Well, another Annual Conference is behind us and the date and location for next year has been announced. Next year’s conference is moving to our side of the state. It will be held in St. Charles, Missouri on June 9,10, and 11. I will be officially retiring at next year’s conference, so it will be nice to have it a little closer to home for family and friends to potentially visit the ceremony.

I enjoy attending Annual Conferences and even though they drain me, they also rejuvenate me spiritually. I get a good picture of the different ministries that are taking place in the state but also around the world because of the support of Missouri United Methodists.

One of the most exciting facts I heard this weekend was that because of our continued support for the Mozambique Initiative there have been 87 new wells drilled in the last two years. This has allowed communities to develop new crops to support themselves and also to establish a herd of pigs for food. They have also begun to sell both crops and livestock to neighboring communities, so they can do the same. Life is beginning to brighten because of the support of the Missouri Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Because of our support through the Festival of Sharing, great strides have been made in rebuilding Puerto Rico after the devastating hurricanes. Houses of worship and homes are being rebuilt. There has also been a charter school started because of our support through Festival of Sharing.

Besides the good news of ministry work, we also learned that financially the Missouri Conference is standing at pre pandemic numbers, which is very good.

Because of the support Methodists churches have given to the Boy Scouts over the years, they were also named in the recent lawsuits against the Boy Scouts. A settlement has been reached with the Missouri Conference at a cost of $890,000. Our legal counsel said this is good and the conference has paid it without any hardship to any of our ministries.

I did have an opportunity to speak briefly with our new District Superintendent as well as some pastor friends who have worked with him. I was told he is great to work with and will do whatever is needed to support us.

In closing, I want everyone to know that although I will not be in the pulpit for the next couple months, I will be in the office sometime during most weeks and will be available by phone most of the time. Feel free to call if you have a need or just need to talk to me.

In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Steve