| February 27, 2009
Volume 155, Number 43
Five Practices Provide Logical Application
Hundreds Turn Out For Bishop Robert Schnase’s Fruitfulness Seminar
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
Hundreds of leaders across the Southwest Texas Conference gathered inside University UMC, San Antonio, Feb. 21 to hear Bishop Robert Schnase present a workshop detailing his bestselling book, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations.
Participants left the workshop with pages of notes about how to incorporate the five practices into their individual congregations.
“The biggest distinction between a church that’s growing weaker and one that’s growing stronger is that the one growing stronger has developed a culture of learning,” Schnase said.
He told participants about adaptive challenges—when leaders don’t really know what the problem is or what the solution is and how those challenges foster a culture of learning.
“The biggest mistake churches make is applying technical solutions to adaptive challenges,” Schnase said. “You have to learn in order to solve these problems.”
He reminded those who attended that every ministry the church has to offer should be marked by excellence and fruitfulness—fruitfulness being the number of lives that are being changed and the kind of change that is taking place in those lives.
Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations was published by Abingdon Press in 2006.
Schnase, who was formerly a senior pastor at First UMC, McAllen, and Wesley UMC, Harlingen, was elected a bishop in 2004.
He said the five practices give pastors and laity a “common language as they understand the dynamics of their church.”
“It generates and stimulates new conversation and ideas and helps open a window to creative engagement,” he said. “As I’ve done this in other conferences, part of the outcome has been a significant stimulus in congregations toward better understanding and mission focus.
“By using this common language, it helps people understand how what they do in the local church fulfills the mission of making disciples and how vital their roles are in the congregations.”
The five practices include radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, risktaking mission and service and extravagant generosity.
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Methodist Missionary To Speak In Austin March 3
Janet Lahr Lewis, a missionary with the Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, serves as a liaison between ecumenical groups and Israel and Palestine. She will present a program on March 3 at University UMC, 2409 Guadalupe, Austin, from 7-9 p.m. telling about her missionary experiences and the reality of the situation in this war-torn land.
In light of the current situation there, this will be a good opportunity for people in the United States to learn more, especially since the media in the United States shelters American citizens from knowing the complete truth about the history of the Palestine/Israeli conflict and the occupation of the Palestinian territories.
“Christ calls us all to be ministers of justice,” Lewis said. “Through my work with the Palestinian community, I will be able to answer this call by working for a just and lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians, so that reconciliation and healing can occur.”
Lewis’s focus is on the areas of advocacy and activism. She circulates updates about developments in the ongoing crisis and suggests courses of action. She educates visitors about the realities of the situation.
Contact B. J. Lee at (512) 453-044 or BJLee@austin.r.com for more information about this presentation or for a presentation at your church or venue by a speaker from the Southwest Texas Conference CBCS’ Task Force on Israel and Palestine.
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Corpus Christi District Honors Its Laity
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
Hundreds gathered at Memorial Auditorium in Goliad Feb. 18 to honor laity members in the Corpus Christi District’s Brush Country. Fifty-six individuals and two groups were given awards.
Bud and Mabel Gilliland of Yorktown UMC were given the 2009 Bishop’s Exemplar Award for their active discipleship in the Corpus Christi District.
Jonnie Jordan of First UMC, Beeville, was given the district superintendent’s award for her service to her church.
Mabel Gilliland filled in for a pastor back in 2005 while he completed his education at Perkins School of Theology and has continued to preach each summer for three consecutive years,
leaders said.
The Gillilands live in their RV, which is parked in a member’s cow pasture right now. They volunteer at the local food bank and thrift shop where they help restock supplies, deliver boxes to the homebound and help serve on Wednesday mornings.
The Gillilands helped with two funerals of members who passed away while the pastor was on educational leave. They help with Kid’s Klub, the children’s sermon, hospital visits and worship services at the nursing home.
Jordan has served in her church’s kitchen, in the foyer, every building possible, said District Superintendent Barbara Ruth.
“She’s done all the tough jobs,” Ruth said. “She’s led every kind of committee you can imagine. She is a real model for servant leadership. She’s a ‘steel magnolia.’”
Those given the youngest disciple award include:
Fashing UMC—Brannan Woelfel.
First UMC, George West—Michaela Wendland.
First UMC, Goliad—McKenna, Rhiannon and Katherine Sawyer.
Yorktown UMC—Shelby Franke.
Young disciple awards were given to:
First UMC, Beeville—Kayla and Rebecca Ready.
First UMC, Cuero—Chance Dukes.
Dewville UMC—Caleb Palmour and Rio Rodriguez.
First UMC, George West—Holden Hunter Holm.
Karnes City UMC—Garrett Denson.
First UMC, Three Rivers—Lindsey Weber and Samantha Tadlock.
Yorktown UMC—Krystan Saunders.
Jacob Tyler Hierholzer.
Pettus UMC—Eric Montez and Amanda Montez.
Fashing UMC, Kelsey Schendel.
Discipleship awards were given to:
First UMC, Beeville—Patty McCann.
First UMC, Cuero—John and DeVonna Eldridge and Chuck and Suzie Albert.
Fashing UMC—Linda O’Connell and Richard and Tina Butler.
First UMC, George West—Kim Shannon and Lonnie Taylor.
First UMC, Goliad—Praise Band.
Harris Chapel UMC—David Fox and Vernon Moor and Bonnie and Molly Velasquez.
Karnes City UMC—Bruce and Glenda Harbaugh.
First UMC, Mathis—Harold and Paula Winsauer, Doris McDonald, Kellam and Ruth Coffin and WA and Carolyn Henderson.
First UMC, Nixon—The Finch family, Sheri Wuest, Richard and Kathleen Faulkner and Jerry Parr.
Pawnee UMC—Johnny and Peachers Davidson.
First UMC, Three Rivers—Tom Hill.
Yorktown UMC—Ken and Jody Gabbert.
Faith United, Woodsboro—Verleen Veale.
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Lord, Increase Of Faith In Troubled Times
Bob Allen
Kerrville District Superintendent
We all face problems/challenges. Some will pursue them, while others of you will flee from them. Some believe that the best solution is to put the covers over one’s head and hope that they will simply go away. That happens occasionally but not very often. The problem/challenge always lies in wait. They come in all sizes. Some appear to be so large that they can overwhelm us. Some are so small that we fail to see their potential impact. We all have difficulties that we face on a daily basis, and I believe that it is important in how one addresses such stresses: is it a problem or is it a challenge? Problems often produce worry whereas challenges promote growth in our faith.
In our current economic crisis all of us are impacted in one way or another. I hear lots of people talking about their pension fund and other investments going south. These are indeed hard times that we face. “We don’t have the economic power that we once had. I used to be generous in my giving but now I have to cut back so that I can just get by.” I beg to differ. In this and all other times we should not be counting on our temporal powers to get us through the long and dark nights.
Let us proclaim with confidence, “Lord, increase our faith.” I don’t just want to get by. I want to make a difference. Christ’s work must go forward, and I know that Christ is counting on me. Christ doesn’t just count on us in our times of prosperity and excess. In this time of extreme testing, let us step forward in faith. One of my pastors in the Kerrville District shared with me recently that she is challenging her congregation to move to the double-tithe. She said, “I believe that we get in the face of the devil when we move from fear to giving the double tithe.” I believe that this pastor is moving her church in the right direction. Through her profound faith in Christ, she is taking a huge problem and turning it into a challenge. “Lord, increase our faith!” She is teaching her people that we rely on God and not the value of our portfolio. Tough times produce tough people with tender hearts.
Years ago I met a man who shared with me that he lived on 10 percent of his income and gave 90 percent for kingdom building purposes. He learned that living on the minimum gave him the power to give like he had never given before. It gave him a freedom to live in a way that he never dreamed was possible before. I wonder what it would be like to live on 10 percent and give the rest away? Sounds like a challenge to me. As we all evaluate who we are and what we truly have to give, we just may grow to levels that we would not have thought imaginable six months ago. Tough times help us to mature into a faith that is strong and steady. “Lord, increase our faith!”
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Methodism Classes Birth New Outreach Ministries
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
Last fall, at the end of a six-week course on Methodism, teachers Carol Ann Weston and the Rev. Sherry Strain of St. Paul’s UMC, Kerrville, asked the two classes to discuss what they had learned.
Through a process of prayer, discussion and research described in the Education Beyond the Walls handbook, each class decided on a project that was designed to last about a month.
One group decided to become involved with the local Christian Women’s Job Corps, which provides disadvantaged women an opportunity to learn computer and other job and life skills as they experience God through Bible study, worship and mentoring. The group prepared and served meals to the women twice a week for a month. In addition, they would eat with them and get to know them.
The other group took on the ministry of weekly visitation in a local nursing home with elderly residents, most of whom are affected by Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia. From listening and visiting, this has become an ongoing outreach ministry known as Edgewater Angels.
Through simple crafts that help with dexterity, conversation, hugs, lots of smiles, prayer, sharing and music, the “Angels” and the residents are bonding in Christian friendship and love.
These two groups went from taking a short course on the history and theology of The United Methodist Church to “putting feet to their faith” and living out their call to reach out to others.
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Kardia Girls Target The Hearts Of Young Girls
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
She had to do something.
Robin Dahl had felt God tugging her toward launching an attack against the media-driven assault on young women and the distorted self-image many of them carry with them.
“There’s so much pressure out there,” Dahl said. “Even shopping for my 7-year-old I see it. There are no 7-year-old clothes. They’re teenage clothes.
“All this time it’s been about self esteem. Our esteem can’t come from ourselves. My goal is to build up who these young women are in Christ. If they have that foundation, they can take on all the junk that hits them at school.”
So Dahl, a member of First UMC, Marble Falls, began Kardia Girls, a ministry geared toward seventh and eighth grade girls.
A high school teacher before she had her own children and became a stay-at-home mother, Dahl was attending a Bible study when she clearly heard God tell her she needed to do something with young girls.
One of the women in the group had a seventh grader, Dahl said. They prayed and brainstormed about what a young girl’s group might look like.
“For this ministry to really work, it needed to be the girls’ ministry,” Dahl said. “They needed to own it. I needed to facilitate, but they needed to own it. Otherwise, it would just be something else they would attend.”
It needed to be fun and girly, Dahl said.
The Kardia Girls group meets once a month for a girly girl event, she said. It started out last year with just seventh graders, but when the girls moved into the eighth grade, they wanted to keep the group going. Now she leads two groups, Dahl said.
About 20 girls meet for about three hours once a month to eat and fellowship. Dahl leads discussions about four different subjects: friends, boys, beauty or authority—that being God or parents or teachers or the Bible.
The group meets in a host home, Dahl said, which helps moms get involved.
“It’s something they’re doing with their daughters,” she said. “Moms want to do something with their daughters at this age. They’re starting to be so independent.”
Eventually, Dahl said, she’d like to bring in speakers about once a month for teenagers and their parents—speakers to talk about Internet safety, eating disorders and other topics parents might need to know.
Melinda Savage, whose eighth grade daughter, Sarah, was one of the core girls who started Kardia Girls, said the group has been amazing
for her daughter and the other girls.
“God has totally amazed us,” Savage said. “I never would have imagined they’d get so much out of it. They get together and unveil themselves, let their guards down and share, and they come to realize they have the same common problems.
“This is something God meant to do. Church is rushed just like school is rushed. But this is a place where they can relax and share common issues and problems. They share the same insecurities. We didn’t know if this would fly, but they were so hungry for it.”
“At church and school, there are always boys around,” Dahl said. “Girls can’t be themselves. They’re not as authentic when they’re with the opposite sex. But this is a safe place for them to talk about their fears and anxieties. This is empowering for them.
“The girls open up about all kinds of things.”
Dahl said the girls are constantly texting her, and she does relational ministry with them. She goes to their basketball games. They ask her to pray for their tests.
She teaches them about the Bible, Dahl added.
Dahl says she sees the group of girls growing in strength. They’ve used Matthew 18 as their guide for resolving arguments.
A couple of months ago, the girls decided, on their own, that they were going to go to school with no makeup.
“These girls are so tender about the one area that I really felt led into,” Dahl said. “This whole insecurity, beauty, self image thing. That’s one
that gets them every time. We had a really powerful talk on beauty, and we spoke blessings over each one of those girls. And they decided they were going to go to school with no makeup on.
“That was huge because it was really taking what we’d talked about and applying it. We’d talked about masks, and they were taking off the masks. They wanted to show it’s about their inner beauty. Those girls were nervous, but they did it. It took a lot of guts, but they drew strength and encouragement from one another.”
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Poetry, Methodist Madness And The Salvation Of The Whole World
Linda Keen
Director of Leadership and Development Southwest Texas Conference
I called through your door, “The [Methodists] are gathering in the street.
Come out!”
“Leave me alone. I’m sick.”
“I don’t care if you’re dead! Jesus is here, and he wants to resurrect somebody.”
--Adapted from the Afghan poet & mystic Rumi
At a recent gathering of UM leaders in Florida, “Living the United Methodist Way: Turning Worlds Upside Down,” I witnessed a new kind of language about our shared ministry to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Workshop titles sounded the same, yet there was palpable excitement in their content. A longforgotten word was heard: nimble … used in the context of being nimble enough to respond to our churches. This new language warmed me with renewed hope for The Church and this Christian journey we call home.
Appreciative inquiry and holy conversation filled our days, leaving more questions than answers, more hope than despair, more excitement than dread. Now, I am looking for some “mad Methodists,”
lay persons, excited members whose faith is alive, people of God who’ve been freed up to use their
gifts, freed out of call by God. Does that sound messy and crazy? Yes, and yet there’s a method in the madness. Wouldn’t you like to see some “Methodist madness” in your place? In her poem The Summer Day, Mary Oliver nudges us: “Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
I believe that our 21st Century church is in many ways experiencing what our spiritual ancestors did in the First Century. Are we “hanging out there in mid-air?” Are we hiding out like the early church? Poet Robert Frost captures my feelings in I Know How The Flowers Felt: “The rain to the wind said, ‘You push and I’ll pelt.’ They so smote the garden bed that the flowers actually knelt, and lay lodged—though not dead. I know how the flowers felt.”
The congregation I attend has a new mantra: God has blessed us. The time is now. We are ready. May we in Southwest Texas rediscover God’s gentle presence and merciful grace as we are the sent ones. I don’t care if you think you’re dead…Jesus is here, and he wants to resurrect somebody…and save the world!
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Underdog Perspective Is Jesus’ Example
Barbara Ruth
Corpus Christi District Superintendent
The suspense is killing me. As has so often been the case in my life, I’m rooting for the underdog. I want the movie, Slumdog Millionaire, to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Yes, the title is weird, and I have to admit I really didn’t know what it was about when I went to see it. It’s not overtly spiritual, and it’s not for everyone. It’s complex, and it’s violent. It’s beautiful, and it’s ugly. It’s an amazing tale of survival under some of the most difficult circumstances imaginable, a story lived out daily in nations around the world. I have to admit that I felt ashamed when I left the theater. Like everyone else I know, I had recently been discussing what I’ve lost in my pension program and other investments. I had participated in conversations about how the worldwide economic slump would affect The United Methodist Church and the churches in my district. Then I saw this film, which took me way out of my everyday world and out of my comfort zone, and for a moment, I had a different perspective about my life.
Slumdog is in the title of the film because it focuses on the lives of two young brothers who begin life in the slums of Mumbai. They are suddenly orphaned when their mother is brutally murdered in a raid on Muslims by neighbors also living in slums. These neighbors kill the Muslim residents in this quadrant by a variety of means, including setting them on fire. The boys manage to escape their neighborhood, even the city, and they grow to be young adults by the end of the film, living by their wits to overcome the circumstances they encounter. No circumstance in my entire life is comparable to their circumstances throughout their lives.
Millionaire is in the title because one brother becomes a contestant on the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” I was shocked to learn that Western society has given the rest of the world this television program, a version of our penchant for getting something for nothing. Is having lots of money really the only hope to be offered to people who want a better life? Maybe for a slumdog, who is hungry, who is homeless, who is in constant danger, that may be so.
The host of the show refers to the contestant as a slumdog and makes fun of his low place in society as one who earns his living serving tea to other employees at his company. The host wants the slumdog to fail on the show and stay in his rightful place at the bottom of society and is subtly cruel to him. Does the slumdog triumph? Does he win true love, which is all he really wants in life? Do riches make the man?
Jesus Christ lived as an underdog in his society, and more importantly, valued the underdog. He embraced the “little ones” of his society, whether they were children, lepers, prostitutes or tax collectors. For Christians, Jesus Christ embodies the triumph of good over evil in his resurrection
from the dead. He is the perfect example in our secular society that riches don’t make the man.
What would Jesus do in these times? Well, I know for certain he wouldn’t be whining like I am about
the losses in his pension plan. He would be seeking out the slumdog with the hope of offering
new life.
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Lycoming College Choir To Perform March 4 At St. John’s UMC
The Lycoming College Choir will perform March 4, 2009 at St. John’s UMC, 5300 South Alameda, Corpus Christi. Conducted by Fred Thayer, the choir has been widely acclaimed as one of the finest college musical groups in the east.
Since its inception in 1947 by Walter McIver, the choir has presented concerts in every state east of the Mississippi River, California, Canada, Puerto Rico and Europe. Foreign tours occur approximately every three years. A tour to Argentina is being planned for May of 2010.
The tour choir is selected each year by competitive audition from the 105-voice college choir, which is comprised of students from all academic fields. Forty students are chosen annually to perform in two weekend tours and a 10-day spring break tour. The spring tour will begin in Canonsburg, Penn.
In its six decades of music, the Lycoming College Choir has performed hundreds of concerts, including appearances at the National Cathedral, the Washington Shrine, the Crystal Cathedral, Coral Ridge and New York City’s St. John the Divine and Saint Patrick’s Cathedral. The ensemble has sung with the Gregg Smith Singers, the Chieftains and Barry Manilow. The choir has been featured twice in the Holiday Celebrations at the White House. This spring, the choir is releasing its eighth CD, “0 Gracious Light.”
The choir’s repertoire consists of both religious and secular music, ranging from contemporary to traditional.
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District Has Good News In Tough Times
Larry Howard
McAllen District Superintendent
I have GOOD NEWS! In the midst of economic uncertainty and disappointment,
I have GOOD NEWS. With all the challenges of helping God to grow Christ’s community, I have GOOD NEWS.
Here it is: we are making progress on the things that matter—the things
that lead to profound change and real improvement.
In the McAllen District during 2008, you brought into the Church more people by profession of faith than we lost by death. Considering the high average age of our district membership, that is a remarkable undertaking. The most important reality in that statistic is that we helped more people enter into a saving relationship with Jesus than we sent on to be with God.
But, a second reality is that when we transfer in more people than we transfer out and we add more by faith profession than we remove by death, then the Church is on the growth path. The only demographic item that kept us from recording a positive membership increase in the district for 2008 was the number removed by charge conference action.
That action is necessary to keep our membership numbers congruent with who is really active on our rolls. In our district, that number is high because of the aging people who move away to be near children outside of our district.
Yet, in time with continued emphasis on new professions of faith outgrowing the number of deaths, our churches will see the growth that is already going on in our district reflected in the increased
membership numbers for the district. May God continue to bless us as we grow the Church together.
At the upcoming annual meeting of the Southwest Texas Conference in June, our new bishop will ordain a class of Elders and Deacons whose average age is 43.4 years old and will commission a class of Provisional Members whose average age is 35.2 years. Both of those averages are considerably lower than the present average age of Elders (51.5 years) in The United Methodist Church.
I expect that Bishop Jim Dorff will be pleased, as I am, about the younger age of people coming into ordained ministry. In his opening addresses to the laity in our district, he called for greater emphasis on calling forth younger clergy. We are thankful for all those who respond to God’s call to ordained ministry (second career, delayed response to an early call, etc.), but I am excited that younger people who have longer to serve God in the Church are responding to the call of God.
Local congregations are crucial to the calling forth of clergy. May God use your church to make God’s call to ordained ministry a clear invitation for someone in your midst.
Yes, I have GOOD NEWS. Let us celebrate God’s work among us!
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From Church To Church, Amen!
AMEN to First UMC, Donna, for working at becoming more welcoming by remodeling their coffee room. It is now called Cristo el Rey Café and has a Valley flair with a wall with crosses from
the congregational families in honor of their 100th year of ministry in Donna.
AMEN to members of First UMC, San Benito, who, in observance of Epiphany, delivered 156 shoe boxes to the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten classes at Fred Booth Elementary. They took the Franklin Graham Samaritan’s Purse Christmas Child idea and decided to apply it to their own back yard. The decorated boxes contained school supplies, toiletries and small toys. AMEN to First UMC, Edinburg, whose Silver Threads are sewing girls’ dresses and boys’ boxer shorts to be sent to Haiti.
AMEN to Pharr UMC and First UMC, San Juan, for continuing to host mission teams. The Mission Team from Emmanuel Reform Church of Sheldon, Iowa, recently hosted the Communidad de Fe/Community of Faith service at Pharr UMC.
AMEN to Wesley UMC for providing note cards in their foyer for sending “Thinking of You” cards.
AMEN to First UMC, Kingsville, for sponsoring Venture Crew, a coed division of Boy Scouts of America for all youth ages 14 to 21.
AMEN to First UMC, Alice, for the unusual idea of vacuuming their playground with an industrial vacuum. The playground had been deluged with grass burrs. Now the children can play comfortably.
AMEN to the Nomads who have been in our district with their gifts of repaired wood and paint and to Pastor Jim Curran of First UMC, Falfurrias, who challenges us to see that their work represents answering God’s call to DO something to make the Kingdom of God closer than it was when they arrived. He challenges us to DO something to grow the seeds they left.
AMEN to First UMC, Falfurrias, for offering the use of the Old Parlor as a classroom for the certified nursing assistant program for people in or out of high school. Nineteen high school students are presently enrolled and will receive dual credit with Coastal Bend College and be eligible to take the state CNA exam. The program is the first of a number of other career training programs being planned by the Los Mestenos Career Academy, a newly formed project of the Rural South Texas Economic Development Corporation.
AMEN to La Feria UMC who hosted faculty and a student from MCCS, the deaf school in Rio Bravo, which they support with supplies, scholarships, presents and money to help the budget of the school. The director of the school gave the sermon.
AMEN to Los Fresnos UMC, which participated in hands-on mission. Members helped to complete
the building of a Worship/Neighborhood Community Center in a colonia in Matamoros, Mexico. This work had been started several years ago by Pastor Abraham Avila, who, in addition to his work at the colonia has been conducting Spanish Worship Services at Los Fresnos for several months and is ministering to a growing body of believers.
AMEN to San Benito for finding ways to honor those who serve our communities. They had a breakfast in honor of the San Benito Police Department and a Valentine’s Dinner for spouses of military personnel serving overseas.
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Teen Wholeness Spa Retreat Draws 52 Teens
By Glenda Sanders and Kattia M. Garcia
Southwest Texas UMW and Rio Grande UMW
The Southern District of Rio Grande and the Corpus Christi District of Southwest Texas Conference of United Methodist Women hosted the first districtwide Teen Retreat Jan. 24 at Kelsey Memorial UMC, Corpus Christi.
The one-day retreat was designed for teen women ages 12 to 18 years. Fiftytwo teen women (23 from the Southwest Texas Conference and 29 from the Rio Grande Conference) and more than
20 adults participated in the event. The theme of the retreat was “Teen Wholeness Spa.” The scripture focus was Psalm 139: 14a: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully
made.”
The Rev. Tim Gonzales, pastor of Kelsey Memorial, opened the event with a word of prayer and welcome to all participants. Kattia Garcia, the event coordinator from McAllen, greeted all present and shared instructions that pertained to the schedule, the facility and planning committee members.
Praise music was provided by Leticia Castañeda, Julia Canales and Pamela Canales of Kelsey Memorial UMC.
Inelda Gonzalez, newly elected president of the Women’s Division, led a devotional after the praise and worship time. She was introduced by her sister Irma Gonzales of First UMC, Elsa, in the Rio Grande Conference. Other leaders present were Alicia Sanchez, Rio Grande Conference UMW president, and Dianne Rumfield, Corpus Christi District UMW president.
Volunteers from Mary Kay Cosmetics, Carolyn Morgan from Oak Park UMC, Corpus Christi, and Helga Kohlstedt from the German Club of the Coastal Bend discussed skin care and provided gift bags with samples to all the teens present.
The event wrapped up with a worship service led by the Rev. Linda Elford of St John’s UMC, Corpus Christi.
The next teen gathering of UMW is already being planned for April 25 in Corpus Christi and May 2 in Pharr.
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Canyon Lake UMC Leader Shows What Stewardship Really Looks Like
By Glenda Sanders and Kattia M. Garcia
Southwest Texas UMW and Rio Grande UMW
Every October churches throughout the conference ask their congregation to consider their stewardship to their church. We are asked to pray about what we give back to the Lord
with our tithes, talents and time.
On Feb. 8, Canyon Lake UMC recognized a gentleman who took that mission seriously.
Seventeen years ago, Gene Anthony took the job of being the church treasurer, working in a small, confined office located behind the stage of the fellowshiphall, which also served as the church on Sunday mornings. In the many years that followed, this church experienced much growth.
With the help of Anthony’s talents and wisdom of managing funds, the church was able to build a new sanctuary, an education building, a bus barn for their new 40-passenger bus and launch a new Methodist church on the north side of Canyon Lake.
After many years of working with the FBI not only as a Federal bank examiner but also as a field agent, Anthony could not give up his love for numbers. Every Monday he would walk into the church office and begin the daily ritual of managing the church finances. And he would come back the next day and the next day and the next day. Thus, no one ever expected him to retire.
But the day has come, and Anthony has decided that he would rather count the fish that he pulls out of the Gulf of Mexico, than count the blessings that this little rural church of 639 members continues to bring forth at Canyon Lake.
Anthony has put away his brief case and has stepped down from 17 years of devoted service to this
church. A great debt of gratitude is owed to him.
And let us not forget the person who gave up so much, in order to make this all happen. For 3,500 plus days, Anthony’s loving wife, Dorothy, has faithfully supported him in this endeavor and deserves to spend all of the rest of their days together.
The church will miss Anthony, but he is just “right around the corner” and is still setting a shining example to all of us of what true stewardship means.
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Opportunities
First UMC, Portland, is seeking directors for adult, children’s and youth choirs. God may be bringing one, two or three people to the ministry. The right people will have a commitment to Jesus Christ and a desire that others come to know Christ through this ministry. Candidates should have background, training and experience in music. Pay is based on training and experience. For more information, call Mark Porterfield at (361) 777-2000 or e-mail him at portlandfumc-mark@ainternet.biz.
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District Happenings
Kerrville
Kerrville District Lay Speaker
training to be Feb. 28 in Pearsall
On Feb. 28, the Kerrville District will offer a Basic Lay Speaker class at First UMC, Pearsall. The class will be held in the fellowship hall of the church. Childcare will be offered by reservation. The cost of the class will be $25, which includes food and textbook. Make checks payable to FUMC Pearsall. The class will begin at 8:30 a.m. and will conclude by 4 p.m. The class size will be limited to the first 25 people who register. To register, please call the church at (830) 334-9494.
Spring youth rally to be March
29 at First UMC, Fredericksburg
Fredericksburg UMC will host the spring District Youth Rally March 29, from 4-7 p.m. More information to come Mark your calendars and plan to come for food, fellowship and worship. Mentor training session to be March 10 at First UMC, Kerrville The Kerrville District will hold a mentor training March 10, from 1-4 p.m., at First UMC, Kerrville. Please contact Rev. Allen if you are interested in becoming a mentor.
Utopia UMC offers ‘Coffee and
Conversation’ every Wednesday
The off-site ministry Utopia UMC is doing is going well after eight months, leaders said. “Coffee and Conversation” meets at the local coffee shop on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. and usually has eight to twelve people gathered around. Members of the Utopia UMC and other churches and some unchurched have joined the group. Conversation ranges from the “old times” in the Sabinal Canyon to how each one met their mate and got married, to questions for the pastor about the workings of the church.
Kerrville Calendar
February
28 Barnett Chapel Heritage banquet.
March
10 District Mentor training, First UMC, Kerrville, 1-4 p.m.
16-20 District Office closed for spring break.
29 District Spring Youth Rally, Fredericksburg UMC, 4-7 p.m.
31 District Committee on Ordained Ministry, First UMC, Kerrville, 9 a.m.
April
10 District Office closed for Good Friday.
18 Confirmation celebration at Hunt UMC
Corpus Christi
Don Nations to hold training
April 25 in Corpus Christi
All churches of the Corpus Christi District are invited to a special training by Don Nations, on “Creating Discipleship Systems” in the church. This training will include two sessions, one in the morning and one following lunch. The event is scheduled for April 25 from 10 a.m.–2 p.m. at Asbury UMC, 7501 S. Staples, Corpus Christi. The cost of the event is $5 and will include lunch.
Rev. Sue White to visit Corpus
Christi District this spring
The Rev. Sue White, conference evangelism consultant, will be in the Corpus Christi District two different weekends this spring. Church leaders and members are invited to come to the workshops.
Portland UMC, 4545 Wildcat, will host two days: March 7 from 9:30 a.m.– noon, featuring Seven Evangelism Styles and March 8 from 1–3 p.m. featuring Telling Your Faith Story.
Yorktown UMC is hosting the second event. It will be on the weekend of May 23-23. For more information and times on this event, call the Rev. Cliff Krcha at (361) 564-2319.
District Professionals meeting at
First UMC, Aransas Pass
The District Professionals meeting will be March 5 at First UMC, Aransas Pass.
Corpus Christi Calendar
March
5 District Professionals meeting, location TBA.
5 Sea City Work Camp meeting, District Office, 6 p.m.
7-8 First UMC, Portland, to host the Rev. Sue White.
7 Pastor’s Report due.
9-10 Bishop’s Convocation.
11-12 Cabinet meeting, San Antonio.
17 Witness deadline.
19 DCOM at District Office, noon-5:30 p.m.
26-27 Cabinet meeting, San Antonio.
31 District Board of Laity meeting, 6 p.m.
April
2 Sea City Work Camp meeting, District Office, 6 p.m.
7 Pastor’s report due.
10-13 District Office closed for Easter holiday.
14 Witness deadline.
15 Candidacy Mentor training at District Office, 2-5 p.m.
McAllen
McAllen Calendar
February
27-28 Lay Speaker Training, basic and
advanced, Wesley UMC.
March
1 Leadership training, 2 p.m., First UMC, Kingsville.
6-7 Conference Lay speaking, Mt. Wesley.
9-10 Bishop’s Convocation, Mt. Wesley.
11-12 Cabinet meeting, San Antonio.
13-14 UMW Young Women’s event, Mustang Island
Retreat Center, Port Aransas.
14 Good $ense workshop with Ed Engleking of the
Texas Methodist Foundation, Wesley UMC,
9 a.m.- 5 p.m.
15 District Program Ministries team meeting,
District Office, 2 p.m.
19-22 Men’s Walk to Emmaus, Camp Thicket.
24 Pastors/Professionals meeting, 9 a.m.,
First UMC, Harlingen.
26-27 Cabinet meeting, San Antonio.
28 McNorth laity banquet, noon, First UMC, Alice.
29 McSouth laity banquet, 5:30 p.m.,
First UMC, Harlingen.
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