Schnase named new Methodist leader for Missouri

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- The Rev. Robert Schnase has been assigned as the new United Methodist Church bishop for Missouri, the church said.

Schnase comes to Missouri from McAllen, Texas, where he was pastor of First United Methodist Church. As Missouri bishop, he succeeds Ann Brookshire Sherer, who was assigned to the church's Nebraska conference.

"Our denomination faces many challenges," Schnase, 46, said. "We need to figure out how to adapt to those challenges. We need to create congregations where people feel welcome."

The new assignments for Schnase and Sherer were decided last week at a church conference in Corpus Christi, Texas. The 8.3 million-member denomiation in the nation's third-largest.