News Briefs

2 July concerts planned at Corpus Christi church
Mississippi UM to fill chair at Presbyterian seminary
Childcare institute slated next week at Waco home
Cokesbury store to offer 25% discounts July 21-23
Corpus Christi youth choir completes outreach tour
May symposium discusses ministry with small groups
Travis Park plays host to inclusiveness meeting
Lay speaker classes slated Aug. 12-14 in Tulsa, Okla.
2 Corpus Christi UMs help plan Franklin Graham event
Nigerian bishop put on leave, interim leader appointed
University Senate removes sanctions on Denver school
Church sells former HQ in Dayton of EUB Church
Agency plans to relocate by ’07, stay in Chicago area

2 July concerts planned at Corpus Christi church
First UMC, Corpus Christi, is playing host to special musical concerts July 10 and 17.
Cross Tide Praise and Worship Band is to perform a “Jammin’ Jubilee” July 10 at 7 p.m. The group regularly leads the congregation’s “Worship on the Water” praise service each week.
Baritone Sterling Allen is to sing sacred and secular works July 17 at 7 p.m. Allen, a Corpus Christi native, is associate music director at Bethany UMC, Austin.


Mississippi UM to fill chair at Presbyterian seminary
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary has named a UM as the first person to fill the C. Ellis and Nancy Gribble Nelson Chair of Christian Education.
The Rev. David F. White, a clergy member of the Mississippi Conference, joins the faculty in Austin Aug. 1.
White is now visiting assistant professor of youth and education at UM-related Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta.
The endowed faculty chair in Austin is to show that Christian education has an important place in the Presbyterian seminary’s curriculum, a news release said.


Childcare institute slated next week at Waco home
Childcare professionals from across the United States are to meet during the week of July 11 at the Methodist Children’s Home in Waco.
They are attending the July 13-15 Coalition for Residential Education Leadership Institute at the home. It is related to the seven UM conferences of Texas, including Southwest Texas.
Staff members from the Waco facility are to lead a panel discussion on the “strength-based” philosophy of care during the three-day meeting.
The institute was founded in 1994 and involves organizations serving at-risk youths.


Cokesbury store to offer 25% discounts July 21-23
Shoppers at Cokesbury Bookstore in San Antonio can save 25 percent on books, Bibles and other merchandise July 21-23.
The discount is part of the Summertime Sidewalk Sale at the store, 1742 N. Loop 1604 East in the Northwoods Shopping Center.
Cokesbury is the retail arm of the UM Publishing House.


Corpus Christi youth choir completes outreach tour
Members of the youth choir at First UMC, Corpus Christi, celebrated the end of their annual outreach tour with a homecoming concert June 7.
The group, called “For Your Inspiration,” sang in early June at First UMC, Orlando, Fla., and Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital, Pensacola, Fla.
The young people also visited Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando.


May symposium discusses ministry with small groups
Eleven people from six congregations attended a May symposium at Alamo Heights UMC, San Antonio, on small group ministry.
The lunchtime meeting was designed as a forum for people involved in small group ministry to share best practices and support one another.
Representatives from three congregations volunteered to play host to the next event.
For more information contact Troy Dunn or Andy Burchfield at (210) 826-3215.


Travis Park plays host to inclusiveness meeting
Travis Park UMC, San Antonio, is playing host to a gathering next month on “Recovering the Soul of the Church.”
The Aug. 20-23 gathering is to explore ways to break down racial, economic and sexual barriers in the church to promote inclusiveness.
The Rev. Tex Sample, emeritus faculty member of UM-related St. Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, Mo., is featured speaker. Registration fee is $150 per person.


Lay speaker classes slated Aug. 12-14 in Tulsa, Okla.
Southwest Texas lay speakers can attend special 10-hour classes next month in Tulsa, Okla.
“One in Spirit, All in Ministry: In the Spirit of Discipleship” is scheduled for Aug. 12-14 at the Southern Hills Marriott. The event is sponsored by lay speaking ministries of the South Central Jurisdiction.
Classes are to cover spiritual gifts, preaching and discipleship. The schedule also includes a training session for district and conference directors of lay speaking ministry.
Program fee is $185 per person. The preaching course costs an additional $15. For more information contact Glenna Kyker Brayton at kyker.brayton@juno.com.


2 Corpus Christi UMs help plan Franklin Graham event
Two UMs are on the leadership team planning the Aug. 19-21 Franklin Graham Festival in Corpus Christi.
Carol Loeb, Asbury UMC, Corpus Christi, is on the executive committee for the evangelistic event.
Bob Leach, First UMC, Corpus Christi, is recruiting ushers for three of the four scheduled gatherings.


Nigerian bishop put on leave, interim leader appointed
WASHINGTON—Bishop Nkulu Ntanda Ntambo was appointed June 13 to lead the UMC in Nigeria while the area’s standing bishop is on leave of absence.
Bishop Done Peter Dabale was placed on a six-month leave of absence May 5 by the Council of Bishops’ executive committee. Bishop Roy Sano, executive secretary of the council, said the Nigeria Conference is “conflicted,” and some leadership issues need to be worked out.
Ntambo leads the North Katanga Episcopal Area in the Democratic Republic of Congo and will continue to oversee that area in addition to the Nigeria Area.


University Senate removes sanctions on Denver school
DENVER—The University Senate removed all sanctions against Iliff School of Theology June 13. Iliff is one of 13 theological schools related to the UMC.
A UM review team, investigating complaints of leadership problems and cultural insensitivity at the seminary, sanctioned the school with a “public warning” last November. The team made 19 recommendations for Iliff to address.
The warning included the notice that support from the UMC Ministerial Education Fund could be withdrawn. The fund contributed $900,000 to the school’s $5.14 million budget in 2003.
The investigation and Iliff’s loss of status were prompted by complaints following the abrupt retirement of former president David Maldonado Jr. in 2004.


Church sells former HQ in Dayton of EUB Church
DAYTON, Ohio—The UMC Office Building in Dayton—once headquarters of the Evangelical United Brethren Church—was sold June 15 to the Cancer Prevention Institute of Dayton for $800,000.
The building had housed the General Council on Ministries. The property went on the market after the 2004 General Conference decided to discontinue the council.
EUB general agencies moved into the newly constructed facility on Riverside Drive in the summer of 1960. The EUB Church merged with The Methodist Church in 1968 to form the UMC.


Agency plans to relocate by ’07, stay in Chicago area
EVANSTON, Ill.—The General Board of Pension and Health Benefits is looking for a new home.
Its board of directors decided during an April 22-23 meeting that the agency’s current Evanston location is inadequate. The agency is to seek another site around Chicago by fall 2007.
That decision comes after the General Council on Finance and Administration’s decision to move from Evanston to Nashville