News from us [link removed] SPRING 2021 RETIREE NEWSLETTER
Keep scrolling to read about what Missouri Conference retirees have been up to so far in 2021! May these stories provide a bright spot in your day and invite you to connect with one another to continue sharing encouragement and hope.
Virtual Quadrennial Boundaries Training
Friday, June 11, 2021 9:00 a.m.-3:15 p.m.
[link removed] Click here to register

There is little doubt that sexual misconduct in church and society is significant. One needs only to read the headlines to see the damage done by an abuse of power related to sexual misconduct within ministerial relationships. In 1996, the General Conference of the United Methodist Church made a commitment to focus on sexual misconduct and to address this brokenness and pain. The Missouri Annual Conference has also experienced this type of abuse and the Bishop, along with the Cabinet and the Board of Ordained Ministry, remain committed to naming this pain and working to prevent it within our churches. This training offers clergy the opportunity to stand in opposition to the sin of sexual misconduct within the Church through education and discernment with colleagues.

Retired clergy not currently serving and lay church staff or lay leaders are not required to take the training but are strongly encouraged. Missouri believes in widening the circle of accountability and responsibility around healthy boundaries. The more people educated in boundaries training, the better. [link removed] Click here to register.
Church Triumphant
Clergy and clergy spouses that have gone on to glory:

Joan Cooney, June 7, 2020
[link removed] Marion Millsaps, Dec. 21, 1929 – Aug. 1, 2020
[link removed] Kathryn Davis, Aug. 14, 1925 – Aug. 30, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Royal Gunter, Dec. 15, 1939 – Oct. 6, 2020
Susan Fulbright, Oct. 13, 2020
[link removed] Mary Lou Detweiler, July 29, 1929 – Oct. 16, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Donald DuRall, March 23, 1933 – Oct. 21, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Wesley Arington, Aug. 21, 1926 – Nov. 2, 2020
Rev. Wayne Kidwell, July 31, 1936 – Nov. 2, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Jerry Reynolds, Dec. 26, 1933 – Nov. 2, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Russell Branch, Jan. 11, 1943 – Nov. 8, 2020
[link removed] Alma Richardson, June 16, 1939 – Nov. 13, 2020
[link removed] Joan McMullen, Jan. 12, 1937 – Nov. 14, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Jack DeWees, Jan. 21, 1950 – Nov. 19, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Evelyn Ezell, April 9, 1924 – Nov. 23, 2020
[link removed] Lucy Fowler, Oct. 22, 1926 – Nov. 25, 2020
[link removed] Nancy Coleman, Dec. 14, 1953 – Dec. 3, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Gretchen Williams, Nov. 7, 1933 – Dec. 4, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Paul M. Hunt, Sept. 17, 1932 – Dec. 6, 2020
[link removed] Coralie Lee, Oct. 7, 1928 – Dec. 6, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Don Smith, May 27, 1944 – Dec. 10, 2020
[link removed] Wilbur Noakes, Nov. 27, 1945 – Dec. 12, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Treva Hall, Nov. 23, 1926 – Dec. 14, 2020
[link removed] Barbara Cragg, Jan. 4, 1937 – Dec. 23, 2020
[link removed] Terry Hopkins, July 27, 1940 – Dec. 23, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Ted Matkin, Feb. 15, 1927 – Dec. 26, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Donna Hoover, Nov. 26, 1940 – Dec. 30, 2020
[link removed] Jerry Lambert, Dec. 11, 1945 – Dec. 30, 2020
[link removed] Rev. Glenda Callicott, Sept. 24, 1957 – Jan. 18, 2021
[link removed] Ida Mae Wilsey, June 29, 1934 – Jan. 27, 2021
[link removed] Rev. Byron Gilbreath, July 23, 1928 – Jan. 29, 2021
[link removed] Rev. James Woeltje, Sept. 30, 1938 – Jan. 29, 2021
[link removed] Rev. James L. Smith, Sept. 21, 1941 – Feb. 2, 2021
[link removed] Rev. Harvey “Pete” Grayum, Oct. 18, 1943 – Feb. 4, 2021
[link removed] Rev. Lee Soxman, May 14, 1925 – Feb. 4, 2021
[link removed] Rev. George Bohn, July 26, 1940 – Feb. 6, 2021
[link removed] Joy Sparks, June 17, 1928 – Feb. 9, 2021
Rev. James Lyon, Jan. 4, 1942 – Feb. 24, 2021
[link removed] Rev. William Bamman, Nov. 15, 1931 – March 10, 2021
[link removed] Virginia Higdon Forsberg, Nov. 2, 1932 – March 26, 2021
[link removed] Rev. Jack L. Martin, Aug. 27, 1947 – March 30, 2021
[link removed] Rev. Aubry Jones, Feb. 22, 1933 – April 3, 2021


Gleanings From Around the Conference
[link removed] [link removed] Ann Rathert: Invitation to Zoom
By Rev. Ann Rathert, [email protected], Milwaukee, Wisconsin | St. Louis-area clergy have gone to a Zoom format during this pandemic time. We meet each month on the second Tuesdays at 10 a.m.
[link removed] Read more → [link removed] Wesley & Joan Ummel: Sunday Morning Thoughts
By Rev. Wesley Ummel, [email protected], Morrilton, Arkansas | I had an observation at church last Sunday. There is uncertainty about who is sitting near us because we are all wearing masks! [link removed] Read more → [link removed] Michael K. White: Serving in Central Missouri
By Mike and Linda White, [email protected], Keytesville, Missouri | Greetings in the Name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Linda and I are still serving Huntsville UMC and living on Lake Nehai in North Central Missouri. [link removed] Read more → [link removed] [link removed] Eugene and Lettie Morse: Celebrating and Keeping Busy
By Eugene and Lettie Morse, [email protected], St. Louis, Missouri | This past year was one like no other as we learned to adjust and adjust to the ever-changing impact of COVID-19. [link removed] Read more → [link removed] Karen Blank-Ewell: Moving and Getting Outside
By Karen Blank-Ewell, [email protected], Illinois | I’m in the final stages of moving from Lake Sara in Effingham, Illinois, down to Lake of Egypt, south of Marion, Illinois. [link removed] Read more → [link removed] Roger Jespersen: Staying Active and Moving to Ballwin
By Roger Jespersen, [email protected], Ballwin, Missouri | Hello, fellow retirees, Susan and I are back in our old home in Ballwin after 17 years in Southeast Missouri. [link removed] Read more → [link removed] Janet Petty Kohler: Getting Settled in Georgia
By Janet Kohler, [email protected], Villa Rica, Georgia | I have spent almost two years getting accustomed to living in Georgia. I am active in a small United Methodist Church here. [link removed] Read more → [link removed] Larry Linville: Recovering and Writing Poems
By Larry Linville, [email protected], Pleasant Valley, Missouri | Thelma had a stroke in January of 2020, and we have dealt with that and the complications of COVID-19 for over a year. She has improved slowly but still uses a walker or cane. [link removed] Read more → [link removed] Clayton L. Smith: Celebrating Vaccination and Digital Connection
By Clayton L. Smith, [email protected], Stilwell, Kansas | I am feeling more freedom over COVID isolation now that I have had my two vaccinations! We hope to be back in church on Easter Sunday! I even got a haircut and cut my facial hair! [link removed] Read more →


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Missouri Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
3601 Amron Court, Columbia, MO 65202 | Phone 573-441-1770 | www.moumethodist.org