News from us [link removed] December 7, 2021
From Mozambique to Northern Missouri

A friendship that was forged by a Mozambique Initiative Volunteers In Mission team lead to a family relocating to Missouri to serve churches here.

Rev. Naftal Naftal had no thoughts of moving to the U.S. when he visited Vermont in 2003: Nor did he consider it when he visited Missouri in 2005. At the time he was on staff for the Mozambique Conference, but he wasn’t a pastor. He was coordinator of the Volunteers In Mission teams that were coming from Missouri to serve in Mozambique.

But he recognized his call to ministry while working for the Mozambique Conference. He started seminary in Zimbabwe in 2007. He was ordained deacon in 2012 and elder in 2014.

After that Naftal and his wife started considering living somewhere other than Mozamabique, but they didn’t know where. His friend from Savannah, Missouri, Rev. Cindy Buhman, encouraged him to give Savannah a try.

[link removed] Read more of Naftal's story →

Upcoming Events
Dec. 9 - [link removed] Wespath Pre-Retirement Workshop: Process and Tools for Planning Your Retirement
Dec. 27 - Year-end Stats Module Opens
Jan. 8 - [link removed] INSPIRE Hybrid Discernment Event
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First Love: A Renovaré Retreat for Pastors
April 25-28, 2022 · Colorado Springs
It is a safe space for rest and renewal among others who understand your journey, a time away for refocusing on Jesus and allowing him to restore your soul. It is for pastors of all Christian traditions, men and women, who want to focus on congregational depth rather than size, who’ve been hurt by people but still feel called to cultivate authentic community, and who know that they can only give what they first receive from God. Attendance is limited attendance. [link removed] Learn more →
Featured Resource
Podcast: Rest for the Always-on Minister
One of the possible pitfalls or traps of ministering in a digital parish is that our field of ministry is always active. It’s always on and accessible. By extension, those of us engaged in digital ministry can feel like we need to always be on and accessible… and working weird hours… and responding to everything immediately… and throwing a lot of our personal life into public space. Licensed social worker and minister, Lindsay Geist, shares practices of rest and healthy boundaries for digital ministers.
[link removed] Listen to the podcast →
More Resources
[link removed] Wellness Resources
Wellness might feel like the latest buzzword, but now more than ever, it’s important for each of us to be intentional in how we’re maintaining our well-being. Wespath defines wellness as encompassing five dimensions: mental-emotional, financial, spiritual, social and physical health.
[link removed] Pre-Recorded Sermons for Pastor Sabbaths
Time off is essential to remaining healthy and effective in ministry. We've recorded three sermons for you to use in your local church. We hope you'll utilize this resource to take a Sunday off from preaching. Additionally, we're offering the option for churches to request a customized full worship service.
[link removed] 7 Outdated Assumptions About Launching a New Service
From Discipleship Ministries: You may be wondering how to find the other half of your church in these waning months of the pandemic. The world shifted on its axis. Doing the same things you did before Spring 2020 may get you back to seventy percent. A fuller church recovery post-COVID will likely require launching a new worship community. But when it comes to launching worship, a lot has changed! From livestreams to church size, here are seven common assumptions that are just plain incorrect.
See the full resource library at [link removed] www.moumethodist.org/resourcelibrary


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Missouri Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
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