Southeast District News

July 3 - Southeast District Office Closed in Observance for the 4th of July
July 12-16 & July 21-25 - Unite Camp
July 26 - Disaster Response Training at First UMC (West Plains) Click Here to Find in Newsletter
Nov 16 - Charge Conference (Additional information TBA)

Southeast District Grants Available

The Southeast District is once again offering ministry grants to United Methodist Church or affiliated organizations in the district boundaries.

• Priority will be given to organizations that have not previously received a grant.
• Priority will be given to Conference initiatives listed below.

New Places for New People (NPNP) -New or growing Alpha programs
Next Generation Ministries - (birth-college age) New program that multiplies the church Next Gen Ministries.
Raise up Missional Leaders – training or an experience to recruit, train or disciple missional leaders engaged in the congregation.

Application: 2025-SE+Grant-Application-Packet-Form.docx

For more information, click this link →

Unite Camp - Reservations Close Soon!

UNITE is a space for all people to connect in such a way that every generation feels empowered to cultivate God’s vision of love and grace in our world.

UNITE Students is the embodiment of many dreams to cultivate a space for students to lead, create and play together. The UNITE team is a diverse group of laity and pastors from across Missouri with one common goal: to allow students to see themselves in God’s expanse so that they feel empowered to lead change in their local church and community for years to come. With the heart of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, UNITE is made possible with the generous support of the Missouri Conference of The United Methodist Church.

The experience of UNITE Students includes transformative worship, dynamic teaching and spiritual practices that are magnified by the voices of hundreds of students and leaders gathered in this sacred space. With a belief in connection, there is an intentional time for small groups to gather and discuss what they’ve heard, electives to learn and explore together, and downtime for organic relationship building and individual rest.

Registrations close June 30!

Registrations Are Still Open! Click Here! →

Summer Day Camps in the SE District

Bible Study, Worship, Arts & Crafts, Gagaball, and more!

First UMC (Rolla) - Eagle Lake Day Camp
July 7-11 (9AM-4PM)
First UMC
803 N Main St, Rolla MO 65401
Ages 6-12
Price: $150
Click Here to Read the Flyer

Memorial UMC (Farmington) - Heartland Day Camp
July 28-August 1 (9AM-4PM)
Memorial UMC
425 North St, Farmington, MO 63640
Ages K-6th Grade (2024-2025)
Price: $75
Click Here to Register

Imagine Something New at Dream Lab

Dream Lab Retreat – Aug. 1-2
Get out of the office and into a creative headspace. Dream Lab, a 24-hour retreat at the Lake of the Ozarks, is designed for you and your team to imagine and brainstorm about something new for your ministry. A facilitator will guide your group through creative prompts and questions to allow the Holy Spirit to lead you into the next dream God has for your church.
Learn more and register your local church team at www.moumethodist.org/eventdetail/dream-lab-18646730

Disaster Response Basic and Recertification Training

This class will provide you with the basic information you need about Early Response Teams. ERTs fill a specific need in the days after a disaster to clean out flood-damaged homes, remove debris, place tarps on homes, and otherwise help to prevent further damage, while providing a caring Christian presence.

When: 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 26
Where: First UMC, 503 W est Main Street, West Plains, MO
Cost: $15, includes lunch and supplies

More Information & Register →

Lay Education Classes

Wednesdays beginning Sept. 10 - Emotionally Healthy Spirituality online via Zoom
Mondays beginning Nov. 3 - UMC Polity online via Zoom

Save the date for these lay education classes coming in the fall:

Mondays beginning Sept. 8 - BeUMC online via Zoom

Course Highlights

Using a Content Calendar to Plan Your Year
Designed with busy and bivocational pastors in mind, the preaching content calendar demonstrates how you can use free teaching series kits – like those available from the Missouri Conference and ShareChurch – to map out an entire calendar year of Sundays. We recognize that many of you do not have the bandwidth to do annual calendar planning. By utilizing the resources available in this course, with some minor tweaks based on your context, you can have a full season or year planned in a matter of a couple of hours.
View the Course Here.

Strategic Ministry Planning
In this course, coach Kay Kotan explores both church and leadership life cycles in the context of strategic ministry planning. She’ll share how to use this information for a strategic ministry planning retreat. This is a practical course you can take as you look towards fall ministry planning! View the Course →

See More Courses on Absorb →

Prayer Knows No Distance

Houston UMC’s United Women in Faith group sponsor Ashly, a young girl from Nicaragua, keeping a photo of her in their Bibles as a reminder to lift her and her family up in prayer. The group pays for Ashly’s education through The Rainbow Network, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to lift people out of extreme poverty in Nicaragua through education, housing, healthcare, and economic development. An education sponsorship is an opportunity to personally connect with a student and encourage them as they pursue their educational goals. Houston’s UWF group is active and participates in many local and global mission and outreach activities.

In the photo above, the United Women in Faith group pose at the annual June picnic with their photos of Ashly.

The Southeast District invites churches to share their outreach ministries, please send photos and information to [email protected].

Curriculum Discounts Available

Missouri Conference NextGen Ministries is excited to offer discounts on curriculum produced by top kids and youth ministry providers. New this year: We've added discounts on Illustrated Ministry curriculum!
This resource is available for any ministry leader working with kids and youth. We hope that providing these discounts will create a little space in ministry budgets and that leaders can use those dollars to do the project or program they’ve been dreaming about. Interested clergy, laity and NextGen leaders should fill out the curriculum discount request form to indicate which provider’s materials they’re interested in. Then, NextGen Ministries will send you the steps for redeeming your discount as well as your promo code. See the providers and get your discount →

Free Hospitality Vests Available from Waypoint

Waypoint UMC in Waynesville has 20 Welcome Vests available and would like to gift them to a church that could use them. They are requesting postage reimbursement if possible, or pickup.

Sizes:
2 Small | 2 Medium | 3 Large | 5 XL | 4 XXL

If interested, please contact Cheryl at [email protected]

9 Common Church Copyright Myths

Using popular worship songs in your ministry can help your members engage in worship, but there are some risks. A simple Google search would provide you with a plethora of articles about copyright laws, but we all know you can’t trust everything you read on the internet. While some of the information is correct, the Legal Services team at UMC Support hopes to clear up some of the common misunderstandings that we’ve encountered.

Read the Article from GCFA HERE.

Festival of Sharing 2025 Information Available

Friday, October 3rd, 2025

The 2025 Festival of Sharing Booklet and infographics are now available. Download and print pack and kit lists from the 'Media' tab. The most requested packs are the family food boxes, paper products pack, and personal hygiene pack.

Packs are collected for disbursement in Missouri while kits are disbursed by Church World Service to other areas of the world.

Additional Sharefest details to be published as they become available.

For more information, visit: Festival of Sharing

FREE Video Resources Available

The Southeast District Office has free Amplify Media accounts available for Pastors and Church Leaders in our district.

Amplify is a video streaming service that offers a collection of thousands of videos and programming suitable for small group Bible studies, children's ministries, sermons, and more.

Free accounts are limited. Please email Allie at [email protected] to request the access code.

Do Your Church PCs Need An Upgrade?

Windows 10 support ends Oct. 2025 which means no more updates or security fixes for computers running that operating system.

If your church needs help determining if your computer can upgrade to Windows 11, GCFA has provided resources through UMC Technology Support to help you stay secure and up-to-date.

UMC Support can check your upgrade eligibility to determine if you can upgrade or if you need a new PC. If your PC is not eligible to upgrade, they offer deep discounts to help you save money.

To watch a video with FAQ and for more resources follow this link: https://www.gcfa.org/resource/windows-10-end-of-life

Stay Connected

Stay Connected with the Missouri Conference

Stay informed of the exciting opportunities the Missouri Annual Conference is offering. View our annual stay connected letter to see the many ways you can connect and follow the Missouri Conference: https://www.moumethodist.org/newsdetail/18891548