Want to see UMTV video stories?
News (The 20 most recent)
By Subject: All�|� Agencies | Annual Conference | Bridges to the Future | Commentary | Connection | Disaster News | Faith In Action Stories | General Conference | Health Wellness | Mission Outreach | Nebraska-Kansas Episcopal Area Transition Team | UMW | Vital Congregations | Vital Signs Ministry Testimony | Web technology | Zimbabwe
Can't
find what you're looking for? Use our news search
Through change, keep eyes on God
Written: 1/26/2012
By Lisa Diehl, Kansas Area communications director
Clergy from Nebraska, Kansas East and Kansas West were sent forth to do ministry following a closing service that included communion and a message from Kansas Area Bishop Scott Jones.
Jones and Nebraska Area Bishop Ann Sherer-Simpson led the commu...
McLaren offers formula for evangelism
Written: 1/25/2012
By Lisa Diehl, Kansas Area communications director
Change is inevitable. Adaptation is optional. Leadership is optimal. Those are the words Brian McLaren, author and public theologian, gave to the clergy of the Nebraska, Kansas East and Kansas West annual conferences in his second presentation Jan....
McLaren: Everything must change
Written: 1/25/2012
By Kathryn Witte, Nebraska Area communications director
“Think garden, not tree,” began Brian McLaren’s third presentation at the Joint Called Clergy Session Jan. 17-19 in Topeka, Kan.
Drawing upon the content of his book titled “Everything Must Change,” McLaren said ...
Tricycles assembled by Nebraska, Kansas clergy given away
Written: 1/23/2012
By Kathryn Witte, Nebraska Area communications director
Tricycles were given away to 90 children of the Topeka Community Action Program’s Head Start on Jan. 18 as a result of a project partnership between United Methodist clergy from Kansas and Nebraska and Topeka’s North Westlake Hardw...
Seeking hope in the face of change
Written: 1/19/2012
By Lisa Diehl, Kansas Area communications director
While United Methodists in Kansas and Nebraska face significant structural change, Brian McLaren, keynote speaker for the Joint Called Clergy Session, said clergy need to understand “it’s not their fault.”
“We might have to...
Clergy build and give away tricycles
Written: 1/19/2012
By Kathryn Witte, Nebraska communications director
Tricycles were given away to 90 children of the Topeka Community Action Program’s Head Start on Wednesday as a result of a project partnership between United Methodist clergy from Kansas and Nebraska and Topeka’s North Westlake Hardware...
God is with us in the wilderness
Written: 1/18/2012
By Lisa Diehl, Kansas Area communications director
More than 800 United Methodist clergy from Kansas and Nebraska gathered Jan. 17, in Topeka, for a joint conference intended to bring all clergy together from both episcopal areas.
The opening worship service began with a drum circle and a dramatic...
Join the 2012 Clergy Wellness Program
Written: 1/17/2012
The Clergy Wellness Program is open for enrollment for 2012. The program is designed to empower United Methodist clergy in Kansas to develop and maintain healthy lifestyles that will provide a foundation for a balanced, sustainable life of ministry.
The program begins with a two-day wellness retrea...
Mount Olivet UMC helps fill neighborhood young's physical, spiritual needs
Written: 12/19/2011
By Susan Cooper, Kansas Area Communications associate director
Mount Olivet United Methodist Church is located in southwest Wichita in a working-class neighborhood that is sliding toward poverty. The loss of manufacturing jobs has had a significant impact on the area around the church.
About 10 ye...
New Covenant puts 'faith into action'
Written: 12/19/2011
By Rev. Cathy Holley, special contributor
The people of New Covenant United Methodist Church in Wichita, along with a crew from their sister church, Norwich UMC, skipped church one Sunday morning to “be” the church. A group of around 50 people performed several community-outreach projec...
Satanta UMC members provide warmth for community
Written: 12/19/2011
By Ryan Burrows, special contributor
When members of the Satanta United Methodist Church’s 21st Time adult Sunday-school class realized that many children at the elementary school in their community lacked a warm coat, they knew something had to be done.
...
WaKeeney, Prairie Home inspired by Vital Congregations process
Written: 12/19/2011
By Lisa Diehl, Kansas Area Communications director
The members of WaKeeney and Prairie Home United Methodist churches are taking seriously the Vital Congregations challenge issued by Bishop Scott Jones and the Kansas Area Cabinet.
“As part of the Vital Congregations process, both churches ha...
Oberlin UMC partners in free after-school program
Written: 12/19/2011
By Lisa Diehl, Kansas Area Communications director
Three years ago, the pastor and a couple of key lay people at Oberlin United Methodist Church were asked to partner with nearby Lund Covenant Church to start an after-school program for children in grades 1 through 6. Today, the program averages 44...
Lay people are heart of Zimbabwe church
Written: 12/16/2011
By Lisa Diehl, Kansas Area Communications director
One of the things that impressed a team of people from the Kansas West Conference visiting Zimbabwe in August was the strength and vision of the lay people in the many congregations visited.
A team of 12 people from the Kansas West Conference visi...
United Methodist Church looks inward, reaches out in 2011
Written: 12/16/2011
By Heather Hahn, Linda Bloom, Kathy L. Gilbert and Joey Butler, United Methodist News Service
There has long been urgency for The United Methodist Church to bring more young people into its pews and its pulpits, and this year there is evidence that it may be happening.
...
Ness City UMC hosts football dinners
Written: 12/15/2011
A Thursday night dinner is a tradition for the Ness City football team, and when other locations weren’t working out, the United Methodist Church opened its doors to host the event.
“My football members’ Moms asked if they could fix a meal on Thursday evening after practice before...
Renewing the county seat church
Written: 12/13/2011
By Rev. Michael McKee, special contributor
About 50 clergy and lay people gathered at Mount Sequoyah in Fayetteville, Ark., for two days in early November to learn how they might begin to help bring renewal to their local churches. The common denominator for the group was the context of their local...
Signs of vitality abundant at Belle Plaine UMC
Written: 11/29/2011
By Susan Cooper, Kansas Area Communications associate director
“Vitality happens as a result of hard work, spiritual renewal and God moments. If you want to see what that looks like, visit Belle Plaine United Methodist Church,” said Rev. Gary Brooks, the Wichita East District superinten...
Help stop human trafficking
Written: 11/29/2011
By Susan Cooper, Kansas Area Communications associate director
Breaking through pre-conceived ideas of human trafficking, Nita Belles, author of “In Our Backyard,” said children, youth and adults are being trafficked right here in Kansas at a recent workshop at College Hill United Metho...
Churches collaborate to 'save the starving'
Written: 11/29/2011
By Rev. Lennie Maxwell, special contributor
World Food Day’s 30th anniversary on Oct. 16 was a fitting day to make a statement: Save the starving. The purpose of the worldwide observance is to increase awareness and take action to alleviate hunger around the world.
That is what members of th...