The Partnership Profile identifies key elements for developing school-church partnerships. Each descriptor offers measures to help local churches evaluate and determine the status of each key element in their school-church partnerships. Utilize this tool to gauge where your church is in developing a partnership that is based on relationship and not a transaction of goods.

How do you pastor purple in red and blue churches? This episode of Pastoring in Partisan Times seeks to answer that question in discussion with Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli.

This 21 Days of Prayer Journal, is designed as a holistic and integrative means to prepare ourselves as clergy and laity, as local churches and as the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church for the holy business of Annual Conference.

All Pro Dad is on a mission to help you love and lead your family well. Be a hero to your kids.

Almost Christian investigates why American teenagers are at once so positive about Christianity and at the same time so apathetic about genuine religious practice.

Packed with tips from principals and teachers, checklists, and an invaluable resource section, Beyond the Bake Sale reveals how to build strong collaborative relationships and offers practical advice for improving interactions between parents and teachers, from ensuring that PTA groups are constructive and inclusive to navigating the complex issues surrounding diversity in the classroom.

A sample covenant that all appointed clergy and assigned laypersons are expected to sign every four years.

Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend offer biblically-based answers to these and other tough questions, showing us how to set healthy boundaries with our parents, spouses, children, friends, co-workers, and even ourselves.

Use this government website to find demographic information about schools and students near your church.

Founding pastor of Colossae Church in Portland, OR, Chuck Bomar has authored many small group resources and books. This blog offers his take on a variety of church, theology, and ministry concepts.

Connect Classes are offered as an entry point to Morning Star's discipleship process, with opportunities to explore faith, spirituality, gifts, and service.

Dallas Willard was an American philosopher and religious expert, known for his work in Christian spiritual formation. This website contains information about his books, as well as some of his articles, speeches, and interviews.

This presentation focuses on how you can develop a discipleship pathway at your church.

Use this guide with your small group to discuss what it means to be a committed Christian disciple.

Just the word “evangelism” causes anxiety in most followers of Jesus. The anxiety is caused by the thought that we must take a person from unbeliever all the way to a transformed life, from zero to 60 in four seconds flat. We must plant the seed, water it, raise it to maturity, and bring in the harvest. Yet even Paul did not accept that kind of pressure. Use this guide with your small group to discuss evangelism in your local church context.

Margie Briggs discusses discipleship in the small church.

Pastor Rob Mehner discusses spiritual formation in small groups and young people.

Multiple levels of commitment to discipleship are on display in the lives of followers of Jesus. Discipleship is frequently seen as an option in the church and the bar set for membership requires only a low level of compliance. Many church members comply with the minimum measures of church membership but compliance is not enough to carry out the vision of the church. Use this guide with your small group to discuss the commitment of discipleship.

The local church is the body of Christ in our world. The “body of Christ” is too often used as a mere figure of speech, yet that phrase expresses the reality that Christ lives through his people. God’s people, as disciples, extend the life of Jesus to the world through the local church. Use this guide with your small group to better understand the role of the local church.

Most local congregations in Missouri have made great progress in internalizing the church’s mission of creating disciples for the transformation of the world, yet according to a recent survey conducted by the Core Practices team most churches continue to struggle to live out that mission in practical and meaningful ways. This 2014 story's insights into discipleship in Missouri.

The first question on the mind of a disciple must be, “Where am I going?” Churches that develop a discipleship process ask the same question but with a “body of Christ” perspective: “In whose image are we making disciples?” What is the destination of a disciple? And where do I begin?

A new culture of ministry is evolving that requires a different approach in the discipleship of youth and children. Many churches have placed a bigger emphasis on Family Ministry because they realize that unless parents are learning along with the children, effectiveness of teaching Biblical truths is reduced dramatically. Use these tips and resources in your local church or home.

Director of Finance & Administration, Rev. Nate Berneking, discusses changes related to overtime pay requirements. In this hour-long webinar Nate walks churches through the new rules, attempt to clarify who might be exempt and who must be paid overtime, and answer any related questions.

LifelongFaith Associates, in partnership with Vibrant Faith Inc., developed The Faith Formation Learning Exchange, which is "dedicated to helping leaders in Christian ministry develop lifelong faith formation for all ages and generations that is informed by solid research, effective practices, cutting-edge thinking, and real-world models and tools." The site is organized by different intended audiences (ex. children, young adults, families) with articles, reports, research, and books recommended for faith formation.

Robert Schnase, Bishop of the Missouri Annual Conference from 2004 to 2016, highlights key areas of both congregational and personal spiritual life in the Five Practices series: Radical Hospitality, Passionate Worship, Intentional Faith Development, Risk-Taking Mission Service, and Extravagant Generosity.

This site is a training and resource tool for individuals and groups preparing for mission. Individuals wishing to lead a team should complete the training modules found in the prepare section of the site. This will give you resources and ideas for how to best engage in mission whether locally or in an international context.

A helpful guide regarding expectations related to clergy sexual ethics in the Missouri Annual Conference.

Learn more about the court decision affecting clergy housing allowances.

Implicit Bias is all about ‘what we don’t think we think’ — wait a minute, what?!? As each of us experiences life — in school, at home, in church, at work, watching T.V. — we are surrounded by a number of biases. Some of these biases we consciously accept as our own, some we consciously reject, while many more fall into the subconscious level. Even though we are not aware of implicit biases, they constantly help to form our beliefs, values, ideas, and actions every day. As followers of Jesus, we are created and called by the God who consistently questions beliefs, values, and motives. By taking an intentional look at implicit bias and the ways it works in our brains and in our actions, we commit to rooting out the biases that are corrupted by stereotype or prejudice and separate us from the Beloved Community. Use this workbook to learn more about one of the significant barriers to reaching our true goals of diversity, community, and equity.

Knowing Where to Begin is an assessment tool courtesy of First UMC (Jefferson City). This tool is meant to be one of those guides that can offer you a path for “next steps,” a call to discipleship from Jesus Christ.

Revs. Sue Nilson Kibbey and Jason Wellman from the West Ohio Conference lead a discussion on breakthrough prayer and its impact.

Elizabeth Cassidy, a psychologist and clergy spouse, offers her insight on strategies for grief and transition during a pastoral change as part of the Leaving Well Webinar series, examining how pastors and churches can best navigate pastoral transition.

Amy Thompson, a licensed clinical social worker and the Missouri Conference Lay Leader, walks through transitions by developmental stages incorporating real stories of MO clergy and their families as part of the Leaving Well Webinar series, examining how pastors and churches can best navigate pastoral transition.

Rev. Nate Berneking, Rev. Bruce Baxter and Conference Lay Leader Amy Thompson share specifics for PPRCs during a pastoral transition as part of the Leaving Well Webinar series, examining how pastors and churches can best navigate pastoral transition.

Rev. Jim Ozier shares how to prepare for pastoral transition as part of the Leaving Well Webinar series, examining how pastors and churches can best navigate pastoral transition.

Learn more about the duties of the Board of Trustees in the local church with Director of Finance & Administration Nate Berneking's presentation.

Learn more about the duties of the Finance Committee in the local church with Director of Finance & Administration Nate Berneking's Just Finance slides.

Use this state database to learn more information about the schools near you and your church.

This graphic shows Morning Star's broad overview of the discipleship process.

Director of Finance & Administration, Rev. Nate Berneking, discusses clergy compensation forms while also clarifying the interplay of secular law with United Methodist policy and practice and addresses the role played by the local church in budgeting for clergy compensation and correct withholding from a pastor’s paychecks.

Our Kids Florida is a website created by the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church to link churches conference-wide to help them build or expand church and school partnerships.

A New York Times bestseller and “a passionate, urgent” (The New Yorker) examination of the growing inequality gap from the bestselling author of Bowling Alone: why fewer Americans today have the opportunity for upward mobility.

Do you wonder how close you are to blundering over professional boundaries in ministry and possibly harming someone? This inventory may tell you.

Any pastor who moves will now be required to pay federal and state taxes on reimbursements they receive for those. Churches are required to report them on the pastor’s W-2. And, all of this affects a pastor’s pension. This video summarizes the changes and requirements to the tax code affecting reimbursements for moving expenses.

A complete presentation on "Maintaining Integrity & Boundaries in Ministry" for conducting boundaries training in the local church. Great for use with church staff and leaders and the greater congregation.

The sexual ethics policy for clergy in the Missouri Annual Conference.

These standards are intended to provide for housing that meets safety, codes, good building practices and comparable community living standards in church parsonages.

A spiritual gifts survey with questions and definitions of each gift, courtesy of Good Shepherd UMC.

This document explains vision and goals for discipleship and identifies the current programming that meets The Gathering's discipleship pathway goals.

This document explains vision and goals for discipleship and identifies the current programming that meets The Gathering's discipleship pathway goals.