Bob Kahle has been involved in camping ministry in one form or another for the past 50 years. And even though he’s retiring as director of camping services for Great Plains Camps ...
The Rev. Aleze M. Fulbright, secretary of the General Conference, has announced how many delegates each annual conference can elect to the 2028 General Conference. The Great Plains ...
OMAHA — Physically The Tent, one of three new church starts in the Great Plains Conference, is actually a sturdy building in south Omaha, constructed as a synagogue and used by ...
Six clergy and two laity will help set the strategic plan for the Great Plains Conference staff operations into 2026 and beyond. Selected for the task force are: Bishop David ...
NORFOLK, Neb. – Ten minutes into Norfolk First United Methodist Church’s “Pancakes with Santa,” a voice came bellowing into its Wesley Hall. “HO, HO, HO,” the basso voice of ...
The Bishop Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship is tucked in a corner of the campus at Southwestern College. But its reach goes far beyond its Winfield, Kansas, home. ...
Days after the announcement of the Jan. 20 closure of Tyson Foods’ beef plant in Lexington, the south central Nebraska city is still in shock. “This was a complete surprise to ...
To the dozens of parishioners at Brookville United Methodist Church in central Kansas, Jaron Bell is their pastor. To a growing number of fans across the state, he’s a popular ...
A new strategic plan for the Great Plains Conference took its first steps thanks to the approval of $40,000 in funds Nov. 8 by the Connecting Council. It would be the first ...
WASHINGTON, D. C. The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church has completed canvassing the votes of annual conferences on the four constitutional amendments that were ...
SALINA – As soon as the prayer ended, the assembly line began. A dozen youth from Salina Trinity United Methodist Church, joined by two more generations of adult volunteers, ...
OMAHA – The annual fall meeting of Black Methodists for Church Renewal was part celebration and part truths about where African Americans stand in the denomination today. About 30...
KEARNEY — American nationalism – what it is, tracing its history and its impact and how to counter it — was the subject of this year’s Orders & Fellowship clergy gathering, Oct. ...
In a year, United Methodists worldwide will gather in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, for the inaugural Council of Bishops Leadership Gathering. Rev. Cheryl Jefferson Bell at a Good ...
Roland Fernandes considers it a privilege to serve as general secretary of the General Board of Global Ministries in a time when there are so many opportunities to serve as the ...
Two clergy in the Great Plains Conference have had Advent studies recently published. Rev. Kara Eidson, pastor of McLouth-Oskaloosa UMCs in the East Central Kansas District, has ...
LEAWOOD – More than 1,600 people, either in person at Resurrection, a United Methodist Church, or online, got a “Rise” in their mission and their ministry during the annual ...
Rev. Brian Kaylor says the time is right to talk to the clergy of the Great Plains Conference regarding Christian nationalism. Listen to Rev. Brian Kaylor tell about his ...
For Rev. Dr. Ashlee Alley Crawford, it arose when she was a church intern at Winfield First United Methodist Church. “Have you considered that God might be calling you to ministry?...
Longtime clergy excellence team member Rev. Dr. Ashlee Alley Crawford has accepted a new position with Discipleship Ministries. Alley Crawford, who has been on the conference staff...
LEAWOOD – For one ministry at Resurrection, a United Methodist Church, the hands and feet of God are accompanied by paw prints and wet noses. The pet ministry at the church ...
LINCOLN — Rev. David Livingston took on centuries of doubts about the church by lifting up the good work he’s seen in southeast Nebraska in the sermon for his installation service...
TOPEKA — The current state of Hispanic ministries in the Great Plains Conference and plans for the future were the subjects of a task force gathering called by Bishop David Wilson ...
Bishop David Wilson shared this statement the evening of Sept. 10 regarding the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Download a printable version. Siblings ...
SALINA – Started in 2022 with the backing of the Great Plains Conference and the city’s United Methodist Churches, Salina Grace community resource center provides the unhoused in ...
GERING, Neb. — The congregation of Gering United Methodist Church sang the same hymn two weeks in a row. On Aug. 24, it was sung at the building that had been the congregation’s ...
ROELAND PARK, Kan. — It meets on Wednesday nights, not Sunday mornings. The worship music includes songs written by queer folk icon Brandi Carlile. Participants are invited to ...
GARDEN CITY, Kan. — This Sunday church potluck came with a side of community and church involvement. Nine cardboard backdrops were set up throughout the fellowship hall of Garden...
SUPERIOR, Neb. — Brittany Kroeker remembers the only time she got a new dress for a school dance. “People spent too much money on their dresses,” the 20-year-old recalled. “I paid ...
Bishop David Wilson released the following statement this evening in response to news about a minimum-security prison being converted to an immigant holding location. Read the ...
It’s an order in The United Methodist Church for laity who want to serve with a greater engagement and mission. Leah Wandera uses health care as her mission field as a deaconess,...
Many pastors, Rev. Dr. Derek Weber says, were not equipped to preach a sermon in the 2020s. “Most of us were trained in seminary or course of study to write an essay, in a sense, ...
TONGANOXIE, Kan. – In welcoming the congregation of Tonganoxie United Methodist Church back for its “grand reopening,” Rev. Matthew Wilke frequently returned to a three-word ...
Numerous separate boards and committees in a church, Rev. Dr. Blake Bradford says, is an idea whose time has come and gone. “I was looking around and serving churches and noticing ...
At the Justice in Action Nehemiah Action Assembly in Lincoln in May, one agreed-upon goal could not happen unless volunteers got involved. That was the implementation of mediation ...
SALINA — “I’m nearly 90 years old,” Rev. Marshall Stanton says, “and here’s my baby.” The blessed event is a 1-pound, 4 oz., 8 ½-by-11 inches book, “From a Precipice to a Grand ...
PITTSBURG – The number of people served by Wesley House in the months of May and June was the largest in the ministry’s 44-year history. And July looks to follow suit. On a recent...
OMAHA – A group of a dozen-plus retired men, looking for something productive to do with their spare time. A United Methodist Church that, after the loss of its daycare, has a ...
Read this story in Korean. OLATHE – Members of Bonfire United Methodist Church celebrated their first anniversary July 6 with testimonials, a cake and a group photo. But instead ...
올레이스 – 7월 6일 본파이어 연합감리교회 교인들이 1주년을 기념하며 간증과 케이크, 단체 사진을 함께 했다. 하지만 그들은 "치즈"라고 말하는 대신, 발효된 양배추로 만든 한국 요리인 "김치"라고 말했다. 작년 Great Plains Conference에서 새로 세운 세 교회 중 하나인 Bonfire는 ...
SALINA – Like many other churches in the country, the theme for its Vacation Bible School this summer is “Road Trip.” But Salina Trinity United Methodist Church is putting the ...
BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – United Methodist Youth Institute has been celebrating its 115th anniversary on social media by flashing back to Institute from years past, where hundreds of ...
TOPEKA – In the corner of the Topeka University United Methodist Church parking lot, a solo violin is playing. Several people are gathered under a tree on the other corner, ...
Playing the razzle-dazzle lawyer Billy Flynn in McPherson Community Theatre’s production of “Chicago” is a different world for Rev. Andrew Conard than his role as senior pastor of ...
The 2025 edition of Micah Corps began its summer social justice journey by attending the Great Plains Conference session in Salina, June 5-7. On the third week of June, they will ...
Tuesday morning at about 9 a.m., Glenn Valley Foods in South Omaha (the Latino area) suffered the largest Nebraska enforcement operation of the last few years. The Immigration ...
Bishop David Wilson issued the following statement Wednesday, June 11, in response to a raid on a meatpacking plant in south Omaha on June 10. Latino Pastors Share Their ...
GRINNELL, Kan. – Growing up in Oklahoma, Bishop David Wilson knew all about the effect of tornadoes. “It still amazes me today, the power of these storms and what they can do,” ...
Rev. Eduardo Bousson, director of schools, colleges and universities for General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, confers with facilitator Christ Johnson, principal at The ...
The intertwining issues of homelessness and affordable housing were at the top of the agenda for three of the final Nehemiah Action Assemblies in the Great Plains Conference this ...
BALDWIN CITY, Kan. — Rev. Kevin Hopkins began his final sermon at Baker University chapel services by flashing back to his first sermon. As a 20-year-old four decades ago, he ...
WICHITA – The new vision statement for The United Methodist Church, unveiled a week earlier by the denomination, dominated the discussion at the May 9-10 meeting of the Connecting ...
Bishop David Wilson has released a statement endorsing the new vision statement for The United Methodist Church. Download a printable PDF of the statement. Dear Sisters and ...
The final blessing and transfer of membership for Bishop Richard Wilke from The United Methodist Church to the Church Triumphant is given by Pastor Beth Wilke. Photo by Todd ...
LINCOLN — Leaders of Justice in Action, the Lincoln-Lancaster County-based justice group, got affirmative responses on their plans on eviction mediation and mental health ...
Among the attendees at the General Commission on Religion & Race’s immigration summit was a Tennessee immigration attorney who owes his passion for justice to his time on Micah ...
OMAHA – Eight weeks after members of the General Commission on Religion & Race received word during a meeting that the federal government was no longer considering churches as ...
UPDATED -- April 24. The children of Bishop Richard Byrd Wilke have been fielding phone and text condolences and reading tributes on social media in the days after the death of ...
Evangelism has always been hard to define, Rev. Michael Park says. And the last few years have only made it worse. “From my perspective, evangelism is reaching out to people and ...
The United Methodist bishop who co-wrote the Bible study that continues to enhance the discipleship of millions of Christians worldwide has died at the age of 94. Bishop Richard ...
The campus of Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina was a longtime home for the former Kansas West annual conference sessions and will be hosting its first Great Plains Conference ...
When a new justice ministry in central Kansas officially gets off the ground next year, it will already have its lead organizer in place. Rev. Jeanne Koontz was named by the Direct ...
TOPEKA – Nehemiah Action Assemblies, an annual gathering where leaders of Direction Action and Resource Training (DART) organizations seek public approval for the groups’ ...
LINCOLN — Nearly 800 people packed the sanctuary of Saint Paul United Methodist Church on April 3 for Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber’s “Red State Revival” tour, partially a salve for ...
Writing an entire book takes a different skill set than penning a sermon or a social media post, as three pastors from the Great Plains Conference have discovered. Books released ...
Not long after Metropolitan Avenue United Methodist Church opened its final building in the late 1930s and early ‘40s, it became a center of the Argentine community in Kansas City, ...
As the war in Gaza continues, Todd Seifert, conference communications director, talks with Carol Ekdahl Garwood, chair of the Great Plains Conference's Holy Land Task Force, on the...
TEKAMAH, Neb. – It’s 3.14. For science and math geeks, March 14 means it’s Pi Day. But in the basement of Tekamah United Methodist Church, it’s Pie Day far more than just once a ...
After more than 25 years of serving nearly 1,500 clergy with his Center for Pastoral Effectiveness of the Rockies, Rev. Bill Selby is making plans to transition to retirement. “I’m...
WICHITA – Down the hall from the sanctuary at East Heights United Methodist Church, where the congregation is singing “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” there’s a different tune ...
TOPEKA – The 50th Kansas Legislative Event for Advocacy in Faith, or LEAF, focused Feb. 16-17 on “Better Lives for Women and Children.” The legislative event, at Topeka First UMC,...
Philadelphia may have won the Super Bowl, but the Kansas City-area bishops will be receiving cheesesteaks after what has become an annual Sacking Hunger Challenge. The Great Plains ...
Internships: They aren’t just for summer anymore. The Great Plains Conference’s internship program is changing its calendar to offer churches financial assistance in Pastoral ...
LINCOLN — Participants celebrated a half-century of seeking social justice during the 50th Nebraska Ecumenical Legislature Briefing Day on Feb. 8. “You are history,” Rev. Dr. Ron ...
Two leaders in the Great Plains Conference’s office in Topeka will be moving from one capital city to another in appointments to two of the largest churches in Lincoln. Rev. Jeff ...
BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – More than 100 people from Baldwin City and beyond got a literal and figurative taste of east Africa during the first Kenya Night at First United Methodist ...
United Methodist clergy from the Wichita area and beyond helped console the city after a fatal plane crash Jan. 29 in Washington, D.C., of a flight that left the Air Capital. As ...
Multiple The United Methodist Church leaders are set to gather for a webinar to discuss the United Methodist response to immigrant justice and United Methodists across the ...
Bishop David Wilson has released a statement this morning regarding the plane crash Wednesday night at Reagan National Airport: "I am heartbroken to hear the news of the plane ...
Kansas City is playing in its third-consecutive Super Bowl and its fifth in the past six years. This time, the foe is the Philadelphia Eagles. They will play Sunday, Feb. 9, in New ...
For 15 youth in the Great Plains Conference’s Leadership Lab program, a holiday break trip to follow Paul’s footsteps in Greece was the culmination of several years of work and ...
Bishop David Wilson (right) addresses parishioners of Iglesia Comunitaria, a Hispanic congregation in south Omaha on Jan. 18. The bishop was able to communicate to the group with ...
As a fifth-grader, Rev. David Livingston recalls bouncing a basketball against the house, wondering what he was going to do with his life. “I wanted it to be what would have the ...
Bishop David Wilson’s goal for Jan. 12 – to deliver the sermon at three of the five churches in the Delaware Valley Parish – almost didn’t get off the ground. It didn’t even get ...
The issue of immigration continues to grow in prominence as we move closer to the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. During the campaign, he promised mass deportations ...
Like most of the churches in the Great Plains Conference, Basehor United Methodist Church called off Sunday services Jan. 5 because of the monumental blizzard. But the Leavenworth ...
Jennifer McAferty, human resources and benefits manager, is a Mayetta native who earned a bachelor’s degree from Capella University in Business and HR Management and a master’s ...
Churches in the Great Plains, especially those with smaller congregations, will benefit from a new partnership between the conference and Worship Design Studio. “Small Bites, Big ...
The Table is a different kind of evangelism tool used by Bonfire, a Korean-language and culture church start in Olathe, Kansas. The Table is a biweekly meal with invited guests who ...
OMAHA – Rev. Peter Karanja recalls arriving in the United States as a seminarian at Drew University Theological School in New Jersey and looking for food. “Back in Jersey I had to ...
OMAHA – Urban Abbey, the coffeehouse-bookstore ministry nestled in Omaha’s Old Market neighborhood, is packed. It’s “Festive Sweater Sunday” on the second week of Advent, with a ...
With threats of mass deportation looming by President-elect Donald Trump, Bishop David Wilson will convene a task force on immigration at the beginning of 2025 to address concerns ...
OMAHA – Beams from searchlights pierce through the sky along L Street in west Omaha. At the base of the lights was the entrance to Omaha FaithWestwood United Methodist Church’s ...
The campaign promise by President-elect Donald Trump for mass deportations has created more than a little anxiety among people who are immigrants to the United States. While some ...
As a young girl growing up in Texas, Rev. Melissa Collier Gepford was not only a voracious reader but dreamt of writing children’s books of her own. “I love marrying the two art ...
She doesn’t remember the circumstances, but in early 1980, Jolene Hammond was told she was the new treasurer of Mizpah United Methodist Church. “I almost can't remember when they ...
TOPEKA – Bishop David Wilson spoke before a different kind of congregation — a group of 80 fifth-graders at Farley Elementary School in southwest Topeka — on Friday, Nov. 15. In his...
LEAWOOD, Kan. – Three United Methodist leaders weaved the history of their cultures with personal experiences during presentations at the inaugural Bridges to Care Conference, Nov....
OLATHE, Kansas – Five years after Olathe First United Methodist Church and Olathe Hope UMC merged in 1994 to become Olathe Grace UMC on land owned by the latter, the question of ...
Kurt McBride has become the chair of the Great Plains Conference Board of Ordained Ministry, the first time a layperson has assumed the role in the history of the conference. “I’m ...
