News

Red Bird School to Close

With deep regret the Red Bird Mission Board voted at a meeting on May 13, 2010 that due to lack of funding the Red Bird School would be closed temporarily at the end of the current school year and would not reopen in the Fall of 2010 for any grades.  The Board has great hopes and intentions of reopening the school as soon as a financial base can be established and a flow of funds is there to support the everyday expenses.  The other ministries of the Mission—The Clinic, The...

Red Bird Missionary Conference 2010 Annual Conference Report

Bishop Lindsey Davis presided over the forty-second annual conference session of Red Bird Missionary Conference on April 23-24, 2010 at Thousandsticks United Methodist Church, Thousandsticks, Kentucky. The theme of the Conference was “To God be the Glory”:   • A fountain graced the sanctuary filled with water brought forth from each church, outreach center and mission institution as the names of faithful servants were read during the Memorial Service.  Among...

Urgent Needs for Christmas Assistance Boxes

Clay County, Kentucky - Red Bird Mission Community Outreach staff and volunteers are finishing the packing of Christmas Assistance Boxes for needy families. Approximately 400 people, the vast majority of which are children, will be served through the Christmas Assistance Box Ministry this year. All of those served have been proven to be living below the poverty line. The following new items, or donations to purchase these items, need to be received at the Mission by November...

Cardinal Singers to Perform at General Conference

Queendale, Clay County, Kentucky - The Cardinal Singers, a vocal ensemble of select students from Red Bird Mission School, have traveled over much of the eastern United States, and even to Haiti, but were invited for the first time to perform at the United Methodist Church General Conference. Music Director Mark Smallwood has been waiting anxiously since November to learn what day the group would sing at the international gathering to be held April 24-May 4, 2012 in Tampa, Florida.  &nbs...

IMPACT Appalachia makes a difference in Southeast Kentucky

On Saturday August 27, over 800 United Methodists from all over the commonwealth of Kentucky ventured to the mountains of Southeast Kentucky for a day of work as the body of Christ. The IMPACT event took place in Lee, Owsley, Jackson, Laurel, Clay, Leslie, Perry, Harlan and Bell Counties. These volunteers worked on a wide variety of projects that ranged from small construction or destruction jobs, children’s programs, health fair, wood cutting, carnival, community visitation,...

Impact Appalachia Has Quite an Impact

Impact Appalachia was a resounding success! Thank you to all the people who put in invaluable man (and woman) hours to make this event a time to remember. Over 800 people from the Red Bird Missionary Conference and the Kentucky Annual Conference worked side by side to truly have an impact on the nine counties served by the Red Bird Missionary Conference. The day began with everyone meeting at their assigned locations and having a moment of prayer before starting the work of being Christ's...

Making an Impact in Appalachia

Impact Appalachia is going to be an incredible day in which the church will reach beyond its physical walls, beyond its local community, beyond its local conference and become the living, breathing hands of Christ.  It will be a time when people from the Kentucky Conference, the Red Bird Missionary Conference, and people that live in the community join together to made an Impact in Appalachia. They will work together all over southeastern Kentucky to make a difference.  Projects are...

VIM Team's Work Helps Revitalize Red Bird Church

Danville Centenary United Methodist Church (Frankfort District) has been actively engaged with the Red Bird Mission and in particular the Stoney Fork United Methodist Church over the last several years. It all began from a Faith Promise meeting that Pastor Jack Short, pastor of New Springs UMC in the Red Bird Missionary Conference, attended. After that meeting, work was begun and completed on their church in Beattyville. That same VIM (Volunteers in Mission) team also painted some of the...

Red Bird Youth in Mission in Kentucky Conference

Youth from all over the Red Bird Missionary Conference traveled together to participate in a weekend of service in the Kentucky Conference. This event was part of the partnership between the Kentucky and Red Bird Conferences.  The youth spent the weekend working at an inner city mission called Portland Promise, where they set up and prepared a thanksgiving meal, distributed Boxes of Love, and spent a lot of the afternoon picking up trash, raking leaves and spreading mulch. The youth were...

Clinton County Churches Raise Money for Red Bird Mission

Clinton County United Methodist Cluster group in the Columbia District hosted Red Bird Missions Craft Exhibit in the fall. On October 29, 2010, Terri Moyer and Tim Crawford pulled into Albany, Ky. with lots of handmade crafts. Churches met and assisted them in unloading and setting up for their exhibit. Sales happened on Saturday and Sunday night after our United Methodist countywide 5th Sunday Night Singing. Clinton County raised $2490.90 in sales and gave a love offering of $420.84 for...

"A miracle has taken place." - Red Bird Mission School Reopens

“When we left here at the end of the school year, we didn’t think that we would be coming back here. A miracle has taken place. We are back here. A miracle has taken place.” Those were the words of Mr. Mark Smallwood, Music Teacher at Red Bird Mission School, as he spoke to the opening chapel for middle and high school students on August 5. Mr. Smallwood went on to share his list of “things I learned this summer.” • It’s difficult to get up at 6...

Change/Transition, God Is In It

Many times in life things happen that are unexpected.  However, it is clear that God’s hand is at work in these situations. Henderson Settlement was blessed for about 12 years to have “Save the Children” as one of our ministries. After the loss of the $125,000 annual grant in June 2009, we began to re-evaluate our program and consider new and exciting ways to minister to our children and youth. Daryl Lambdin, Recreation Coordinator, shares this story. I wanted to hold a...

Henderson Settlement Sends Thanks to the Kentucky Conference

To the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church,  It is with a great deal of gratitude that we send this thank you to the churches of Kentucky Conference for the generous outpouring of support for the ministries at Henderson Settlement.   We plan to use these funds in our Youth Ministries Program. This is an important program to the youth of the Frakes, KY community and surrounding areas. For decades Henderson Settlement has offered a place for these...

Madisonville Team Repairs Red Bird Church Roof

Madisonville District Mission Journal As we are the furthermost western district of our conference, “West meets East” is the name given to the mission efforts of the Madisonville District. On July 11, a work team of persons representing six different churches left to replace the roof at Bowen’s Creek UMC, one of our “Partner Churches” from the Red Bird Missionary Conference. Since Bishop Davis first gave the background for our endeavors last year, the...

Red Bird Mission School to Open in August 2010

Rev. Farley Stuart, Red Bird Missionary Conference Superintendent and Dr. Taylor Collins, Executive Director of Red Bird Mission, are pleased to announce that the Red Bird Mission Board of Directors voted on Thursday, July 22, 2010, to open Red Bird Mission School for the 2010 -2011 school year.  All grades, K - 12, will be offered.   More information and the opening date will be made available as soon as it is available. ...

Generous United Methodists Give from Their Hearts

Saturday, June 12 As the Kentucky Annual Conference came to an end, a big surprise was announced.  At the beginning of the year, Bishop Lindsey Davis announced a goal that he wanted the conference to reach with our Mission Offering. The cabinet set a goal of $100,000, more than had ever been collected for a mission offering. The people of the Kentucky Conference responded with more love and generosity than even the wildest dreams could imagine. Conference Treasurer Michael Watts states,...

Red Bird Immersion Weekends Highlight Conference's Ministries

As part of the continuing partnership between the Kentucky Annual Conference (KAC) and the Red Bird Missionary Conference (RBMC) members of the Kentucky Conference have been participating in Immersion Weekends sponsored by the RBMC. Four districts will be hosted on each of the three immersion weekends. The first Immersion Weekend was held March 11-13, 2010, and the participating districts were Bowling Green, Columbia, Corbin, and Frankfort.  Upon arrival at Henderson settlement on Thursday...

Red Bird Mission Board Commits to Middle and High School Education

Missionaries came to the isolated Kentucky mountains in 1921 with the vision to provide children a quality, secondary education in a Christian environment that would give them more opportunities in life. After wrestling with the fact that annual contributions and dwindling reserves can no longer cover the cost of operating a K-12 school, a quorum of the board of directors voted March 11 to reconfigure Red Bird Mission School as a 7-12 secondary school in 2010-11 academic year. It is expected...

Red Bird Mission Featured in TV Show

Red Bird Mission – A Legacy of Faith A half-hour special highlighting students and alumni of Red Bird Mission School will air Saturday, February 13 at 1:00 p.m. (EST) on the Hazard, Kentucky station WYMT-TV. It can also be viewed via a web simulcast at www.wymtnews.com.  Chris Klimecko, executive director of Red Bird Mission, shared the following in the Red Bird Mission Newsletter. The television special marks the beginning of the Building on a Legacy of Faith initiative that...

Sunday School Class Showers Henderson Settlement Moms with Books and More

In August 2002, our Sunday school class, the Adventurers, from Christ Church United Methodist (Louisville District) went on a field trip to Henderson Settlement. We toured the facilities as well as the surrounding countryside. One of the members of the class knew it well having grown up in a nearby “holler.” In addition, his great-uncle had been an Indian doctor on the site, then called Laurel Fork, from 1886 to1906. We became aware of two things: the need for library books and the...