News Briefs

Visitors to see old Bethlehem at San Antonio site tonight
Saturday concert to mark 10 years of music ministry
2 Boerne bell ringers to play holiday songs inside cave
Clergy e-magazine issue now posted on Web site
1,500 get candy from cars in Seguin church parking lot
McMurry offers scholarships to UM high school grads
UMC program magazine features Kerrville ministry
Hospitals in San Antonio look for more volunteers
Society loses some orders for Advent devotional items
2 Southwest Texas stations to carry special on poverty
Prayer guide offers thoughts for people with illnesses
Women continue to press for chlorine-free paper use
UM school in Austin joins worldwide computer grid

Visitors to see old Bethlehem at San Antonio site tonight
Visitors can imagine this weekend in San Antonio what Bethlehem sounded and looked like when Christ was born.
University UMC is presenting its eighth annual “Night in Old Bethlehem” tonight through Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. The nativity village is at the back of the church campus at 5094 DeZavala Road.
Admission is free, but a tax collector will accept canned food or money at the village gate. Donations support local mission work.
More than 2,000 visitors went through the outdoor village last year to register for the census, barter with vendors, dance at the well, see shepherds and visit the manger.

Saturday concert to mark 10 years of music ministry
Grace Notes, an eight-member music team from Universal City UMC, is to present an anniversary concert Saturday at 7:30 at the church.
The free holiday concert is to celebrate the group’s 10 years of music ministry. A freewill offering is planned to support youth mission work at the church.
Over the past decade Grace Notes has performed at various churches, retreats, Walks to Emmaus and hospitals throughout the Southwest Texas Conference.

2 Boerne bell ringers to play holiday songs inside cave
Double Ring, a hand bell duet from First UMC, Boerne, is to perform four Christmas concerts this month in Cave Without a Name near Boerne.
The Rev. Russell Miller, minister of music and worship at First UMC, and his wife, Sylvia, church organist, are to play bells Dec. 15 at 7 p.m., Dec. 16 at 4:30 p.m., Dec. 22 at 4:30 p.m. and Dec. 23 at 4:30 p.m.

Clergy e-magazine issue now posted on Web site
The latest issue of Los Campañeros, electronic magazine of the Order of Elders, is now available at www.umcswtx.org.
Theme for the issue is “Sabbath.” Contributors include the Rev. Sid Spiller, First UMC, Mathis; the Rev. Lynn Barton, First UMC, Portland; Vickie Purdy, First UMC, Harlingen; the Rev. Cynthia Kepler, Berkey UMC, Austin; Associate Pastor Will Rice, Grace UMC, Corpus Christi; and David Mossman, husband of editor Nancy Mossman.
The Order of Elders sponsors Los Campañeros to build community among clergy members and provide a creative outlet for contributors.

1,500 get candy from cars in Seguin church parking lot
More than 1,500 visitors took part in the third annual “Trunk-or-Treat” program Oct. 31 at First UMC, Seguin.
The number was more than twice the 700 who came in 2005 and five times the count from 2004, said Christian Education Director Candace Wilson.
“One of our church members counted children and tired out when he reached 1,000,” she said. “And they kept coming. The crowd walked from the neighborhood surrounding the church, and it was an incredible night.”
Church members handed out candy from trunks of 19 decorated vehicles in the church parking lot.

McMurry offers scholarships to UM high school grads
UM-related McMurry University in Abilene is offering full-tuition scholarships to outstanding high school seniors in UM congregations across Texas.
Applicants must be approved for admission to McMurry and complete an honors application before Feb. 1. For information contact Philip LeMasters at plemasters@mcm. edu or (325) 793-3898.

UMC program magazine features Kerrville ministry
The November-December issue of Interpreter, the UMC’s official program journal, includes an item from First UMC, Kerrville.
Information about “God’s growing gourmets,” a children’s ministry that combines cooking and devotional prayers, is part of the “It Worked for Us” section. The story is available at
www. interpretermagazine.org.

Hospitals in San Antonio look for more volunteers
The Blue Bird Auxiliary of Methodist Healthcare System of San Antonio is looking for volunteers.
Workers are needed for various duties at Methodist Hospital, Methodist Children’s Hospital and Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital. Possible assignments are available in the Gift Shop, information desk, intensive care units and surgery waiting rooms.
Contact the Volunteer Office at (210) 575-4519, or check www.sabluebird.org.

Society loses some orders for Advent devotional items
An Internet glitch derailed some online orders for Advent devotional materials from the Society of St. Andrew in Big Island, Va.
“Once we discovered the problem, we tried to trace any missing orders, but we’ve had no success,” said Susan Allen, church development director.
UM Bishop Hope M. Ward contributed devotional readings for the four Sundays of Advent.
For information about lost orders, call (800) 333-4597, or check www.endhunger.org. The society, which was started by UMs, runs three hunger-relief programs: Gleaning Network, Potato Project and Harvest of Hope.

2 Southwest Texas stations to carry special on poverty
NEW YORK—Two Southwest Texas television stations plan to broadcast a documentary this month featuring a UM bishop.
WOAI-TV, San Antonio, has scheduled “Building on Faith: Making Poverty Housing History” for Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
KGNS TV, Laredo, plans to show the program, produced by the National Council of Churches for NBC, Dec. 16 at 11 a.m.
UMs interviewed on the documentary include retired Bishop Melvin Talbert, chair of the National Council’s special commission for the just rebuilding of the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina; the Rev. Bob Edgar, National Council chief executive; and the Rev. Keary Kincannon, pastor of Rising Hope UMC, Alexandria, Va.

Prayer guide offers thoughts for people with illnesses
NASHVILLE, Tenn.— “The cry of my heart is a cure for HIV and AIDS worldwide,” writes Mathabo L. of South Africa.
He is one of the writers living with HIV/AIDS who has contributed to a special prayer book for people suffering with serious diseases.
Prayers for Encouragement: Hope for Persons Living with HIV & AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis and Other Serious Diseases is being printed by Upper Room Ministries in partnership with the Africa Upper Room Office.
Upper Room Ministries, part of the General Board of Discipleship, compiled the booklet in conjunction with the Center for the Church and Global AIDS. More information is available at www.upperroom.org.

Women continue to press for chlorine-free paper use
NEW YORK—Despite occasional setbacks, members of UM Women continue to press companies to use and stock chlorine-free paper.
That was the report last month from Sung-ok Lee, an executive with the Women’s Division, General Board of Global Ministries.
For the past year and a half, UM Women have used a letter-writing campaign to urge Office Depot, Office Max and Corporate Express to sell and use processed chlorine-free paper, she said.
“After several hundred letters,” Office Depot has agreed to carry PCF paper, Lee said.

UM school in Austin joins worldwide computer grid
AUSTIN—UM-related Huston-Tillotson University has partnered with the IBM Corp. to link more than 300 campus computers to the computational power of the World Community Grid. That network can be used to solve problems plaguing humanity.
The historically black institution joins more than 225 companies, associations, nonprofit organizations and academic institutions contributing idle personal computer time toward the creation of a massive research system with the power of a supercomputer.