New churches called evangelism's 'front line'

Staff Writer
Bishop Joel N. Martinez declared last week in Corpus Christi that starting new congregations was the “new front line of evangelism” in Southwest Texas.
The future of our world “depends on the community of faith to share God’s word with our neighbors,” he said.
Both declarations came June 2 during his State of the Church address to the 147th session of the Southwest Texas Annual Conference.
Martinez called for intentional prayer by Southwest Texas United Methodists as they seek to fulfill their vision statement: “Offering Christ to All.”
“We will never plan our way into a vigorous new church planning strategy,” he said, “unless we pray our way into it.”
He called for “prayer and discernment, seeking after the direction of the Holy Spirit, and the wholehearted prayer support of the whole annual conference.”
God won’t wait for the conference to develop a strategic church-development plan before it offers Christ, Martinez noted.
“Plan or no plan, initiative or no initiative, campaign for new churches or not, Christ calls us to witness where we are,” he said.
To support congregations in witnessing where they are while supporting the initiative for building new churches, Martinez distributed papers with five questions on them. He urged the assembly to pray about their responses to the questions and share the questions and responses with their local congregations.
“This is not a report to hand to me,” he explained. “It is a question Christ raises, I believe, in my heart and in your heart, and each church has to respond to Christ in our own way.”
Working with the Rio Grande Conference is another way Southwest Texas can offer Christ to all, Martinez said.
“There may be two conferences,” he said, “but there is one mission: To offer Christ to all God’s children and to seek the transformation of the world we live in.
“We are one church. Our Lord is one. Our faith is one. Let us live out the unity God has already given us!”
Martinez reported on activities bringing together Southwest Texas and Rio Grande United Methodists as partners whose “roots are deep in the same missional soil.”
He pointed not only to the joint June 3 celebration of lay ministry but also to the June 4 service during which the two conferences would ordain or commission 35 people.
Continuing to underscore the common mission of the conferences, Martinez announced he would convene a retreat for Rio Grande and Southwest Texas leaders in January 2006.
The purpose of the gathering at Mount Wesley Conference Center in Kerrville would be to address one question: How can we help each other offer Christ to all to transform the world?
“If we cannot collaborate among United Methodists,” he asked, “how do we expect to transform our communities still divided by fear, suspicion, violence and racism?”
The bishop praised ongoing Southwest Texas efforts to bring a Christian witness to all nations. Those included:
> Contributing $594,767 to the United Methodist Committee on Relief for disaster recovery from the Dec. 26 tsunami in South Asia. The amount, which continues to grow, is the largest response in Southwest Texas Conference history.
> Being “hospitable, caring and enthusiastic” hosts with the Rio Grande Conference for the July 2004 South Central Jurisdictional Conference in Corpus Christi. He requested continued prayers for Bishop Robert Schnase and his family, a former Southwest Texas pastor. Schnase was elected a bishop during that meeting and now leads the Missouri Conference.
> Continuing a tradition of strong apportionment payout for the core ministries of the church around the world.
> Completing and consecrating major facilities and improvements at Mount Wesley Conference Center.
Martinez acknowledged the upcoming 50th anniversary of The United Methodist Church’s decision to ordain women for ministry.
That decision, he said, has “brought the blessings and gifts of our sisters into our leadership.”