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January 13, 2012
Volume 157, Number 15
New churches capitalize on Advent season
 The Christmas Eve service at Pathway Fellowship, San Antonio, one of the newest churches in the Southwest Texas Conference, featured many special elements as well as traditional Christmas songs.
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
The season of Advent is an important one for churches all across the Southwest Texas Conferences, but for new church plants, it can provide one more “touch” with the community that could prove integral to the church’s survival.
New churches capitalized on reaching out to their communities during the weeks leading up to Christmas by hosting special activities, providing service opportunities and offering a unique entry point into the church’s life and being.
The Rev. Phillip Hefner, pastor of Pathway Fellowship, San Antonio, one of the newest church plants in the conference, said people from his community went caroling at the Air Force Village, chose to “adopt” a single mom and child and provided support to a “very young military couple that didn’t have anything.” Members also delivered cookies to the teachers at the school where the congregation meets.
The activities were members’ response to Hefner’s Advent series Rethink Church: A Life-Giving Christmas, he said.
 After a candlelight service at Hope Arise UMC, San Antonio, participants enjoyed home-baked goodies before hopping onto a trailer filled with hay for some traditional Christmas caroling around the neighborhood.
Members of Hope Arise UMC, San Antonio, which celebrated its first birthday in September, invited the neighborhoods surrounding the elementary school where the church meets every Sunday to join them for Christmas ornament decorating and free professional photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus. They also encouraged visitors to join them in collecting new, unwrapped toys for San Antonio Police Department’s Operation Blue Santa.
“We really wanted to reach out to our community and invite them to experience Christ by celebrating, worshiping and serving with us,” said Ben Toalson, worship pastor. “For each of our Advent services, we saw new faces. Considering how new we are to the neighborhood (three and a half months), we were very pleased with the response we received.
 Left: Pathway Fellowship, San Antonio, had about 75 adults attend its Christmas Eve service at the Golf Course of Texas, along with a “whole bunch of children,” said the Rev. Phillip Hefner, pastor of the new congregation. During Advent, he said, he tried to communicate the idea of reaching out to the community through service, and members went caroling at The Air Force Village, adopted a single mom and provided support to a very young military couple who “didn’t have anything.” Top right: Members of Pathway Fellowship, San Antonio, sing carols at The Air Force Village, as part of Hefner’s challenge to get outside the church and serve their community. Hefner says service is foundational to Pathway Fellowship’s identity, and Advent provided a way to communicate that value. Bottom right: Youths from Hope Arise UMC, San Antonio, enjoy a hayride after the church’s Christmas candlelight service. Members caroled around the neighborhoods that surround the elementary school where Hope Arise meets on Sunday mornings. The event provided one more touch to the community, said the Rev. Reese Henry, pastor of the church.
The Rev. Aaron Saenz, pastor of Valley Praise, Harlingen, said members continued their Christmas practice of sponsoring the Esperanza Home for Boys for Christmas and served 45 of the young men with Christmas gifts and an “awesome time of fellowship at their home.”
“We made it clear that they are not an extension ministry of our church, but they are part of our church and are our youth,” Saenz said.
During the Advent season, he challenged the people in his congregation to “re-gift” themselves as “changed people” in their world, he said. At the church’s Christmas Eve service, leaders offered a tamale fellowship, followed by a worship service. They ordered 400 tamales (more were donated), had chili made by their resident chef and rented an additional 300 chairs to add to their available seating.
Almost 350 people attended the church’s Christmas Eve service.
“It was truly a spiritual moment, with a unique blend of traditional Christmas carols and holy communion, paired with an Upgraded glowstick and laser light atmosphere,” Saenz said. “God has blessed us with a diverse and unique church that, above all, can say that the spirit of the Lord is upon us.”
He said about 200 attended the Christmas Day service, during which he baptized a couple in their 80s.
The Rev. Eric Vogt, pastor of Servant Church, Austin, which also marked its first birthday in September, said he and leaders wanted to make Christmas as missional as possible.
“We talked each week about doing Christmas more simply so that we could be more generous in giving the kind of gifts that honor Christ and join in his work in the world,” Vogt said. “We challenged folks to match what they gave in gifts for family with a gift to help provide water in Ethiopia.
During the Advent season, he said, they repeatedly talked about how the $11.4 billion that Americans spend on gifts—on Black Friday alone—could solve much of the world’s water crisis.
A few members of Servant Church recently returned from participating in the H2Oride, cycling 9,000 miles around the whole United States—one mile for every 100,000 people without clean drinking water.
Vogt said the congregation joined in the fundraising efforts for those members’ H2Oride, the proceeds of which benefit Living Water International, and at the service on Dec. 18 and the “early version” of a Christmas Eve service Dec. 21, raised $3,872, completing H20ride’s second well.
“It was fun—as we did publicity for our community candlelight and carols service—basically our early version of Christmas Eve—we could say that 100 percent of our gifts that night would go to support a well in Ethiopia through H2Oride.org,” Vogt said.
 Hope Arise UMC, San Antonio, celebrated Christmas early with a candlelight service Dec. 17. After the service, participants enjoyed a hayride with caroling around the neighborhoods that surround the school where the church meets.
The Advent season didn’t come without its challenges for new church plants, leaders said.
For Servant Church, that was choosing a time for the candlelight service.
“Time on a weeknight is a challenge for us because earlier would mean people deal with downtown (Austin) traffic,” Vogt said, “but it would be easier for young families with kids.”
They chose 7 p.m., so most who attended were adults.
Still, Vogt said, several people brought friends, and a few people from the neighborhood attended for the first time.
“I think they got a taste for what the creative and missional ethos of Servant Church is,” he said. “I hope many of them will return.”
Leaders at Hope Arise decided on a candlelight service (and an after-service caroling hayride) because school officials where the church meets could not open the school on any night closer to Christmas.
“The greatest challenge in church planting might be in using leased space,” said the Rev. Reese Henry, pastor of Hope Arise. “This becomes more complicated for special events, like candlelight services. It forces us to be flexible and helps us learn not to take anything for granted.”
“We can’t just do anything we want,” Toalson said. “We’ve had to resist the urge to ‘ask forgiveness later’ in the interest of developing a healthy relationship with our school or lease holder. It takes time to build trust, and when our ideas fall outside of the guidelines, it allows us to exercise our creativity and find solutions that both accomplish our goals and protect the relationship.”
This season presented other challenges, too, Henry said.
“One of the challenges for me was in balancing the need to have a cultural hook that helped folks in the community who wouldn’t attend church want to check us out and attend, versus the need to preach the Advent message of preparation and hope,” he said. “I think we did a good job. The events drew in new guests and provided the cultural hook, and we strove to share the gospel of good news in the process.”
 Valley Praise, Harlingen, hosted a tamale dinner before its Christmas Eve service. Almost 350 people attended the event.
Henry said he expects those people to come back.
“We need those people to come back,” he said. “This is the goal of everything you do in church planting—find ways to reach the community and help people find their place in the kingdom. For us to be a church long term and succeed, we have to be successful at reaching people and making new disciples for Jesus Christ. It’s what we do.”
Hefner said about 74 adults attended Pathway Fellowship’s Christmas Eve service at the Golf Course of Texas, and a “whole bunch of children.” The service was “well received and very successful.” During the service, leaders took up a Christmas Eve offering that was used to purchase animals—goats, cattle, chickens—from Samaritan’s Purse for people living in poverty overseas.
“We did see some new faces, but it seems like the activities we did throughout Advent seemed to ‘increase the buzz’ in the neighborhoods,” Hefner said. “I believe the past few weeks have done an outstanding job of getting people motivated, getting them thinking about the impact of the birth we celebrated and evaluating their lives, which is a large part of what Advent is about.”
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New year means new opportunities, challenges, changes
2012 is upon us. I am very much looking forward to it. At the beginning of most new years there is a sense of anticipation because we don’t really know what is going to happen over the course of the next 12 months.
This year I am looking forward to events as they unfold because I already know that many momentous decisions will be made that will affect our future for years to come. These decisions will be related to both the church and the world.
This spring the General Conference of The United Methodist Church will have its quadrennial meeting. The decisions made there will set our agenda as a denomination for at least the next four years, possibly longer. In June the Rio Grande and Southwest Texas Conferences will decide whether or not to commit themselves to the creation of one new conference rather than remain separate as two. This decision will set our conference agenda for the next several years. In July, the Jurisdictional Conference will elect three new Bishops to serve the Church. Those decisions will provide new leaders for the church and new colleagues for me for the next four years.
In our country we shall elect a president to lead our nation for the next four years. A momentous decision, to say the least.
I am looking forward to the future. I firmly believe that God is going to have a major hand in directing the decisions we make. I firmly believe we will go about our business of decision making with great care and great prayer. All will be well as long as we maintain our focus on the purpose of the church and the nature of our great country. I am eager to move with you into God’s future.
However, I do have one major concern. I pray that our conversations, our attitudes and our efforts will reflect the nature of the One who created and sustains us. As major decisions are made, there will definitely be differences of opinion. This is inevitable whether it is in the church or our civic life. That is why these decisions are called “major.” They are not easy to make.
As I look to 2012 with great anticipation, I pray that we will act Christ-like toward one another in all things. If we will, I am confident we will look back on 2012 as a very good year, even if it doesn’t turn out exactly the way I would have done it. After all, this is God’s church, not mine, and God’s world, not ours. We are but His instruments.
Happy New Year!
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Old and new: the old year is gone, the new year has begun
As 2012 begins with all the promise of conferences and elections (societal and episcopal), and threatened dire possibilities (Mayan calendar, Iran, North Korea), one needs spiritual feeding to keep a balanced view. Over the course of five days at the end of 2011, I got fed in a way I want to share.
On Dec. 28, 2011, many Southwest Texas clergy and laity gathered at Wesley UMC, Austin, to remember the life of Delia Chase Chambers, or “Sissy” as many knew her. Sissy and her husband Mel Chambers, Jr., were active Emmaus Community members for many years in Austin and were well-known to many of us for that. To others, she was a beloved daughter, sister and aunt in the Chase family, of clergy renown in Southwest Texas and elsewhere. The service was a real celebration, with the music Wesley is so often cited for making all present joyful in their grief and recollections. As the Rev. Rosie Johnson reminded us early on, all things considered there’s nothing better than a GOOD funeral, and this was one of those.
A good funeral re-inspires believers, reminding us that we share faith in a grace-filled future that goes beyond life’s trials to the life beyond. A good funeral lets us lay down doubts and raise up that faith we share. A good funeral allows to us to grasp the significance of all the beliefs we have learned and intuited and absorbed, from a lifetime of study and reflection. On that Wednesday morning, the brother of the deceased, the Rev. Sylvester Chase, passionately applied the balm of salvation to all souls present through his eulogy of his dear sister, and we all praised God for it. THAT was an ending to be remembered, to her life and to 2011.
On the Sunday following, New Year’s Day, my pastor and everybody else’s preached on the positives of another year before us. The Rev. Lynn Barton, senior pastor of Westlake UMC, Austin, used Chapter 21 of Revelations to teach his gathered flock about that day that God makes all things new: “I will give the fountain of the water of life freely to those who thirst. Those who overcome shall inherit all things ... “ (Rev. 21: 6-7) For me, it was a bookend to the marvelous service I had witnessed the previous Wednesday, a testament to living positively into the future with the knowledge that God is there for us.
As the work of 2012 spreads out before us, that knowledge is key to our success. It will take a lot of positive effort and even more prayer and guidance from the Holy Spirit, to make the changes that The United Methodist Church needs to make to continue being a vital part of the Kingdom here on earth. We can do it! But it sure helps to hear the Gospel message preached so strongly by our clergy from the pulpit at these teaching moments in our lives. Blessings on you for the New Year!
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Jesus’ ‘greatest hits’ in Scripture help
teach about the nature of Jesus
Do you ever find yourself reading the Gospels and come upon a miracle or a parable of Jesus and this warm feeling consumes you? It happened to me today as I was sitting on my front porch and reading Mark 9.14-32,where Jesus heals, rebukes, corrects and predicts his death all in one short segment of Scripture.
I don’t know what it is but when I read the words of Jesus a sense of hope floods my heart. It reaches deep into my spirit and gives me an unexplained assurance. This feeling often happens when I read what I call Jesus’ Greatest Hits. Stories like the feeding of the five thousand, the walking on the water, the calming of the seas, the calling of the 12 or the request of a drink from a woman at a well.
These Jesus’ Greatest Hits come at me unexpectedly but renew my sense of faith, familiarity and courage to face the coming day. I find strength in a story I’ve heard a hundred times because it renews my understanding of the character of the Christ. It reminds me of how much he loved the people to whom he ministered. And eventually, it begins to sink into my spirit and remind me of how much Jesus loves me.
Reading Jesus’ Greatest Hits deepens my connection to God. It’s like singing an old hymn or seeing a childhood friend; it brings comfort, reassurance and hope. I am relearning the nature of Jesus, who he was, what he did and how his mission for the world was about bringing his Father glory through redeeming souls.
Jesus’ Greatest Hits remind me that God does not leave us alone. He doesn’t dump us out on the street and say, “It’s now up to you!” The motto “God helps those who help themselves” isn’t even in the Bible. God helps those who depend upon him and trust in Christ as Savior!
I don’t know your Jesus’ Greatest Hits. I don’t know what portion of Scripture the Holy Spirit uses to speak to you. Nevertheless, today I’d like to challenge you to make a Top 10 list of the stories from the Bible that speak directly to your heart. If you are willing, create your list today and share that with one other person. If you like, share it with me at rhf143@gmail.com. I’d be blessed to discover Jesus’ Greatest Hits in your life!
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Fredericksburg church reaches out to school
Churches often talk about getting involved in the community. For one particular opportunity, Fredericksburg UMC has stopped talking and started doing something.
During the spring and summer of this year, the church has felt a call to reach out to the Fredericksburg Elementary School, which is across the street from the church.
“Here we are, right next to a school that educates almost a thousand children in our community,” said the Rev. Jason Fry, senior pastor of the church. “Those who teach and work at the school have an enormous task to do and are faced with all kinds of needs represented in the children and their families, sometimes with very little support. There’s a lot we can do to help and support them.”
On Thursday of the week of “in-service” in August, the church hosted a special luncheon for all those who work at the elementary school—administrators and teachers, but also clerical, lunchroom and janitorial staff.
The church worked through the principal and invited school staff members on the first day of the week, asking for an RSVP. All but just a few, who had prior engagements, attended—a little more than 100 people. The church went all out to make it a special event, Fry said, with decorations, tablecloths, appetizer, meal, and dessert. People from the congregation greeted school staff members in the parking lot, at the door and in the entrance to the fellowship hall.
At each of their tables, staff members were hosted and served by a pair of members of the congregation. The school personnel were completely overwhelmed with hospitality, Fry said. One teacher commented that as soon as she walked in the door, she felt love. In addition to the luncheon, members of the congregation have committed to pray for a particular teacher, administrator or staff member—a total of 107 people—each day during the 2011-2012 school year. There were more church members who committed to this prayer effort than those receiving prayer, so a few of the school personnel are receiving the prayers of two people.
But this is not the only way the church plans to support the school. Members of the church showed up to help with work days on the new garden project the school recently started in August.
The church has provided volunteers to serve in the school’s mentor program, as well as to assist the first-grade students with reading. There are a number of members who have begun serving as mentors, a program that always needs volunteers to serve as stable adult friends and companions to children. The church asked the first-grade teachers if they could provide help with children learning to read. In response, the teachers created a list of the number of volunteers needed and a proposed schedule, and the church members filled them all. Some are serving both as mentors and as reading helpers (including both pastors).
At the beginning of the fall semester, the school nurse shared that she needed quite a number of bottles of lice shampoo, and church members immediately responded to fill that need.
All these new efforts are just a sharpening focus and emphasis to ongoing ministries in which a number of members of the church have already been serving for some time, Fry said. These include an adult Sunday school class that prepares backpacks of food each Friday for children from families who have difficulty providing adequate food for them on weekends, as well as a number of members who have served as mentors for years.
The church has sought to establish a real partnership with the school. In December, when the principal called and said they needed some help to provide Christmas presents for needy students, the appeal went out that next Sunday, and within a few minutes, all of children were sponsored.
As the church was planning and visioning these things beginning in the spring, the pastors and lay delegates attended the annual conference session. While there, as they listened to the Rev. Kim Cape preach a sermon that focused on outreach and witness, she said something that really struck home. She gave the example of a United Methodist Church across from an elementary school getting involved with serving in the school, helping children to read and in other ways, and said, “Then maybe people at the school will think the Methodists give a damn.”
For Pastor Fry, this was just confirmation of what God was bringing about.
“It would be our goal that our school partners will believe we ‘give a damn,’ and they just might conclude we have a message worth listening to,” he said. “We have begun something significant that will have a big impact on the school—and on us. Who knows where it might lead?”
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25th annual MLK Interfaith service to be Jan. 15
In a recent meeting of the MLK Interfaith Committee in San Antonio, it was the unanimous decision of the Committee to have the MLK Interfaith Service at St. Paul UMC this year. This event has never before been held at St. Paul. The Interfaith event is scheduled for Jan. 15, the actual birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Time for the event is 4 p.m.
This year is a historic high point, as it is the 25th Anniversary of the MLK March in San Antonio. Much publicity is planned for the celebration. As host of the Interfaith Service this year, St. Paul has an opportunity to share with the world the historical significance of this first African American congregation in San Antonio. Everything for this year’s MLK observance is based on history. St. Paul was selected by the Committee partially because of its historic significance to the City, say church officials.
The speaker for the 2012 Interfaith Service will be the Honorable Wallace Jefferson, chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, a historic first African American to be so appointed. He is also a native of San Antonio.
To host this event is a grand opportunity for the historic St. Paul congregation, which this past November celebrated 145 years of Christian service to the San Antonio community. During the Nov. 4-6 Historical Celebration, the pastor and congregation of St. Paul was presented with the unveiling of a historical plaque from the state of Texas, recognizing the site as a Historical Landmark.
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San Antonio District news
God’s gift to us models extravagant generosity
The countdown to Christmas 2011 already seems so long ago. Black Friday, Cyber Monday and all the hype of commercialization pumping the American consumer to buy – oh, and by the way, the purpose of all that buying is somehow to be able to gift others with something special.
Some trace Christmas gifting to the Magi who bowed before the Christ child and offered their seemingly one-time gifts – honoring the newborn King. Personally, I like to trace Christmas gifting to the source of all gifts – the One who led the Magi on their journey – the One who chose to wrap divine love in earthen ware – God swaddled in the frame of humanity. God is the source of all gifts “and the greatest of these is love.” So it is at Christmas that we celebrate God’s gift of divine love “now in flesh appearing” – truly extravagant generosity.
Certainly there are folks who participate in extravagant generosity each year when December rolls back around. And there are many folks who extend their generous gifting far beyond the limits of the traditional lists by gifts of mercy for the least, the last and the lost. Most of us are encouraged by our congregations to extend our Christmas gifting from only those who love us in return and include those less fortunate whom we might never know or see or even imagine.
However, seasonal “extravagant generosity” might be a participative sport, but it is only a foretaste of a spiritual discipline. The discipline of giving is a means of grace that extends throughout the calendar year; throughout all our days as professing Christian disciples and throughout all our moments – whether they be moments of rapturous joy or moments of powerful discouragement. There will never be a time in any of our lives when we will not be able to look around and know there are folks whom God has placed before us who will benefit from our spiritual discipline of extravagant generosity.
Jesus reminds his disciples that even the tax-collectors give generously to those whom they love – those who love them in return. The spiritual discipline of extravagant generosity is when we extend our gifts beyond the obvious. The spiritual discipline of extravagant generosity is when we extend the practice of generosity beyond the Christmas shopping season and, like divine love, we share generously in the time-frame of each (and every) day we live.
The gifts of the Magi were certainly gracious; but they were, apparently, one-time, or at least, seasonal. The gifts of God are limited by neither time nor season. So, after whom would you pattern your life? As the old Gospel hymn put it, “Freely freely we have received; freely, freely give.” As we do so, the God who created us in the image of God will be afforded the new opportunity of re-creating us – into the gracious, extravagantly generous image of God. Thanks be to God.
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San Antonio District happenings
A Winning Combination: SWTC + RGC = UMC
The Unification Steering Team (UST), formed to investigate unification of the Southwest Texas Conference (SWTxC) and the Rio Grande Conference (RGC), have been meeting diligently throughout the past several months to dialogue about unification, what that might look like, what issues might need to be addressed, and how unification might be accomplished. The UST, which consists of twenty representatives from both the SWTxC and the RGC, will be sharing their findings and answering questions within the various Districts through a series of UST Conversation sessions. The sessions will allow time for information sharing and for discussion and feedback. We strongly encourage everyone, especially clergy and Lay Delegates to Annual Conference, to attend one of these UST Conversation sessions. In preparation for the Conversation session, interested persons may read through the Financial Advisory Consulting Team/FACT Report which is available on-line at the SWTxC website, www.umcswtx.org. There are currently two UST Conversation sessions scheduled for the San Antonio District – January 19, 2012, at Bulverde UMC, beginning at 10:00 a.m.; and, January 22, 2012, at University UMC beginning at 3:00 p.m.
Laity Celebration Luncheon
The San Antonio District Laity Celebration Luncheon is set for February 25 at University UMC at 5084 DeZavala. It will begin at 11:30 a.m. and go to 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 pre person and can be purchased through the Lay Leader of your church. No tickets will be available at the door. We must turn in a count for lunch by February 20. We will be sharing and celebrating the ministry of your church, and ask that each church send a flash drive, CD or DVD showing the name of your church and five pictures showcasing the focus of your church’s ministry. We would also ask that you submit a power point or video with music or narration included celebrating one or more ministries of your church. All submissions need to use Microsoft and be a maximum of three minutes. Please submit these by February 1, so they can be reviewed and prepared for presentation at the luncheon. Another option to the powerpoint would be a tabletop presentation or a medium of your choosing.
The Bishop’s Exemplar Award and the Ted Caravantes Award will be given at the luncheon. If you have someone to nominate please contact your Lay Leader or Jackie Kneeland at (210) 647-0259 or (210) 273-3432. The forms should be mailed to the District Office by February 10.
Come and Celebrate your church and its ministry on February 25 at University UMC!
For more information call Kathy Kafora at the San Antonio District Office at (210) 408-4520 or email her at ksk@umcswtx.org.
Victoria District news
A new attitude in the New Year
From time to time I find myself hard to live with. I have a bad attitude! It could be the aging process, teenagers, the fat under my chin. My medicine cabinet is beginning to smell like, rubbing saves for arthritis. With my sleep apnea machine the bed room looks and sounds like an emergency room. My high class reunion is composed of grandparents and great grand-parents. The dye on my hair just does not hold, and behold! I need a new pair of dentures! My identity is longing for the youth of my memory. But then I read the following about attitude and I felt alllllllbetttterrrr.
Attitude Adjustment
Keisha received a parrot as a gift. The parrot was fully grown with a very bad attitude and worse vocabulary. Every other word was profanity; those that weren’t profanity were, to say the least, rude.
Keisha tried to change the bird’s attitude by constantly saying polite words and playing soft music, anything she could think of. Nothing worked.
Keisha yelled at the bird and the bird got worse. She shook the bird and the bird became even madder and ruder. Finally, in a moment of desperation, Keisha put the parrot in the freezer to get a minute of peace.
For a few moments she heard the bird swearing, squawking, kicking and screaming. Then, suddenly, there was absolute quiet. Keisha was frightened that she might have actually hurt the bird and quickly opened the freezer door.
The parrot calmly stepped out onto Keisha extended arm. Perfectly calm, the parrot said, “I am very sorry that I offended you with my language and my actions and I ask your forgiveness. I will endeavor to correct my behavior, and I am sure it will never happen again.”
Keisha was astounded at the changes in the bird’s attitude and was about to ask what had changed him, when the parrot continued, “May I ask what the chicken did?”
Altered but Taken from “My MIStupid.com 2011
A young woman lived under discordant conditions at home. She was dissatisfied, and her discontent was manifest in her face, manner and tone of voice. Trifles irritated her, and had it been possible she would gladly have traveled to the end of the earth to get away from her disagreeable environment. Sometime after, a friend met her and saw in her smiling face that a change had taken place. “How are things at home?” he inquired. “Just the same,” was the reply, “but I am different.”
--Christian Endeavor World
Merriam Webster defined Joy as ‘A mood of anticipation, a count-down’
In the year 2012 I plan to change my attitude!
Victoria District happenings
Genesis Center Ministry Leader
Angela Arnold
The Genesis Center is hosting a workshop on hearing from GOD. The workshop will be dealing with the age old questions, “Have I heard from GOD? What do I do now?” The goal of the workshop is to enable participants to devise a personal plan for better communication with GOD. January 27 is the introduction to the workshop, with Saturday’s schedule dealing with learning how to hear, recognize and understand GOD’s voice. Sunday morning’s session will be a wrap-up and overview message of the workshop’s theme.
$5 registration with scholarships available. To register or get more information call the Genesis Center (361)575-8206 or email genesiscenter.vic@gmail.com.
First Semester in College!
By Stephanie Robinson
(As part of United Methodist Student Day, Rev. Purnell asked Stephanie to share her first semester of college.)
The first thing that I had to experience was the lengthy application process. I was really lucky that my Senior English teacher helped us with this. I was accepted into UTSA. Then there were a lot of other processes; getting funding, getting the transcript sent over, deciding which classes to take. The next big thing was the Freshman Orientation class. We had to spend 3 days on campus, and I didn’t know anybody. I finally got to meet some people that were also taking classes in my field. Finally, school started and I got to actually go to classes, still knowing nobody!
What I found out first of all, is that high school doesn’t prepare you for college! Not the mindset, the classes, and the teachers don’t care if you show up to class or not; they already got paid when you paid your tuition! I was taking chemistry again. I hadn’t taken chemistry since my sophomore year. I had to get my mind wanting to learn chemistry.
My Freshman Seminar class helped me prepare for the changes. They helped us learn how to study. Helped us transition from the high school mind set to the college mind set. I never had to study in high school, take notes, or read through a 600 page textbook. The teachers would just say what we needed to know and when testing time came I just seemed to remember everything. Now, I sit at the dining room table studying, with 3 or more books open, along with reference materials and my laptop, and study until all hours of the night.
My first chemistry test was on the periodic table. Right after I sat down to take the test, I blanked. I only had 50 minutes to answer all of the questions. I remembered what everybody at church always said, and I prayed. Well lo and behold all of the answers started coming back to me!
I am also driving back and forth to UTSA every day. All that driving makes a person tired. Now, I have to plan out my sleep pattern. I have my alarm clock set for several times during the day, so I can get all of my work done, and sleep in between. I guess most of you have heard I had an accident on one of those trips. I’m fine now, but after the accident I didn’t want to drive anymore. I didn’t want to go to school anymore. I’m better now, but that was a really trying time.
I’m so close to Christie (my little sister) and I really miss her a lot. On days that we’re both off, we just go sit in her room and we spend time with each other! I know my family has my back. I know y’all have my back! And thank you for that! I know y’all are here for me, and I’m blessed! I’m so lucky to be able to go to school!
In college, everyone seems to be able to work with each other. Even in this short time, it’s been a life changing experience. I’ve become more sure. I feel older, wiser, and more mature! And it’s a good feeling. I hope all of the younger ones here get to go to college. It’s an experience. Maybe it’s not the real world, maybe it is. But December 7th, at 7 am, I’m looking forward to registering (along with everybody else at UTSA!) for my classes for the Spring semester.
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Briefs
Contacts needed for future Witness series
Several series are planned for future issues of The United Methodist Witness, but we can’t write them without you! Please let us know if you have any contacts for the following themes:
Environmentalism—Is your church taking steps to care for the earth? We are in the brainstorming stage of a series that examines the conscious choices churches are making to “clean” up their practices and be better stewards of the planet.
Evangelism—This series will focus on the ways churches in our conference evangelize. What are the ways your church practices evangelism (old-fashioned door-to-door evangelism, serving-while-evangelizing, home-group evangelism)? Let us know!
Health and wellness—what does your church do to promote health and wellness (including physical health, financial health, spiritual health)? Contact us and let us know names of people in charge of ministries that promote wellness within members of your congregation.
Small churches—This series will focus on small churches, examining the challenges of two- and three-point charges, collecting dollars for ministry and keeping up membership numbers while celebrating the unique blessings that come with being a small congregation.
Please send all information to Rachel Toalson at rtoalson@umcswtx.org or call (210) 408-4524.
San Antonio District
Carl Rohlfs
Superintendent
carlds@umcswtx.org
Kathy Kafora
Admin. Assistant
ksk@umcswtx.org
Terry McCandless
Program Director
tmccand@umcswtx.org
Address:
16400 Huebner Road
San Antonio, TX 78248
District Office
(210) 408-4520
Fax: (210) 408-4521
Program Office
(210) 408-4533
www.unitedmethodistsadistrict.com
District calendar
January
14 P/SPRC and Lay Leader Training, Helotes Hills UMC, 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
18 District Check out day.
19 District Professionals, Bulverde UMC, Unification Conversation event, 9:30 a.m.
22 Unification Conversation event, University UMC, 3 to 5 p.m.
February
13 District Professionals, Colonial Hills UMC, 9:30 a.m.
25 District Laity Celebration Luncheon, University UMC, 11:30 a.m. Call Kathy Kafora in the District Office for ticket information.
Victoria District
Terrence Hayes
Superintendent
Linda Curl
Admin. Assistant
Judith Johnson
Program Director
judith@satx.rr.com
Lori Koonce
District Editor
lflemingkoonce2003k@yahoo.com
Address:
5606 N. Navarro, Ste. 217
Victoria, TX 77904
District Office
(361) 573-4233
Fax: (361) 573-4392
Program Office
(361) 573-4233
New District Web site
www.umcvictoriadistrict.com
District calendar
January
11-13 Cabinet
13 District Check-in, District Office
16 Holiday, District Office closed.
17 Pastors & Professionals, Unification Listening Session, Cathedral Oaks, 10 a.m. District Trustees, 1 p.m.
18-21 General Conference Delegation to Oklahoma City, OK.
22-24 UMW Legislative Event, Austin, Double Tree Hotel.
31 Cabinet BOOM, 11:30 a.m.
February
3-4 District Confirmation Retreat.
14-16 Cabinet
24-26 UMM Retreat, Mt. Wesley.
27-28 Bishop’s Convocation, Mt. Wesley.
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