We heard your feedback and
responded accordingly

Your Council on Ministries initiated a new way of reporting to the annual conference session last year.
We chose to report on the past year’s activities of boards, commissions and committees in written form in the journal. We used breakout dialogue sessions to talk about plans for the future concerning how each agency would endeavor to equip the local church to offer Christ to all.
The idea was well-received. More than 800 people attended these dialogue sessions.
However, we made some mistakes. We tried to do too much in too short a time.
Furthermore, we grouped agencies. As a result, rooms didn’t have adequate space in some instances to accommodate everyone who wanted to attend. In other cases people didn’t have adequate time to truly dialogue.
In spite of difficulties in some of the areas, the response and grace of conference participants were overwhelming. Feedback sheets were extremely positive, and you offered many helpful solutions.
We have heard you.
You asked to do dialogue sessions again. You asked to have only one report in a session. You asked for more sessions.
Therefore, your Council on Ministries report will be given in breakout Dialogue Sessions again this year. We will have 25 different sessions. Each will address only one subject.
The Agenda Committee has set aside two hours and 45 minutes during the annual conference session June 8 for the dialogue sessions. Twenty-two will run one hour and 15 minute. Twelve of those will be repeated so that you may attend more than one session.
Three gatherings will run in one long session for the two hours and 45 minutes.
Most boards and committees will have dialogue sessions. Topics include education, youth and young adults, all age level ministries, outreach and missions, communication, social justice, citizenship advocacy, ethnic and race issues, evangelism, small membership church issues, spirituality, and worship wars.
Six session topics come from topics you suggested last year: Human sexuality and the witness of the church; ministering with poor and marginalized people; palliative care; stem-cell research; dealing with environmental issues in the local congregation; and how to address the drug problem and other political/social issues of today.
The vast majority of dialogue sessions will involve a mixture of information. Time will be set aside for dialogue, questions and exchange of ideas.
A couple of our “topic” sessions will be more presentational, with a limited amount of time for dialogue. More details will be included in the materials you receive when registering in Corpus Christi.
Our conference theme is “Offer Christ to All: Becoming a Better Witness.”
Our objective in this year’s dialogue sessions is to enable each of us to witness to the experience, the information and God’s presence.
As we absorb these three objectives in each of the dialogue sessions, it is our fondest hope that we may truly become better witnesses in offering Christ to all.
Carol Loeb is chair of the Southwest Texas Conference Council on Ministries.