I grew up in the Kansas West Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and am currently serving in the Kansas City area which is a part of the Kansas East Annual Conference. Both of the conferences were challenged by our Bishop Scott Jones to undertake a vision process guided by the following strategic questions […]
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Pray-as-you-go
It is good to get back to church from the time away during the retreat. However, whenever I return to the daily routine it seems as if there is endless catch up to accomplish. One of the things that I find that necessary and helpful is to to take a time of rest and recenter […]
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Poverty in Kansas City
This morning we heard from a representative of Community LINC in Kansas City about some of the issues surrounding poverty. Now we are preparing to move into a time of discussing the 2007 Strategic Objectives for the church.
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Staff Bonding
There is nothing quite like playing games late into the night to bond a staff group. Just being able to interact in things that are not project / staff / mission related is a great benefit. After our time of solitude and study, we had dinner, took a hayrack ride and ended at a campfire. […]
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A Calendar of Purpose
We just finished a time of looking at the calendar of events for 2007. I am amazed at the level of future planning. I have never been in a setting where the entire year is pretty well planned by the previous November. I found myself even thinking – it would be worthwhile to begin looking […]
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2006 Staff Retreat
I am currently on a retreat with the director level staff of Church of the Resurrection at the Tall Oaks Conference Center in Linwood, Kansas. It is a beautiful setting – wooded campground and a cool fall day. I was not sure quite what to expect yesterday when planning and packing for the experience. The […]
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Reading Adventure
In an attempt to better share my journey of reading and study, I have included a list of books that I have recently completed and the one which I am currently reading in the sidebar. Look for it at the bottom on the right. I will continue to update this section as I move forward […]
I am curious about the potential for partnerships between secular and sacred organizations in the emerging culture. In such partnerships, I think that the mission of each organization could be advanced and also something new created that was not there before. I recently listened to The Secret Message of Jesus as a book on CD […]
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Fall Leaves and Church Stages
As I was driving to the shop this morning to drop my car off for some necessary work, I was struck by the vibrance of some of the trees – their leaves were positively bursting with color. I began to think about the seasons and how each has distinctive characteristics. For trees, spring can be […]
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Discipline of Reading and Study
In the past week, I was challenged by one of my colleagues in ministry to set aside a regular time of reading and study during my day. I previously had not been pursuing this discipline. As a result of that discussion, I have set aside one hour each day to read and study. This project […]
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Ready to Respond?
I had an interesting experience tonight that has made me think. This evening I had a wedding rehearsal and afterward I went out to eat with two of my cousins at a restaurant on the Plaza. I left immediately after the rehearsal and went straight to the restaurant. It wasn’t until we sat down at […]
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How Rich are You?
A post from KC One Campaign brough my attention to the Global Rich List. I was amazed at the result. I knew in my head that myself and many people living in the developed world (even having access to a computer to read this article) are among the very richest people in the world. This […]
Rev. Andrew Conard 