Resource Library

Recommended reading as well as useful websites and tools related to community development in rural ministry contexts.

The University of Missouri Office of Extension offers these tools, strategies and resources to empower your community and improve lives across Missouri.

A list of recommended books for leadership development.

This guide was designed to help you plan and host a get-together with a few neighbors. The goal of this gathering is to do something simple and meaningful with a few neighbors who live close to you. This guide will give you four steps, that will help you connect with neighbors, invite them to your gathering and follow up with them once you are done.

Get to know the gifts of your neighbors while making connections and deepening relationships. Have these conversations with those who live next door to you where you live, those who live around your church building and those who are leaders in your community.

United Methodist Communications has created a special presentation called "We are the church. Together" that will remind congregations of their identity as United Methodists while also inviting them to have constructive conversations about what they open the future will bring, both for The UMC as a whole and their congregation.

A Land Acknowledgment is a statement that recognizes and respects Indigenous Peoples as traditional stewards of the land and the enduring relationship that exists between Indigenous Peoples and their traditional territories.

In Missouri, we are committed to understanding our own biases. Our work in race and culture exists to help us become a place for people from diverse cultures and generations so that, ultimately, we become a Church for all God’s people. The Conference worked with the General Commission on Race and Religion to develop a customized version of their online implicit bias training for Missouri lay and clergy.

Interested in learning more about how neighboring can impact your community? Check out these resources.

#BeUMC honors the core values that connect the people of The United Methodist Church. No matter the challenges we face, God is with us, and we continue to have opportunities to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world! #BeUMC calls us to embrace our Wesleyan heritage and envision a promising future.