During Children's Sermons in the month of March, we will be inviting the children to participate in a "Noisy Offering" to help raise funds for our capital campaign. All children will be invited to come forward with change- pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, even silver dollars! As they come forward with their change, they will drop it in the bucket at the front of the Sanctuary, and, at the end of the month, we will celebrate the offering of these gifts to our capital campaign. Let's see how these young people can make a big difference! Don't have a child to send your change with? Find a child near you and share your change with them. They will enjoy bringing it forward on your behalf! Our first "Noisy Offering" will be on Sunday, March 11th.  

Join Pastor Amy for coffee (or a coke!) and conversation on Sunday, March 11th, from 6-7pm in the Cornerstone Coffee Shop.

College-age persons are welcome to come to Loaves & Fishes this weekend. Meet in the Connector at 4:15pm if you need a ride in the church van. The mission project will go from 4:30-6:30pm at Wilkes Boulevard UMC (702 Wilkes Blvd, 449-4363). We'll talk to the guests, sit with them while dining, help serve food, and assist with set-up and clean-up. To contribute food, please bring fresh fruit, peanut butter and jelly.  To ride in the church van, please RSVP to Heather Morgan.

The Spiritual Connections team invites you to a day set apart for prayer and reflection on Saturday, March 17th. Join us all day, from 9am-3pm, or for one half day segment (either 9-noon or noon-3pm) in Room 407. In honor of St. Patrick's Day, Celtic prayers and music will be available to use as resources for this time of prayer. Come and share in a time of prayer for our church and community and be a part of how God is at work in this place!  Please bring a sack lunch.

We celebrate the recent release of the Documentary, Battle: Change from Within, recounting the journey of integration of the Columbia Public Schools and the Columbia community through the life and witness of Eliot and Muriel Battle, long time members of Missouri UMC. In the coming weeks, a schedule of showings at MUMC will be provided. If you would like to purchase a copy of the documentary, order forms are available in the church office.

The Festival of Sharing pack for March is the Personal Hygiene Pack. Cost of the kit is $20. Click here for a list of the supplies that go into each kit. 

Children ages 4-10 are invited to join us March 17th for Kids Helping Kids Day at The Food Bank! Most days, the volunteer room is only open to children over 48" tall, but this is a special opportunity to teach younger children how helping others can be fun and rewarding! MUMC has reserved a group slot from 9-11am. Kids will be helping fill Buddy Packs that go home every week with thousands of children in need. Admission is one backpack (new or gently-used) and a 12 oz. jar of peanut butter per child. Email molly.moore@moumc.org to sign up. 

Join the Columbia community for Lenten breakfasts that meet each Wednesday during Lent. Breakfast begins at 7am and ends at 8am. A donation of $1 is requested from those attending to offset the cost of the light breakfast. Any surplus funds will be given to the Interfaith Day Center. Each person is also encouraged to bring non-perishable food for the Russell Chapel CME Food Pantry.     

• March 14 - First Baptist Church (1112 E. Broadway)   
• March 21 - Community UMC (3301 W. Broadway) 

The "Taste of India" benefit dinner for the Ludhiana Christian Medical College and Hospital will be held at Missouri UMC, on Sunday evening, April 29th, at 6pm.  The evening will include an Indian dinner and a 20 minute program featuring Indian culture has been planned by the MUMC Ludhiana Task Force. The meal will be cooked by Max Marble and task force members. There will be a free-will offering received for the ministry of the Medical College and Hospital, but there will be no charge for the meal. Reservations will be limited to the first 50 persons. Call the church office at 443-3111 to sign up.  

Part of the ministry of the Memorial Prayer Garden is the Memory Book, which contains pages dedicated to the life of each person in the Memorial Prayer Garden. We are in need of folks with a scrapbooking interest to help create these pages. If you are interested, please contact Phyllis Miller (millerp@missouri.edu or 874-5684) or Lori Popejoy (popejoyl@health.missouri.edu or 445-2354).  

Here at Missouri United Methodist Church, we have debated our mission and vision during the HCI process.  What do we want to be?  Who do we want to serve?  In what direction should we move? In Mozambique, after the first ten years of the Missouri/Mozambique covenant partnership, it was time to step back and take a look at the vision for this continued partnership.  The covenent partnership had provided needed financial support for pastor support, safe water well, seminary support, transportation for pastors, and other important projects.  Was this the best way for Missouri churches to support the continued growth of the Methodist Church in Mozambique?  In August 2009, a group from both Missouri and Mozambique met and developed a renewed Mozambique Initiative - to encourage self-sustainability, rather than to aid and abet dependency, and to encourage a vigorous program of leadership training, building capacities to grow strong, healthy churches.  Read More

Open Door Ministry will meet on Thursday, March 15th, at 7pm in CLC 107/109 for a letter writing party. We are asking for your help in writing the delegates of the 2012 General Conference with a request to remove the language in the Book of Discipline regarding homosexuality. If you would like to write a letter prior to the meeting, please drop it off in the church office.  Please help us Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Doors.

A Prayer Shawl Meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 14th, at 1:30pm in the Parlor. Bring shawls to be blessed, and spend some time knitting with us! 

Beginning Saturday, April 7th, Missouri UMC will host the Saturday Morning Breakfast for our neighbors in need. Please consider volunteering to help serve breakfast, visit with our guests over a warm meal and assist with cleanup each Saturday in April and June from 7:30-10am in Whittler Hall. Saturday Morning Breakfast is an outreach program that rotates among various downtown Columbia churches. Please contact Emily Murray at eagmurray@gmail.com for more information or to volunteer. We are also collecting travel-sized hygiene products for our guests, and these donations can be dropped off in the church office.

Scholarships or grants-in-aid are available through the Foundation of Missouri United Methodist Church of Columbia for students in the Missouri Conference who have completed at least two years of college work and are working toward church-related careers in ministry or Christian Education. Completed applications for the 2012-2013 academic year should be received by June 15th for action by the Scholarship Committee and the Foundation Board at its July meeting. A request for an application should be addressed to: Scholarship Committee, MUMC Foundation, 204 S Ninth Street, Columbia, MO 65201-4899.

Join Episcopal Campus Ministry and the Catholic Student Association in praying the Stations of the Cross on the MU Campus.  This Friday, March 9th, we will gather at Episcopal Campus Ministry (9th & Locust) at 3:15pm to walk through campus, stopping at different locations to pray each station and for part of the university community. We will end at the St. Thomas More Newman Center for refreshments afterward. The Stations of the Cross are a meditation on the passion and death of Jesus Christ. If you cannot join us at the beginning, but want to meet up with us later, follow us on Twitter @CoMoNewman. All are welcome!

A state-wide, college-age gathering called "Surge" will be held at Missouri UMC this spring.  All college-age people are invited to attend.  This event is being designed for college-age persons, college-age ministers, senior pastors, and laity from congregations all around the Missouri Conference. "Surge" will take place on Saturday, April 14th, from 10am-3pm. Watch for more information and registration details.

Three new classes begin on Wednesday, March 7th. Join us for supper at 5:30pm and then join one of these new classes at 6:30pm! 

• Extravagant Generosity: Journey with us through Lent as we dive deeper into the spiritual role of generosity to daily financial discipleship. As we continue to grow as fully-formed disciples, this four-week study will help us explore our attitudes and practices of giving. The study is based on Bishop Robert Schnase's daily devotional, Practicing Extravagant Generosity, which will be available for purchase at WNL. This class will be led by Rev. Amy and Rev. Molly in CLC 103.
• Strengthsfinder Class: This is a great opportunity to help you find your place in life and ministry. Using the popular Strengthsfinder 2.0 tool, people attending this class will learn about the tool, what their God-given strengths are, and how they can use them in the church. This class will be led by Ann Merrifield in CLC 111.
• Worlds Apart: The life stage of college age and young adults is completely different than it was for previous generations. Using Chuck Bomar's book, Worlds Apart, this class will learn how the development of high education has led to and caused separation between generations. We will discuss the tension points and gain practical insight to how we can bridge our world with that of new generations. This class will be led by Rev. Keith in CLC 107/109. 

Tax-Aide, a free income tax preparation program, is now available at Missouri UMC. Appointments will be done on a first come, first served basis. Tax preparers will be here on Mondays and Tuesdays from 3-7pm, and on Thursdays from 10am-2pm. The program is open to people of all ages and incomes, and will run through April 17th.  

Are you interested in hosting a visiting scholar from Russia? Do you live near the Mizzou campus? Mr. Andrey Tolstikov seeks housing for a 28-day visit (March 10-April 7). He will be coming from Tyumen State University in Russia, through a program of Russian International Educational Administrators. The MU International Center is assisting with securing his lodging, and an honorarium is available for the host family. If interested, please contact Heather Morgan.