’07 delegate elections should reflect 1 ministry, mission

 

 

In the opening verses of Ephesians 4, Paul is inspired to call the church to unity. He reminds us that we all share in the one Spirit, serve the one Lord, confess the one faith, receive the one baptism, and serve one God and Father of us all. (Ephasians 4:1-6)
As the annual conference session draws near, I want to share some of my hopes with you. These hopes come from times of prayer and reflection among my colleague bishops as all of us prepare for annual conference sessions in 2007.
My first hope is that our unity in Christ and our missional focus on making disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world will guide the whole process of delegate elections to the South Central Jurisdictional and General Conferences.
It is my hope that we remember that while thinking alike is not mandatory, living as one in the body of Christ is essential.
I hope that the delegation elections, as in the past, will reflect the gifts and diversity of the whole Southwest Texas Annual Conference.
It is my hope that the process of election will continue to demonstrate mutual respect for all persons and their willingness to serve on behalf of the annual conference.
I hope that our election process will be conducted in a fair and thoughtful way and characterized by a concern for the whole church and its mission and not one individual issue or concern.
Finally, as bishop of the area, I promise to uphold all our conference leaders in prayer during this time and invite all of our conference members to join me in this prayer.
May God continue to use the Southwest Texas Conference as a great mission movement in the service of Jesus Christ.