March 28 celebration at St. Mark UMC, McAllen, raises travel money for 2 Valley episcopal candidates

By Jenna Heart
St. Mark UMC, McAllen, was pleased to host a fund-raiser and celebration March 28 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for two episcopal candidates from Rio Grande Valley.
Local churches from both the Southwest Texas and the Rio Grande conferences came together to celebrate a great honor.
For the first time in our memory, two candidates from the Rio Grande Valley have been lifted up by their delegations for the office of bishop.
The Rev. Roberto Gomez, pastor of El Mesias UMC, Mission, from the Rio Grande Conference, and the Rev. Robert Schnase, senior pastor of First UMC, McAllen, are both endorsed by their respective conference delegations. 
The interview process necessary to be a candidate for bishop requires approximately $5,000 in travel costs.
The candidates travel all over the eight-state South Central Jurisdiction to meet with each annual conference delegation. That is very costly, so a barbecue-plate fund-raiser was organized by St. Mark to help them with their expenses.
As an added blessing, part of the proceeds from the luncheon also benefited a scholarship fund at the Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso that has been established in honor of Dr. Raquel Martinez, wife of Bishop Joel N. Martinez.