Mission u is a chance for United Methodist women and girls throughout the state of Arkansas to come together and study important issues affecting society, and this year’s Mission u will cover topics like radical discipleship, 150 years of United Methodist Women’s ministry, and our relation to money within the context of faith.
The annual gathering will take place July 17 – 20 at the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas.
According to information provided by Mission u, the gathering is “an opportunity to study current issues impacting society based on recent mission study topics.”
While Mission u is seen as a great opportunity for members of the United Methodist Women to gather and learn together, it is also open to non-members of UMW, as well as children and youth.
“Mission u is a time for like-minded people to gather together. It’s a time to learn, and then leave renewed and hopefully go back home and pass along what you learned,” said Beth Cobb, 2019 Arkansas Conference Mission u dean and the Northwest District president for the Arkansas Conference United Methodist Women.
This year’s theme is “Radical Discipleship: Then and Now,” and the classes offered during the four days will focus around this theme.
In “Practicing Resurrection: The Gospel of Mark and Radical Discipleship,” participants will learn what it means to be a radical disciple using the Gospel of Mark as the foundation for the teaching. This class is based on author Janet Wolf’s book of the same name.
“Women United for Change: 150 Years in Mission” is a study by Ellen Blue which will commemorate the 150-year anniversary of United Methodist Women. United Methodist Women began with a group of eight women from Boston who organized the Women’s Foreign Missionary Society in 1869 and raised enough money to send two teachers to India as missionaries to serve the women living there.
There will also be classes on faithful use of money in “What About our Money? A Faith Response,” and two other classes on Mark geared toward youth, “Who do you say that I am? Meeting Jesus Through the Eyes of Mark,” and “MARKED: A Mission Journey with Jesus in the Gospel of Mark.”
“We have classes for everyone, from pre-k through adults, but our focus right now is really trying to get the younger ones involved in Mission u,” Cobb said.
One of the ways that Mission u is trying to attract the younger crowd is through hands-on projects that get young adults out into the mission field.
“Instead of having them sit in another classroom and listen to a lesson, we’re going to have them go out into Clarksville and help in some of the United Methodist mission projects in the city.
“That’s one of the ways this year will be different than last year; they’ll do one mission study the same as everyone else, but instead of doing a second mission study, we’re going to get them out and involved in helping the community.”
“With Mission u, we really want to remind people of all the good that United Methodist Women do, not only in the United States but worldwide, as well,” Cobb said. “Lately, we’ve been hearing a lot of negative things about the United Methodist Church and UMW, so this is a time to reinforce the good that we do and remind people that no matter what happens, the work of United Methodist Women will continue.”
To register online for Mission u, visit their website at www.armissionu.weebly.com. The registration deadline is July 1. For more information, visit their Facebook Page or contact armissionu@gmail.com.