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Ecumenical Ministries (EM) is the local mission arm of Callaway County member
churches from six denominations: the Catholic Church, the Christian Church (Disciples
of Christ), the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the United
Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church.
EM member churches join efforts, resources and hopes to become a more effective
witness to Christ's gospel. They do together those things that are difficult
or impossible to do alone.
For more information or to become involved in any of these programs, please call 573-642-6065
Programs of Ecumenical Ministries
Staff
Ruth Ann Dodd, Little Brother/Little Sister Coordinator
Karen Luebbert, Office Manager/Administrative Assistant
Oliver Williams, Jail Ministries Coordinator
Susan Anderson, RN, Parish Nurses of Callaway
Linda Clemens, HAVEN House/EM Volunteer Coordinator
Sharon Parish, Youth Treatment Center Outreach Coordinator
Helen Manson, RN, Parish Nurses of Callaway
Ecumenical Ministries was born out of the commitment of several Fulton
churches to live out the ideal of Christian unity. In 1961 the Court Street
United Methodist Church and the First Presbyterian Church in Fulton began
worshiping together two months out of the year. Methodists, Presbyterians,
Episcopalians, and Catholics began working together in Christian education and
youth ministry. These were later joined by Disciples of Christ and United Church
of Christ Congregations.
A cooperative community mission study in 1969
convinced the churches that there were many needs in their county and that, by
working together, they could extend their ability to serve the
community-at-large. Funding was sought from a variety of denominational sources.
In June of 1970 Ecumenical Ministries began its first program--a day camp for
children in the community which was designed to build bridges between rich and
poor, black and white. EM has always been primarily church supported and has
relied on volunteers to carry out its work. EM's budget is approximately
$65,000.
By 1972 Ecumenical Ministries found it could not meet the needs of the community
through volunteer work alone. It organized a separate not-for-profit agency
and named it SERVE, Inc. SERVE was designed to operate on public funding, with
a larger paid staff,and to oversee a food pantry, clothes cupboard, senior nutrition
program, and transportation system.
Ecumenical Ministries has pioneered several model programs. The Kingdom Respite
Care and Hospice program has been a model for several other communities around
the state. The Rural Crisis project became a national model and is still the
primary way the church community deals with farm families and communities in
crisis.
In 1993 Ecumenical Ministries led the way in
bringing the well-established Habitat for Humanity, International, to Callaway
County. EM was instrumental in organizing a local chapter of Habitat for
Humanity, an organization built on the premise that every person has the right
to have adequate housing.
In 1996, EM and SERVE began organizing community meetings to bring attention to the increase in low income families in crisis in Callaway County. A community-based independently operated soup kitchen begun in June 1997 and the HAVEN House project begun by EM in February 1998 arose from these educational meetings.