Gathering to explore how
churches form Christian faith

Southwest Texas United Methodists can explore whether their congregations are helping people grow in the Christian faith this month in San Antonio.
SOULfiesta: Leading for Christian Transformation, a conference for spiritual leaders, both clergy and laity, addresses that issue.
The gathering, sponsored by the Upper Room Ministries division of the General Board of Discipleship in Nashville, Tenn., in partnership with the Southwest Texas Conference, is scheduled for March 30 through April 1 at Alamo Heights UMC, San Antonio.
The Rev. Stephen Bryant, publisher of Upper Room Ministries, said he believes church leaders can order the life of the church for spiritual formation and vitality by paying attention to five primary areas: presence, practice, pathways, power and pilgrimage.
The SOULfiesta program is to examine all five.
“We cannot know God and remain the same,” said Bryant, a Southwest Texas Conference clergy member. “Transformation happens because God never leaves us where we are.
“God moves us to adopt a new vision of living in the world. The task of leaders is to lead people into settings of transformation, places to experience God again and again, and we can facilitate those encounters by the way we do church.”
More than 60 learning sessions and several pre-conference options are available at SOULfiesta.
Pre-conference offerings include three-hour afternoon retreats designed for clergy and laity and Companions in Christ training sessions, offered in both English and Spanish.
Featured SOULfiesta speakers include:
n The Rev. Trevor Hudson, a South African pastor and best-selling author.
n The Rev. Marjorie Thompson, director of Pathways Center for Congregational Spirituality at Upper Room Ministries and the author of the best-selling Soulfeast (John Knox/Westminster).
n The Rev. Vance Ross, associate general secretary of the General Board of Discipleship.
“This is an experience and learning opportunity created just for us in response to a need identified across our conference and articulated by the conference leaders, an event that all our clergy and lay leaders need to participate in,” said the Rev. Sheree Harris, chair of the Southwest Texas Conference spiritual formation committee.
“SOULfiesta will address the deep hunger and thirst for something deeper than we may be experiencing in our churches. It will show us ways to facilitate people’s growth and life as disciples and invites us to pay attention to our own well-being—the soul of leadership.”
Harris, associate pastor of Colonial Hills UMC, San Antonio, said she hopes all church leaders, both laity and clergy, will attend.
Registration fee is $99 per person. Additional fees may apply for pre-conference events.
Information is available at www.umcswtx.org/soulfiesta or by calling (800) 972-0433.