San Antonio District honors 2 men, 3 groups, 1 youth

Two laymen, three organizations and one youth were honored for their faithfulness and service March 27 at the San Antonio District laity awards banquet.
Lenny Dagg of Universal City UMC received the 2007 Bishop’s Exemplar Award for the San Antonio District.
Larry Warren of University UMC, San Antonio, earned the Ted Cara-vantes Christian Service Award for his work with the International Justice Mission in “serving the world community.”
The Coker Addiction and Recovery Team of Coker UMC, San Antonio, and the Prayer Shawl Ministry at Christ UMC, Stockdale, received the District Superintendent’s New Ventures in Ministry awards.
The Joyful Noise Youth Band at La Vernia UMC and Jamyka Williams of Jones Chapel UMC, San Antonio, received the District Su-perintendent’s Youth Ventures in Ministry awards.
About 370 United Methodists gathered at Laurel Heights UMC, San Antonio, to honor nominees and the award recipients.
Dagg, a certified lay speaker and congregation lay leader, was selected for the Exemplar Award because of his lay leadership, Sunday school teaching and regular worship leadership.
Bishop Joel N. Martinez gives the award annually to laypeople chosen by each district board of laity for “witness, commitment and service after the example of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
“I’m overwhelmed,” Dagg said after accepting the Exemplar Award. “I don’t know what to say. It’s been exciting at Universal City, and it’s hard not to catch that spirit and spread the love. Of course, all the glory goes to the Lord Jesus Christ, who waited for me while I was out in the wilderness.”
Dagg has served as chair of the church council for two years, chair of the board of trustees, children’s Sunday school teacher, adult Sunday school teacher, Vacation Bible School teacher and much more.
The Universal City Committee on Lay Leadership, which submitted Dagg’s nomination, wrote, “When you meet Lenny, you can see the change that knowing Jesus has made in his heart and life. His faith is obvious in his attitude toward God and other people.”
The nomination called him faithful to God’s calling on his life and said the congregation has witnessed Dagg “grow in his faith and has seen him evolve from a busy and involved church member into a man of deepening faith, ultimately becoming a Christian disciple who represents Christ in all his words and actions.”
His lay leadership, the committee said, has been especially important in the transitions of welcoming a new senior pastor and bidding farewell to an associate pastor later this spring.
Warren was chosen from 13 nominees for the Caravantes award for his work exposing illegal slavery in India and other countries. The honor comes with a $1,000 grant to his charity of choice.
Warren said he was surprised and honored to accept the award.
“To do mission work is phenomenal,” he said. “It’s what we’re all called to do.”
Barbara J. Jacobson, who submitted his nomination, said Warren helped initiate University UMC’s first “Justice” mission trip to India. He helped educate members of the church about the sex trafficking of young girls and the bonded slavery of children all over the world.
Warren worked undercover with other attorneys and investigators to “access slave holder’s documents and photograph evidence of bonded slavery,” Jacobson wrote.
“At considerable personal risk,” she continued, “he and his team met in the middle of the night at secret locations to interview and photograph countless bonded slaves in the Indian countryside.”
The group then developed a legal strategy and documents for the International Justice Mission to take the case before the Indian courts. That action resulted in the freedom of more than 85 individuals.
Since then, Warren has led a second team to the Philippines. The group interviewed boys who had been “illegally detained for years,” Jacobson wrote. The Philippine government passed a new law prohibiting the incarceration of children younger than 15 as a result of Warren’s team’s efforts.
“(Warren) has been a shining example to our congregation, and especially our youth, by witnessing to new ways of serving God in the work of justice,” Jacobson wrote. “We are convinced that Mother Teresa must be smiling down on Larry Warren as he demonstrates the love of Jesus through his efforts for the ‘least, the last and the lost’ of the world community.”
Other nominees for the Bishop’s Exemplar Award were:
> Joe Berkley, New Hope UMC, Converse.
> Tim Birkner, Bracken UMC, Garden Ridge.
> Doris Bristow, Windcrest UMC.
> Bonnie Cavasos, Epworth UMC, San Antonio.
> Chad and Katherine Cooper, Floresville UMC.
> Duane D. Hoff, Coker UMC, San Antonio.
> Fred and Julie McCollum, North Shore UMC, Canyon Lake.
> Jay Mulkey, St. Andrew’s UMC, San Antonio.
> Robert Oliver, Bethel UMC, San Antonio.
> Susan Philbin, St. Mark’s UMC, San Antonio.
> Jack Pool, La Vernia UMC.
> George and Barbara Ricks, Schertz UMC.
> Troy Warwick, St. John’s UMC, San Antonio.
Other nominees for the Ted Caravantes Christian Service Award were:
> Ted Bailey, Laurel Heights UMC, San Antonio.
> Robert and Elizabeth Biela, Floresville UMC.
> Sylvia Griffin, North Shore UMC, Canyon Lake.
> Ed Hutton, Helotes Hills UMC, Helotes.
> Laura Kemp, First UMC, Pleasanton.
> Mary Kuse, St. Andrew’s UMC, San Antonio.
> Ida Lowe, Jones Chapel UMC, San Antonio.
> Meredith Rutherford, First UMC, Pleasanton.
> Joyce Smith, New Hope UMC, Converse.
> Jeanne Vickers, La Vernia UMC.
> Richard and Gloria Weers, Universal City UMC.
> Ray and Joyce Wiggins, Schertz UMC.
Other nominees for the District Superintendent’s New Ventures in Ministry Award were:
> Adult ministry, Schertz UMC.
> Carl and Marjorie Douglas, Asbury UMC, San Antonio.
> Gals Gathering for God, Bracken UMC, Garden Ridge.
> Kids Hope USA, St. Mark’s UMC, San Antonio.
> Ministry of Sacramental Peace, La Vernia UMC.
> Movie on the Lawn, New Hope UMC, Converse.
> North Shore UMC, Canyon Lake.
> Outreach Committee, St. An-drew’s UMC, San Antonio.
> Promiseland, First UMC, New Braunfels.
> The Joyful Noise Bell Choir, Floresville UMC.
> Small Group Ministry, Universal City UMC.
> The Studio, Helotes Hills UMC, Helotes.
Other nominees for the District Superintendent’s Youth Ventures in Ministry award were:
> Michelle Elise Faulkner, Flor-esville UMC.
> Ben Friedli, Universal City UMC.
> Nicholas Gooden, St. Paul UMC, San Antonio.
> Laurel Heights Youth and S.A. Youth Center Mission Trip.
> Kimberley Rohlfs, St. Andrew’s UMC, San Antonio.
> Hannah Fisher, Schertz UMC’s United Methodist Youth Fellowship team.
> Daniel Reyes, Schertz UMC’s United Methodist Youth Fellowship team.