New leaders start conference-paid Witness subscriptions

From the editor
Douglas Cannon

Welcome to new readers of United Methodist Witness. During January new officers in the 350 congregations across Southwest Texas began receiving the conference newspaper.
Many new readers may want to know why they are receiving this newspaper 24 times a year.
The Southwest Texas Conference pays annually for up to 10 subscriptions to this leadership news publication for each congregation. Pastors supply the names for these subscriptions after officer elections at each church/charge conference.
The Communications and Public Witness Office publishes the Witness on the second and forth Fridays of each month to:
> Share the life of the church as experienced by individuals and congregations as well as through district and conference events.
> Report events, activities, information and developments within the church.
> Reflect attitudes and viewpoints within the church, interpret the significance of events, and lift up possibilities and hopes.
> Support programs by providing factual information about district and conference events.
The Witness is in a publishing partnership with the Austin, Corpus Christi and McAllen districts. Those districts compile information for two pages each month. We edit the material and produce the pages.
All Witness subscribers receive all district pages. Austin news runs the first issue of each month. Corpus Christi and McAllen news runs the second.
The Viewpoint page provides a forum where conference leaders share opinions and vision about issues and challenges facing the church. We have only two rules about content:
> Items must address church-related topics.
> Articles or letters to the editor may not personally attack or defame individuals.
Articles may, however, criticize ideas or stands taken by church agencies, United Methodist leaders or other writers on the Viewpoint page.
Readers are sometimes surprised by the level or tone of criticism that fellow church members offer. I allow fair comment on and criticism of opinions and actions previously offered in public.
That means if we publish something of yours on the Viewpoint page, other readers have the right to submit—and expect to see published—articles that meet content rules supporting or taking issue with your views.
While submissions on any church-related topics are welcome, I give preference to publishing articles or letters that relate their arguments to the Southwest Texas Conference vision or mission statements:
>“Offering Christ to All.”
>“Radiating God’s Love, the Southwest Texas Conference empowers ministry to make disciples of Jesus Christ.”
I encourage Witness readers to take part in the current conferencewide effort to discern what these statements mean to the way we live out our faith.
Of course, I can’t force contributors to discuss how we can offer Christ to all. But those who do may help the Southwest Texas Conference hear and respond to what God is calling us to be and do.