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Missouri Annual Conference
June 9-12, Springfield

The Missouri Conference is looking forward to a new day. A spirit of cooperation, trust, service flowed throughout the four-day session as the members agreed to work together with a focus on the future.  

Assembling in Springfield was something new for the annual conference session. Conducting annual conference in Columbia long precedes the merger of the Missouri East and Missouri West annual conferences that occurred in 2003. The annual conference session had met in Columbia since 1993, and in nearby Fayette at Central Methodist University for about 30 years before that. This year the Springfield location was chosen over Columbia because it’s larger conference center could better accommodate the 1,700 who were attending the meeting.

In his opening address, Bishop Robert Schnase called on the Missouri Conference to face the reality that during the past 40 years, the population of Missouri had increased 29 percent while membership in the United Methodist Church had dropped 32 percent.

Change is needed

“A system is perfectly aligned to get the results it is getting,” Bishop Schnase said. “If your goal was to design a structure that would lose 30 percent of its membership in 40 years, it would look like the structure that we have today.”

To build a road to a different future, the bishop commissioned a “Pathways” task force this past year. The task force will be evaluating every aspect of ministry in the annual conference in the coming year with an eye to aligning mission, ministry, and money. Bishop Schnase stated that his goal is to have worship attendance in the conference up by 5,000 within six years.

On Saturday afternoon, many of the people at the conference engaged in mission projects. Five accessibility ramps were built at individuals homes, renovations were done at an adult daycare center, interior improvements were made at a children’s clothing service and maintenance was performed at a therapeutic riding center. About 1,000 volunteer work hours were contributed to these projects.

On Saturday evening, a banquet was held to celebrate the contributions the Missouri Conference had made to disaster response in 2005. Conference members heard that Missouri United Methodists made gifts of cash, time, and in-kind articles totaling more than $4 million to various missions. This is beyond-the-budget giving and represents only what is reported through the annual conference. It does not take into account the many ministries taking place in local congregations.

At the beginning on the banquet, kits were collected to assist people who had been affected by disasters. There were 1,437 personal hygiene kits valued at $25,866; 183 clean-up buckets valued at $8,235; 100 baby blankets; and $3,142.57 for shipping kits and buckets for the Bishops’ Appeal for churches affected by last year’s hurricanes. 

It was also announced that the Missouri Conference has received a $500,000 grant from the United Methodist Committee on Relief to provide assistance to last year’s hurricane victims that are now living in Missouri.

During a conference plenary session, Chancellor Larry Tucker reported that the Norris case had been settled. This case had been in appeal since last year, when a jury awarded the plaintiff a $3 million judgment against the conference for failure to supervise a pastor. The settlement ends all appeals. Insurance will cover $300,000 of the costs, and other annual conferences offered to contribute $200,000, including $30,000 from the Louisiana Conference. The offers from other conferences were accepted at 50 percent of their offer. The rest of the money came from conference reserve funds and a “Legal Contingency Fund” apportionment from 2005 and 2006.

The covenant accountability task force reported that it has reviewed and assisted in revising several policies and procedures related to clergy sexual ethics. Their report included the work of the clergy sexual ethics policy, procedures of the board of ordained ministry, and the Safe Sanctuaries Certification Authority.

The 2007 conference budget will be about $1.5 million less than the 2006 budget. Two primary factors for the decrease are the decision to direct bill disability premiums and the removal of the Legal Contingency Fund. The conference passed the proposed budget on Monday morning with no discussion.

Churches are now expected to purchase property insurance through UM PACT. Most are expected to experience a savings in premiums with an increase in coverage. Insurance is to be purchased as previous contracts expire. This proposal passed after two informational meetings and extensive discussion on the conference floor, but it did pass by a significant margin.

A service celebrating 50 years of full ordination rights for women was conducted on Sunday morning. The service was highlighted by a processional of women, active and retired, who serve as clergy in Missouri United Methodism. 

United Methodist membership in the Missouri Conference stands at 173,794, down 2,228 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 85,305, up 433. Church school attendance stands at 33,608, down 1,480.