Todd Seifert is director of communications for the Great Plains Conference. He writes this blog much like he wrote a column for 13 years as a newspaper editor: focused on what is going on in his life. He hopes to share some thought-provoking words as a member of the laity on the conference staff.
Filling area food pantries is chief concern this Sunday
The Great Plains Conference invites churches across Kansas and Nebraska to score big for the hungry in their communities as the NFL’s biggest game of the year prepares to kick off Sunday. The bishops of the Great Plains and Missouri conferences have challenged the bishop who serves both the ...
Look for change in the daily devotion email
Romans 8:28 says this: "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose." We'll come back to the scripture in a moment. But first, I want to talk about engines — how I’m amazed by them, and how I am utterly confused by them. My dad has...
Bishop shares what he learned during clergy meetings with Connecting Council
The Connecting Council heard details about what Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. learned during district meetings with clergy, updates on the conference’s justice initiative and more during its fall meeting Oct. 23 via Zoom video-conferencing software. Bishop Saenz opened the meeting by sharing lessons ...
McCorkle installed as Five Rivers, Parsons DS
The Rev. Micki McCorkle provides a sermon during her installation Aug. 7 as the new Five Rivers and Parsons districts superintendent. Showing trust in God means being willing to take a step forward, even when you aren’t sure where exactly you are going. That was the ...
Re-engaging after our pandemic-induced exiles
As we come nearer and nearer to being able to return to life from our in-home exiles, Todd Seifert, conference communications director, has embarked on a new series for the “In Layman’s Terms” podcast focused on rebuilding our society and our spiritual disciplines. Using the stories from the Old ...
Connecting Council discusses adjustment amid pandemic
The Great Plains Conference Connecting Council heard reports about how the coronavirus pandemic continues to cause adjustments in how ministry is practiced in Kansas and Nebraska during the group’s Aug. 15 meeting, conducted via Zoom video-conferencing software. The council brings together ...
In Layman's Terms: Helping pastors with their email
Today (Wednesday, July 1, 2020) marked the start of a new appointive year in the Great Plains Conference and across The United Methodist Church. In Kansas and Nebraska, we have more than 100 pastors learning new names, trying to grasp local culture and history, figuring out which light switches turn...
Connecting Council endorses changes to standing rules, clergy renewal leave policy
The Great Plains Conference’s Connecting Council used Zoom video conferencing to conduct its spring meeting April 18 and endorsed a revision to the standing rules for the annual conference session to allow for a meeting during this time of sheltering in place. The council, which has authority to ...
What is the real reach of your church's online worship?
I remember an older gentleman who counted the number of people in attendance each week at the church my wife served as music director in Springfield, Missouri. It was the late 1990s, and he was in his 90s, but as the first hymn wrapped up, he would walk to the end of each row, starting at the very ...
In Layman's Terms: Interviewing potential bishops
I had the privilege of seeing what I think is an efficient model of church democracy take place last week in Oklahoma City. That’s where delegates to the General Conference and South Central Jurisdictional Conference gathered for three days of meetings leading up to those big events. Full ...
Bishop announces 2 new DSes, some district supervisory changes
Two new district superintendents have been appointed in the Great Plains Conference to fill the roles of three retiring DSes and another DS who has completed an eight-year term on the cabinet. The appointments also continue progress toward a conference-wide goal to fully live into a system of ...
In Layman's Terms: Hope discovered at pre-General Conference briefing
I attended the pre-General Conference 2020 briefing Jan. 23-24 in Nashville, and for only the second time in my five years serving as communications director, I came away from a gathering of Methodists from around the world with a truly positive feeling. The briefing, conducted by United Methodist ...
Conference gets go-ahead for Doing Justice Initiative
The Connecting Council learned that the Doing Justice Initiative that it recommended in the fall had been approved for funding, and it authorized money for grants for South Korean pastors during a special meeting conducted via Zoom video conferencing software Dec. 19. The two items were part of a ...
Book sheds light on separating Biblical truth from mere tradition
I’ve become a bit obsessed with podcasts the past few months. I guess that’s why I launched my own — “In Layman’s Terms” — a few months ago. I simply fell in love with the not-so-new concept of telling stories and sharing thoughts via the spoken word. That love tied into another passion of mine ...
In Layman's Terms: Can you really use that photo?
I’ve written about the important issue of photo copyrights before and have dedicated a small portion of a multimedia worship tools workshop to the subject as well. But every now and then something comes up that I think requires me to reiterate some key points. And let’s be honest, this is a ...
Six Great Plains churches seeking disaffiliation
Disagreement over same-gender marriage and ordination of LGBTQ persons have prompted six churches in the Great Plains Conference — all in Kansas — to begin the process to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church. Emmanuel Church in Abilene, The Benton Church in Benton, Aulne UMC near Marion, ...
Connecting Council addresses community building, General Conference and more
The Great Plains Conference’s Connecting Council considered what it means to be a “great church,” discussed budget reductions amid the denomination’s tumultuous times, the possibility of a special-called annual conference session in 2020, a plan for disaffiliation of churches, and recommended a ...
New study helps reset the mind, body and soul
I sat down to read the new book “Soul Reset” by the Rev. Junius Dotson over the Labor Day weekend. I quickly found myself wishing he had written it about six years ago. I say six years ago because I was the guy that Dotson’s six-session Bible study and discussion guide is written to help. In 2013, ...
In Layman's Terms: Network Benefits
I recently re-read the books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians, two letters from Paul to what was likely a group of small house-churches of new believers. What strikes me as I read these two books is how these people relatively new to the faith are trying to do the best they could in an environment that ...
In Layman's Terms: Measuring the passage of time
I want to pause from the communications content this week to talk a little about time — particularly how it passes. As I write this, it’s only Aug. 13, and yet my Facebook feed is filled with parents posting photos of their kids as the youngsters head off to their first day of school. I recall ...
In Layman's Terms: Register now for low-cost local church communications workshops
Anyone who has ever attended one of my workshops probably can attest to me saying something along the lines of “the days of opening the church doors and new people come flooding in are long gone.” It’s not all that profound. It’s really kind of a “Captain Obvious” statement worthy of those ...
In Layman's Terms: Churches can fill the gap in our communities
I set a goal for 2019 to read 30 books throughout the year. I didn’t know what topics I would choose, mostly because my tastes change from time to time, and I didn’t want to pin myself down to a particular genre. I also don’t take into account my daily Bible reading and devotion time. As we near ...
In Layman’s Terms: Taking a Sabbath
I’ll confess that I’ve spent the past two days at my desk digging out from a pile of emails and associated tasks that needed to be completed. It’s only fair since I was returning from being out of the office for 10 days. I’ll also confess to feeling a little guilty for being gone that long. In 20 ...
Conference talks about serving others, reacts to General Conference outcomes
With a theme of “Therefore Go: Serve Others” for the 2019 Great Plains Annual Conference, messages throughout the event, May 29-June 1 at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka, focused on fresh starts — from setting priorities for ministry to starting off in ministry for newly ordained clergy to ...
In Layman's Terms: Using YouTube videos
We’ve been exploring topics the past few weeks about copyright law compliance. We’ve taken a look at song lyrics and movies. To wrap up this series, let’s take a look at what you can and shouldn’t use from the popular videos website YouTube. First, YouTube is a site popular with many demographics, ...
In Layman's Terms: Movies in Church
So far in our journey to better understand how best to comply with copyright laws, we’ve been focusing on music. Today, we cross over to feature films, television shows and movie clips. Just as before, we’re talking about a license you can purchase from CCLI, but this time it’s CVLI — Church Video ...
In Layman's Terms: Ensuring your songs are covered
As I shared in my last blog, I want to make sure our churches are getting the most out of their CCLI subscription so the people who put together worship slides are getting the most bang for their buck and so the church is protected. Last time, I shared how to display copyright information either on...
In Layman's Terms: Displaying song copyright information
CCLI — Christian Copyright Licensing International —helps churches augment their worship services while keeping them compliant with U.S. copyright laws. And, yes, those laws are complicated. I spent 20 years in the Fourth Estate, also known as the news industry. Copyright issues came up all the ...
In Layman's Terms: A prayer that a fire rekindles the Spirit in many
My news alerts started firing off on my phone and watch in fairly rapid succession Monday. The Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris was burning. I’ve never been to Paris. It’s on my bucket list, along with about a dozen other European sites to satisfy my craving to see the world with my own eyes. But the ...
Connecting Council hears ideas for organizing for justice ministries
The Connecting Council heard proposals during its April meeting in Topeka from two organizations that could help provide a boost to justice ministries throughout Kansas and Nebraska. Direct Action & Research Training (DART) and the Western Organization of Resource Councils (WORC) presented ...
Sitting water, infrastructure damage force delay in response to Columbus area
Continued high-water levels in the area of Columbus, Nebraska, have stymied much of the effort by Great Plains Conference early response teams (ERT) efforts to help homeowners begin the recovery after a massive flood. In many cases, access to homes is still cut off because of standing water or ...
Kansas town evacuated as Missouri River waters rise
Kansas Highway Patrol pilots help monitor the Missouri River flooding by surveying the levee near Elwood, Kansas, and the levee breach east of Atchison. Photo courtesy KHP While disaster response teams continue their work helping people impacted by flooding in Nebraska, the flow of the Missouri...
Great Plains response teams bring hope to flooded Nebraska towns
In small groups, they re-entered the church. Tired and a bit dirty, but with smiles on their faces, they swapped stories of ripping down soggy drywall, pulling up saturated carpet and hauling out furniture made extra heavy by materials that retained water. They are early response team (ERT) ...
In Layman's Terms: Nebraska flooding
It’s truly amazing how much damage water can do. By now you’ve seen either with your own two eyes or via photographs the havoc being spread by water coming out of the banks of rivers and water standing because there’s simply no place for it to go. A much snowier winter than in recent years, ...
In Layman's Terms: 5 questions for livestreaming
We have to come to grips with the reality that the days are long gone when all we need to do is make sure someone is on time on Sunday morning to open up the doors so people can come flooding in to hear a sermon. These days, people look at “church shopping” much like they envision shopping for a ...
In Layman's Terms: Arch serves as symbol for UMC's journey
Many tears. A few smiles. Strong resolve on both sides. Those are the images burned into my memory from the special session of General Conference last week in St. Louis. To be honest, it was a draining experience — one from which I am still attempting to recover. I won’t belabor any points that ...
In Layman's Terms: Some poignant moments on a difficult day
After the prioritization votes for the legislative committee portion of the special session of General Conference on Sunday, it probably wasn’t surprising to too many people that the Traditional Plan moved on to Monday’s plenary phase, and the One Church Plan failed to move on to that step. Or did ...
In Layman's Terms: Quick change of atmosphere
An environment of praise and elation one minute. The air seemingly sucked out of the room the next. That’s how I experienced Sunday afternoon at the special session of General Conference in St. Louis. After a morning filled with engaging preaching from Bishop Ken Carter, president of the Council of...
In Layman's Terms: Worldwide challenge, opportunities
After the first day of the special session of General Conference — a day set aside for prayer and praise — I was struck that a unifying embrace of cultures from outside the United States also poses one of the larger challenges for The United Methodist Church. That’s neither good nor bad. It just is...
In Layman's Terms: Packing for General Conference
Well, the time has finally arrived. Those of us plugged in to The United Methodist Church have been either eagerly awaiting or anxiously dreading this day since the adjournment of the 2016 General Conference in Portland, Oregon. The time, indeed, has come for the special called session of General ...
In Layman's Terms: Reflections from the Holy Land
Amazing! Awesome! Life-changing! Those were just some of the words people who recently visited the Holy Land with Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. used to describe their trip. The seven-day adventure took the group of 61 people to historic churches marking the traditional locations of Jesus’ birth, ministry,...
Bishop leads group from Great Plains to the Holy Land
Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. is led a group of 61 people from the Great Plains Conference on a tour of the Holy Land. They visited the traditional sites of the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, as well as locations of other key locations from biblical history. Todd Seifert, conference ...
In Layman's Terms: A book that challenges your thoughts on race
I think it’s appropriate that I completed reading the book “Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America” on the day we celebrated the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I made a resolution in 2018 to read two books a month. I fulfilled that goal on Dec. ...
New DS for Blue River, Elkhorn Valley districts
Rev. Dr. Nancy Tomlinson A pastor with a track record of launching ministries, embracing new ministry techniques, retiring debt and adjusting to the varying demands of ministry has been named the new district superintendent of the Blue River and Elkhorn Valley districts. The Rev. Dr. Nancy ...
In Layman's Terms: App can help set foundation for bold faith goals
I’m not really into new year’s resolutions, but I am a pretty big advocate for setting goals. I’ve always looked at goals as providing some prioritization to my life, but I heard this concept put into a different perspective recently while listening to Pastor Rick Warren’s “Daily Hope” podcast on ...
In Layman's Terms: Easter people celebrating Christmas
I’m convinced Christmas is such a festive time of year because of the atmosphere that accompanies it. The lights on houses and along city streets remind us of the light — Jesus — coming into the world. Christmas trees become a focal point in our homes. Nativity scenes remind us of the reason for ...
In Layman's Terms: Livestreaming considerations
Most of us get excited for the Christmas season. We decorate our sanctuaries with trees, wreaths and lights. Nativity scenes get dusted off and put on prominent display. And we shift our thinking toward marketing our church in hopes of bringing in the unchurched or de-churched neighbors in our ...
In Layman's Terms: Numbers and lessons from our town halls
What a ride! Eighteen town halls in 17 cities in every district of the Great Plains Conference. In all, more than 4,100 people in attendance. Twenty-six delegates. Three plans. A few laughs. Not-so-few tears. Lots of prayers. That sums up recently completed town halls journey I embarked upon with ...
In Layman's Terms: Resources for inviting people to your church
Sometimes, a call or email from a local church with a question leads me on a path to find something entirely new that prompts me to share this new information with all of you. Such an instance occurred this week when a question came in from the Gateway District in Nebraska about special Sunday ...
In Layman's Terms: Try one of these methods for reading the Bible
Reading scripture has had a profound impact on my life. It’s amazing to me that I can read the same verses multiple times and find something – even slightly – different to take away from it. I know that’s because my experiences and whatever issues at play in my life at the time lead me to seek ...
Resources