Two women from Missouri were commissioned as missionaries of the United Methodist Church by Bishop Joel Martinez during the recent General Board of Global Ministries meeting in Stamford, Connecticut. General Board of Global Ministries Director Judith Ball from the Adrian United Methodist Church and Max Marble, Director of the Office of Creative Ministries, represented the Missouri Conference at the Commissioning Service.
Carol Clay Mann was commissioned as a deaconess. As a deaconess she will continue to serve in the Lewis County C-1 Schools in Ewing, Missouri, and with the Quincy Area Network Against Domestic Abuse in Quincy, Illinois. Carol is a member of the Olivet United Methodist Church in Taylor, Missouri.  She learned about the deaconess program at the Wesley Foundation in Warrensburg and has spent the past 8 years in study, training and preparation.
Mary L. Ward was commissioned as a Church and Community worker and has been assigned to serve as Executive Director of the United Methodist Outreach Program of Roanoke,Virginia, beginning June 1, 2007. Mary is a member of St. James United Methodist Church in Kansas City. She learned about missionary service opportunities while working on staff of the Missouri West Conference Office and learned further about the Church and Community Worker program at the Missouri Conference Cooperative School of Christian Missions from Sandra Sipes, who serves as a Church and Community Worker in the Missouri Conference.Â
If you feel that God is calling you to missionary service you may visit with Rev. Jan Bond, who serves as chair of the Missouri Conference Committee on Missionary Personnel. Interestingly, you do not need to be a United Methodist to serve as a missionary through the United Methodist Church. The most recent person to be interviewed by the Conference Committee on Missionary Personnel was a member of the Episcopal Church.
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A 3-day multimillion-dollar drill involving thousands of emergency response personnel in four states was recently held to simulate a response to the projected New Madrid Earthquake. For this episode of MissionCast we interviewed Karen Benson at the Missouri Emergency Operations Center at the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency in Jefferson City. Behind her you will see some of the 200 persons gathered at the Emergency Opperations Center. Karen Benson serves as the Missouri Conference Disaster Response Coordinator for the United Methodist Church.
