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Liberty United Methodist
Inviting people to the table of God’s Grace

Norma King, Media Director (Rush Creek Ward)

On Sunset Hill above the busy 291/152 intersection in Liberty, MO, stand three white crosses, symbols of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion. The crosses, visible from I-35 a mile away, have been an important fixture on the campus of the Liberty United Methodist Church (LUMC) for many years.
“We keep the area open, despite the difficulties with vandalism, because it fits our mission of inviting people to the table of God’s grace, and because so many people have recorded having heard from the voice of God at that site,” said The Rev. Steve Clouse.
“The mission of LUMC is to invite all people to the table of God’s Grace,” said Clouse. “The purpose of that is so we can help them become disciples of Christ.”
Clouse has been the Lead Pastor at LUMC for eight years and has served in the ministry for 30 years in several states. Although he started his ministry in the Baptist Church, he found that the Methodist Church was a better fit.
“I thought, I’ve found my people. This is my faith tribe.”
LUMC traces its beginnings to before the city of Liberty was even incorporated.
“This church has been a part of this community for over 200 years. It was originally a part of a circuit called the Fishing River circuit, which meant that traveling pastors on horseback worked throughout this region to establish different congregations and they would come by, perhaps twice a month,” said Clouse. “The pastors would come by and marry, bury and serve the sacraments and generally do what was necessary to build up the church.”
In 1822 the LUMC was chartered and officially organized as part of the Methodist Episcopal denomination. Members met in homes until they could build their own church near the Historic Liberty Square. That building still stands just east of the Liberty City Hall.
In the 1960s, the church acquired 11 acres at the west end of Sunset Avenue in Liberty. By then, the membership had outgrown two church buildings. In 1966, they dedicated their new building.
In 1994, a Family Life Center was added; and in 2014, LUMC celebrated the opening of their second location – the Rush Creek Campus – along Lightburne Road in Liberty.
“We’re one church with multiple campuses where we invite all people to the table of God’s grace,” explained Edie Ryken during the Aug. 17 worship service. “Our prayer for each of us is that as we praise God, pray to him for ourselves and others, and grow to know him better. Through his word we will taste and see that he is good.”
The Methodist tradition, founded by John Wesley, teaches Universal Salvation, explained Clouse, that Christ died for everyone to offer salvation.
“God’s grace and love is something that is life-changing. It is something that is all encapsulating and is something that should empower us to do good and great things for our community and our world,” explained Pastor Cory Williams during the August 17 service at the Sunset Campus.
Williams is one of four other pastors who serve the LUMC congregation of about 1,300 members. As the youth pastor, he also attends contemporary services at LUMC’s second campus at 100 Rush Creek Parkway near Hallmark’s Distribution Center.
LUMC’s ministries include a daycare at the Rush Creek campus and a preschool at the Sunset Campus.
“We hope to and aim to become the best place for Christian families to raise their kids in an inclusive Christian environment,” said Clouse. “That means people of different socio-economic backgrounds, that means children who may be special-needs.”
LUMC members also host Johnny’s Café, a meal ministry, on the second Saturday of each month, serving 30-50 people each time.
“I think the need is significant. We also have a program where we provide boxed food, mostly dry goods and non-perishables, but some perishables, to at-risk families in conjunction with two different elementary schools in the Liberty public school system and there seems to be no shortage of families in need,” said Clouse.


“I think there is a significant and growing need of people in the Northland on the margins of poverty but they’re not the most obvious or visible to people in the community…We have lots of senior adults who live on the edge of poverty. Many of the people that come to Johnny’s Café are senior adults who are experiencing food scarcity.”
LUMC has a big heart, said Clouse. Members also participate in St. Mary’s Food Kitchen in Kansas City, Kan.; they partner with Hillcrest Hope Transitional Housing providing financial support, sponsoring an apartment and working in the thrift store. They work with Inasmuch Ministries, The Turning Point, and Never Alone, providing meals and other services to those in need.
“The estimated number of volunteer service hours that are given by members of our church on a monthly or annual basis is large, it’s a lot,” said Clouse. “It goes back to our mission. Our goal is that in all of that serving, in all of the worship, in all the things we do, we’re hoping to build a bridge back to the table of God’s grace so that people can experience God’s grace within that Wesleyan framework that we understand.”
Clouse points to his father’s personal story as an example of how a church and the grace of God can transform someone’s life.
His father Terry, was raised in a dysfunctional family. In third grade he was invited to attend vacation bible school by his teacher. It was there that he made a profession of faith in Jesus.
The teacher recruited members to take Terry to church every Sunday. “Those people in that church wrapped their arms around my dad and helped him to experience every kind of salvation there is. They showed him Jesus. They helped him get a job,” said Clouse.
“I know that without that church, my family was headed in a direction of no hope and no help. And I’m trying to make sure that I lead churches that offer that kind of hope and help to other people. That’s really what makes me tick and what is behind everything I do.”
“LUMC has a warm and welcoming congregation of people,” said Clouse. “I think we have a group of people who have been willing to try things and to take risks for the sake of accomplishing our mission.
“I think that those things are probably the heartbeat of who our people are in our congregation. They care about others, they want to welcome others, they are willing to take risks so that other people may find God’s grace.”
