FALL 2025 RETIREE NEWSLETTER
Greetings Missouri Conference Retirees! We have a packed newsletter edition this fall. Keep scrolling to read about what Missouri Conference retirees have been up. May these stories provide a bright spot in your day and invite you to connect with one another to continue sharing encouragement and hope.
Conference News and Announcements
A New Chapter for The Missouri Methodists Magazine
After nearly 25 years of faithfully telling the story of Missouri United Methodists, our longtime publications editor, Fred Koenig, will conclude his tenure at the end of December. Fred’s journalistic eye, steady presence and care for local church stories have shaped The Missouri Methodists for a generation, and the December issue will honor his ministry among us. That same issue will also share more about the magazine’s next chapter as we shift to a quarterly format beginning in 2026. Read more about the upcoming changes in the digital edition of the December magazine available Nov. 21 at www.moumethodist.org/magazine.
Clerical Robe Needed for Visiting Bishop
The Missouri Conference is seeking to receive the donation of a clerical robe for Bishop César Llanco Zavaleta, who will join us at the 2026 Missouri Annual Conference Session as a special guest of Bishop Farr. Bishop Llanco will participate in the Celebration of Ministry: Commissioning and Ordination Service, and we would like to gift the robe to him following the service. If you have a robe suitable for an average-height man that you would be willing to donate, please contact Rev. Kim Jenne at [email protected].
Join Us in a Miracle: Supporting Future Church Leaders
The Council of Bishops invites United Methodists worldwide to join a Holy Spirit–led effort to strengthen the Endowment for Theological Education outside the United States. This endowment supports 500 students annually across Africa, Europe and the Philippines and helps to close the gap in theological training where fewer than 5% of pastors hold a master’s degree, compared to more than 70% in the U.S.
As those who have dedicated your lives to ministry, we invite you to prayerfully consider a gift to this worldwide effort. Your generosity will plant seeds of faith that will bear fruit for generations of pastors and congregations to come.
Ways to Give
- Online: Give securely through the Missouri Conference’s online giving portal. Select Other Gifts/Miscellaneous and include “Miracle Sunday” in the memo field. Click here to give online.
- By Mail: Mail checks to the Missouri Conference Office, 3601 Amron Ct., Columbia, MO 65202. Please include “Miracle Sunday” in the memo line.
Thank you for continuing to lead with love, serve with joy and inspire courage in ministry. Together, we can make this Miracle Sunday truly miraculous.
Church Triumphant
Clergy and clergy spouses that have gone on to glory:
Gleanings From Around the Conference
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Retirees Featured in Church Planter Video
At the Missouri Annual Conference Session in June, the Center for Congregational Development report featured a video of Missouri Conference church planters. Two of those planters, Rev. Fred Leist and Rev. Susan Marner-Sides, are retirees! |
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Welcome the 2025 Class of Retirees!
At the Missouri Annual Conference Session in June, we celebrated the retirement of the Class of 2025 retirees. Watch their testimonies and words of wisdom! |
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