Friends, on behalf of Bishop Joel N. Martinez and the covenant community that is The United Methodist Church, I want to thank you for the fine way that you finished the year in apportionment giving.Many of our churches significantly increased their giving, and I know for some that was a sacrificial decision. THANK YOU! What you give matters to God and makes a difference in the lives of people.
One of the important ways that the Austin District is unique is the large number of young people who live here and continue to relocate here. In other districts a familiar refrain is “My children/grandchildren
live in Austin.”
Either work or school brings younger people our way. That is both an opportunity and a challenge for us in our ministry. It means we need to start new churches to accommodate the growth, and it means we need to provide ministry resources specifically for this growing population.
As part of our District Transformation process, Dr. Don Nations is bringing his student ministry resource person, Dave Stewart, to Austin to lead two seminars on building a vital student ministry. Stewart will lead two sessions, which are open to all our churches. One will be the evening of Feb. 19 for lay volunteers. Another session will be Feb. 20 during the day for district youth professionals. Time and place will be forthcoming.
Please save these dates.
Another important way we are in ministry to students is our Wesley Foundation Ministry at the University of Texas. Recently I met with the Rev. Rusty Teeter and members of the Wesley Foundation Board: Barbara Holmes, Steve Collins and Dr. Noble Doss. They shared an update on the capital fund drive for the new Wesley Foundation Building. They will be contacting our district churches and asking for five minutes in worship March 25 for a student to come and speak.
While we have made good progress, we still need about $1 million to complete this campaign. I hope all our churches will respond with generosity to this appeal.