships around the conference.
- Invitation: Invite local churches to participate at various levels.
How we will reach our goal
Introduce this goal to at least 24 ministerial leaders a month through phone calls or face-to-face meetings.
New Pathway Out of Poverty Resources View More Resources →
Check out the newest resources related to providing a pathway out of poverty through literacy.
Open Hearts, Open Books Introductory Webinar
As part of the Pathway Out of Poverty Conference Priority, the Missouri Conference seeks to connect 100,000 students with 100,000 books by December 31, 2020. To accomplish this goal we need your help! During this webinar, members of the Education Task Force will take you on a tour of the new Open Hearts, Open Books website. Here your local church can pledge to give books, view resources for school-church partnerships and more. Watch this webinar to get your questions answered and learn more about this exciting goal!
Sacred Worth Books
Sacred Worth Books is a resource created by the United Methodist Church's General Board of Church and Society. This tool can filter through hundreds of books by title, author, age range, ethnicity, gender, and topic.
Missouri Conference Examples:
- Living Word Church Partners with Meramec Elementary School, The Missouri Methodists, September 2018
- Summer Lunch Program at Saint Luke’s Goes into Neighborhood, The Missouri Methodists, August 2018
Education Task Force
Want to serve on the education task force? Contact Rev. Sharon Williams.
Click here to contact the Education Task Force
Cindy Allen
Stephanie Leonard Bland
Ken Bowman
Rev. Cody Collier
Travis Dimmit
Pam Ekey
Rev. Lucas Endicott
Eric England
Susan Farr
Tommy Freeman
Dr. Rob Gordon
Linda Gordon
Rev. Tina L. Harris
Helen and Doug Hatridge
Dr. Elaine Henderson
Rev. Kim Hoover
Stephanie Leonard Bland
Ken Bowman
Rev. Cody Collier
Travis Dimmit
Pam Ekey
Rev. Lucas Endicott
Eric England
Susan Farr
Tommy Freeman
Dr. Rob Gordon
Linda Gordon
Rev. Tina L. Harris
Helen and Doug Hatridge
Dr. Elaine Henderson
Rev. Kim Hoover
Nancy Israel
Clark Kessler
Kelley Klein
George Knox
Rev. Kevin Kosh
Ellen Lilly
Rev. Diana Loomis
Dr. Vonnelle Middleton
Danielle Owens
Rev. Steve Pinnell
Vada McCrary Postlethwait
Shirley Rundel
Rev. Eric Schmidt
Rev. Jim Simpson
Rev. Susan Smith
Michael Summers
Clark Kessler
Kelley Klein
George Knox
Rev. Kevin Kosh
Ellen Lilly
Rev. Diana Loomis
Dr. Vonnelle Middleton
Danielle Owens
Rev. Steve Pinnell
Vada McCrary Postlethwait
Shirley Rundel
Rev. Eric Schmidt
Rev. Jim Simpson
Rev. Susan Smith
Michael Summers
Questions about Church-School Partnerships and Safe Sanctuaries? Check out our FAQs.