News Briefs
Organ concert scheduled in Corpus Christi
Former campus minister dies Jan. 8 in North Carolina
Seminary in Austin offers Feb. 17-19 discovery time
Board seeks nominations for public educator award
Wesley nurses to explore effects of faith on health
Methodist Children’s Home to open Corpus Christi office
UM Women slate retreat for March 3-5 in Kerrville
Church names outhouse in honor of current pastor
UM singer, scholar receive top ’06 evangelism award
Sager Brown Depot needs supplies for disaster relief
Commission on UM Men gets new home in Nashville
Organ concert scheduled in Corpus Christi
An organist from Kings Park, N.Y., is to present a free concert Feb 12 at First UMC, Corpus Christi.
Deanna Muro, director of music and organ at St. Joseph’s Church, Kings Park, is to perform at 3 p.m. The First UMC arts series and Corpus Christi Chapter of the American Guild of Organists are co-sponsoring the event.
Former campus minister dies Jan. 8 in North Carolina
A former campus minister in San Marcos died Jan. 8 in Salisbury, N.C.
Maynard “Frosty” L. Rich was 76. He was instrumental in starting the Campus Christian Community Center at Texas State University-San Marcos.
Rich served as campus pastor and professor of religion at what was then Southwest Texas State Teachers College from 1954 to 1963.
Rich retired last year after 45 years in higher education. He was a member of First UMC, Salisbury.
Seminary in Austin offers Feb. 17-19 discovery time
People feeling called to ministry can explore seminary education this month in Austin.
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary has scheduled Discovery Weekend Feb. 17-19. The event is designed to help prospective students on the discernment process and to give them a firsthand look at theological education.
Activities include campus tours, sample classes, admissions conferences, meals with students and faculty members, and worship services.
For more information contact the Office of Admissions at (800) 241-1085 or admissions @austinseminary.edu.
Board seeks nominations for public educator award
The Board of Church and Society is seeking nominations for its 2006 Outstanding Public Educator Award.
Nomination deadline is Feb. 21. The honor is to be presented during the June 7-10 annual conference session in Corpus Christi.
The award recognizes active UMs who have been teachers of poor or at-risk students for at least 10 years.
The winner receives an expense-paid trip to Corpus Christi to receive the honor. The winner’s school gets a $200 grant in the name of the honoree.
Wesley nurses to explore effects of faith on health
Wesley nurses from across Southwest Texas are to explore effects of faith and cultural traditions on healthcare this month in San Antonio.
The 8th annual Health Ministry Symposium, sponsored by Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, is scheduled for Feb. 23 and 24 at the Omni Hotel Colonnade.
Topics to be discussed include spiritually based health and disease management and the role diversity plays in health care and health ministry.
Methodist Healthcare Ministries funds Wesley nurse positions in more than 50 UM congregations across Southwest Texas.
Methodist Children’s Home to open Corpus Christi office
Methodist Children’s Home, Waco, is to begin offering foster care and other family support services soon in Corpus Christi.
Services in the Coastal Bend are part of the Waco home’s goal to increase the number of youngsters served through its residential programs and outreach offices from 500 to 1,000.
As soon as staff members are hired for the Corpus Christi outreach office, the home is to begin recruiting and training foster-care families, placing children in foster care and identifying other community needs.
The Waco home maintains other outreach offices in Dallas, Houston, Lubbock, San Antonio, Tyler and Albuquerque, N.M.
UM Women slate retreat for March 3-5 in Kerrville
Southwest Texas UM Women are offering a Lenten retreat March 3 to 5 in Kerrville.
Geneva Foote, Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, and Cheryll Felder, New Mexico Conference, are to lead the spiritual growth event at Mount Wesley Conference Center. Theme is “Resurrection Women.”
Registration fee is $115 per person. The price includes registration, dormitory-style lodging for two nights, insurance and four meals.
For information call (361) 992-7985 or check www.gbgm-umc.org/swtxumw.
Church names outhouse in honor of current pastor
Walnut UMC in Blanco County has named its newly renovated outhouse the “Rev. Grady Roe Reading Room.”
The building dedication came in conjunction with the congregation’s 150th anniversary celebration in October. To prepare for the sesquicentennial, the 38-member congregation upgraded church facilities.
Besides remodeling the outhouse, other work around the church building included new floor and floor covering, light fixtures, wall coverings, and a steeple.
When members learned that Roe, their pastor since 2003, had never had a building named after him, they installed a plaque on the outhouse.
UM singer, scholar receive top ’06 evangelism award
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—A renowned sacred music singer and a scholar are recipients of one of the highest awards in evangelism.
Bill Mann and the Rev. George E. Morris are this year’s Philip Award winners. They were chosen by the National Association of UM Evangelists.
Mann, of Richardson, Texas, is an international artist who has performed in concert halls in England, Scotland and Ireland as part of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Morris, of Canton, Ga., is the Hankey senior professor of world evangelism for the World Methodist Council.
The association, affiliated with the General Board of Discipleship, presented the awards at the annual Congress on Evangelism in early January in Atlanta.
Named for the apostle Philip, the award has been presented to two people annually since 1974.
Sager Brown Depot needs supplies for disaster relief
BALDWIN, La.—The UM Committee on Relief’s Sager Brown Depot needs relief supplies for disaster aid in the United States and around the world.
The top two needs are specific cleaning and bedding items to fulfill requests after 2005’s many disasters, said Ted Warnock, interim director.
Cleaning supplies include bleach in two one-quart or one 82-oz. bottles; all-purpose cleaner in 32-oz. bottles; liquid laundry detergent in two 25-oz. or one 50-oz. bottles; heavy duty trash bags in 24-bag rolls; scouring pads; paper towels; dust-mask respirators; toilet paper; insect repellant spray in 6 to 14 oz. cans; and sponge mops with replacement pads. Other supplies needed are flood buckets, school bags and layette kits.
Visit http://gbgm-umc.org/umcor/kits.cfm to find out more about relief supplies, health kits, assembly and shipping.
Contributions for relief supplies can be designated for “UMCOR Advance No. 901440” and put into any church offering plate.
Commission on UM Men gets new home in Nashville
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The General Commission on UM Men is soon to have a home of its own for the first time since its creation in 1996.
The commission is moving this month to Music Row, an area populated by the country music industry. For 10 years, the nine-member staff has occupied crowded rooms in the Kern Building, a structure owned by the General Board of Discipleship.
The commission bought a $750,000 building formerly owned by the Nashville office of the General Council on Finance and Administration. The 4,200-square-foot structure became available when the finance agency moved to a larger space nearby.
