The Missouri Annual Conference met in St. Charles June 7-9. The theme was SHARE: Share the love of God for all in the whole world through the grace of Jesus Christ and his followers.
Missouri Bishop Bob Farr was the presiding bishop. Bishop Farr began the gathering with a talk about changes that occurred at General Conference. He said he was pleased that the changes brought The United Methodist Church more in line with being a “Big Tent” church, in which both pastors and local churches had individual freedom of choice, regardless of where they are on the spectrum of being traditional, centrist or progressive.
“Hear me when I say this: You belong here,” Bishop Farr said.
Bishop Farr shared how he was bothered by the large Confederate flag alongside a busy highway in Missouri, because in the year 2024 the flag is embraced as a symbol of racism. He initiated the Missouri Conference acquiring space on a billboard near the flag with the message “Love Unites, Hate Divides.”
“I see this as one more opportunity to witness to the Good News found in Christ Jesus,” said Bishop Bob Farr. “Missouri is committed to helping our churches grow in our ability to talk about racial injustice so we can better condemn racism and evil in our world.”
To supplement this message, the Missouri Conference has produced a graphics package about the uniting power of love, called Love Unites, in time for another divisive election year. Print-ready files are available for download to produce yard signs, banners and T-shirts.
The Love Unites image was also displayed on a digital billboard alongside of I-70 outside of the St. Charles Convention Center while the annual conference session was taking place.
“I’d like to see one of these billboards in every city in Missouri,” Bishop Farr said.
After making this statement, several pastors went on record as saying their church would put up a billboard in their area.
Four delegates for next month’s South Central Jurisdictional Conference Session were elected during the annual conference session in St. Charles on Saturday. During the clergy session, the Rev. Craig Stevenson, a deacon, was elected on the first ballot with 40 votes out of 254 total votes cast. On the second ballot, the Rev. Tracey Wolff, an elder, was elected with 118 votes out of 249 votes cast. During the evening lay session, Monique Jones was elected with 77 out of 163 votes cast. On the second ballot, Kyle Boehr was elected with 75 votes out of 170 cast. These four will be seated along with the remaining jurisdictional delegation at the South Central Jurisdictional Conference July 10-12 in Rogers, Arkansas.
The Rev. Olu Brown was the preacher for the Sunday morning Celebration of Ministry Service, which included commissioning and ordination. The Most Rev. Mitchell Thomas Rozanski, Catholic Archbishop of St. Louis, brought the ecumenical greeting. This year seven people were commissioned, with the average age being 37. There were four people ordained, with an average age of 38. There were 29 retirements.
The closures of 31 churches were approved.
Membership stands at 106,402, down from 130,812 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 38,485, down from 47,530 in 2022. Church school attendance stands at 10,671, down from 13,799 in 2022. Professions or reaffirmations of faith for 2023 was 1,121, down from 1,826 in 2022. Adults and young adults in small groups for 2023 was 21,775, down from 26,746 in 2022. Worshippers engaged in mission for 2023 was 23,448, down from 28,429 in 2022.
— Fred Koenig, Publications Editor