Lunch on Us for Local Church Leaders

Let’s do lunch! Join Maggie Lohmeyer from NextGen Ministries, fellow NextGen pastors and volunteer leaders to network, share ideas and learn about how we can help each other in the arenas of children, youth and college-age ministry. Each event is open to any leaders from the Missouri area including paid staff, volunteers and clergy. We hope to see you there, and of course, lunch is on us! Learn more and register at www.moumethodist.org/lunchonus.

Ignore that Gift Card Email

The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, is alerting religious leaders around the country about a gift card scam targeting worshipers. The FTC alert, Worshipers targeted by gift card scam, explains that scammers pretend to be a pastor or bishop and then ask worshipers for gift card contributions for a worthy cause. Appeals are often made by email, but can be texts or phone calls. The imposter asks people to buy a popular gift card — frequently, iTunes, Google Play, or Amazon — and then asks for the gift card number and PIN on the back of the card. Those numbers let the scammer immediately get the money people loaded onto the card. And once that’s done, the scammer and peoples’ money are gone, usually without a trace. But, as outlined in the alert, there are things people should do if they paid a scammer with a gift card.