Get to know us
What is a United Methodist?
The United Methodist Church is a global denomination that opens hearts, opens minds, and opens doors through active engagement with our world. The mission of The United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
A United Methodist is someone who joins in that mission by putting faith and love into action. We believe that God loves all people and we share by expressing that love. So the United Methodist tradition emphasizes God's grace and in serving others. We believe that Jesus Christ is the fullest expression of God's love--showing us the fullness of God's care through Jesus' teachings, death, and resurrection.
John Wesley started the Methodist movement in 18th-century England. His teachings on living out our faith, our reason, and our experiences form important aspects of the United Methodist practice today.
OUR LEADERSHIP
Pastor Tracy Smith
In July of 2020, we welcomed Pastor Tracy Smith, his wife Teresa & their family into our congregation. Tracy and Teresa have three accomplished children, Dain (California), Kaity (Uniontown), Abbie (Topeka), and six grandchildren all under the age of eight. They live on a farm, which has been in their family since the Civil War, near Mildred and many generations of Tracy’s family attended the Mildred, Kansas United Methodist Church. Tracy grew up in Richmond, KS, and went to school at Central Heights.
Tracy spent 36 years in education with the majority of those years in the Uniontown School District. Pastor Tracy has worn many hats through the years as an art teacher, coach, athletic director, & principal. On top of all of these roles, he has officiated volleyball, basketball, & track for 30+ years. Tracy officiates volleyball alongside his wife Teresa & occasionally gets to officiate with both daughters.
The Moran United Methodist Church and the Smith family invite you to join us this Sunday as we worship together!
Our History
Our people are what make us unique.
The United Methodist Church is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelicalism. The present denomination was founded in 1968 in Dallas, Texas, by a union of the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church. Though the United Methodist denomination was officially created in 1968, its history dates back to 1730 when John and Charles Wesley, two students at Oxford University in England, gathered a small group of students who sought to spread the Methodist movement.
At about the same time, people like Philip William Otterbein, a German-American clergyman, and Martin Boehm, a Mennonite preacher, were leading similar movements in America that helped people grow their faith through the United Brethren in Christ Church.
Across the decades, both movements spread and grew, often merging to form new denominations. In 1968, both strands of Christianity came together to form The United Methodist Church.
IN MORAN, KANSAS
The first records of the Moran, Kansas Methodists show that the earliest services were held at the Missouri Pacific depot in Moran, KS, and at the original schoolhouse of the town which stood at the present site of the lumberyard. Records also show that the first pastor, Reverend H. K. Muth, was appointed on March 12th, 1877.
In 1883 the congregation of the church was large enough to divide into two denominations and the Methodists constructed a small parsonage. The next year in 1884, the Methodist Episcopal Church decided to build its own church building on a lot south of the parsonage.
As membership continued to grow, the Methodist congregation found themselves in need of a bigger building again. Two lots were then purchased in 1914 for $375 and a new brick cornerstone church building was erected costing a total of $11,209.44. The church was then dedicated on February 17th, 1915. The original church from 1884 was later moved and attached to the east side of the new church for Sunday school use.
Decades later the church was renamed the Moran United Methodist Church which took place in 1968. 1968 was also the year that Debbie Barnes of Moran, KS was crowned Miss America.
Debra (Debbie) Dene Barnes is an American music educator and former beauty pageant participant. Debbie was raised in Moran, Kansas. Upon graduation from high school, she attended college in Pittsburg, Kansas (now Pittsburg State University), where she majored in music. She then earned a Master's degree in Musical Performance from Kansas State College.
After winning the Miss Kansas pageant, she competed in the Miss America pageant, bringing home the title. She played the piano as her talent entry.
Debbie Barnes was also once the piano and organ player of the Moran United Methodist Church, as well as a dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ and a long-time member of the church.
She was also married in the Moran United Methodist Church in 1969.
A few years later, the church building was becoming outdated and the Methodists sold the original parsonage in 1977. A brand new parsonage was built where the Moran United Methodist currently stands in 1978 and has gone through many renovations since then but has maintained the same energy and same feel of the earlier church buildings.
