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September 11, 2009
Volumn 156, Number 19
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Why do men avoid going to church today?
 During a Father’s Day worship service at Riverside Community, a United Methodist congregation in Spring Branch, the men formed a circle around the women and children and prayed for them.
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
The question has been weighing on the hearts and minds of leaders running churches all over the country for years now.
What is it about church that keeps men away?
They have their reasons. A whole list of them, in fact, printed on page 5. Some of them include the fact that they “must watch their language, mind their manners and be extra polite,” that the church expects them to be religious instead of real, that they “just don’t like holding hands when they’re praying,” that they don’t get the “unconditional love relationship” thing because it’s an idea that appeals more to women than to men.
Their problems with music and arts in worship include young girls and women performing songs or dance in tight dresses or other attire, emotional praise music that’s better suited to women than to men and loss of the “male language and imagery in hymns and liturgy.”
“In looking at some of the reasons mentioned, we may be tempted to ask if it is right and just for men to feel that way,” wrote Dean McIntyre director of music resources for the United Methodist Board of Discipleship, in a worship column. “But we must get beyond that question and recognize the simple fact that many men DO feel that way and we must ask, ‘What shall we do about it?’”
First comes action, not emotion
The Rev. David Skinner, senior pastor of Dripping Springs UMC, said calling men to action is much more effective than making them feel something they don’t want to feel.
“Quit asking them how they feel about this or that,” he said. “Call them to action. Tell them it’s time they stood up and were the men God created them to be. Don’t ask them how they feel about it. That just doesn’t float with men.
“Men and women are different. Get over it. Different doesn’t mean bad.”
McIntyre said maybe it means singing less “I Need Thee Every Hour” and “As the Deer” and singing more of “Onward Christian Soldiers” and “Rise Up, O Men of God.”
 Leaders at the Men of Light Conference pray together before beginning the 2009 conference, which saw about 800 male
participants. The conference combines speakers, dramatists and musicians for a powerful time of worship.
“That’s the nature of a man—to build and start a task, finish a task and see the results of that task,” he said. “In older churches, if you look at the cornerstones or brass plaques, at one time, there was a group of men who had a vision and started something and worked it to fruition, and out of the dust grew a church.
“Somewhere over the last few decades, men stayed at home, stayed in the background.”
And while the men stayed home, the church grew more feminine, Thompson said.
“The church has become fairly feminine,” Skinner said. “Men are generally going to show their love of the Lord with actions. That has to be a part of what you offer them as the church. We always try to think a lot about that.”
The Rev. Steve Coker, an associate pastor at Bulverde UMC and organizer of San Antonio’s Men of Light conferences, said the churches have to intentionally design worship that has some elements to which men can relate—and take it a little easier on the more emotional response part of worship, like holding hands or mood lighting or emotional music.
“Start using terminology that men relate to,” Coker said. “Standing firm, battles. It’s not hard to do once you start looking at the service and see that this is a little feminine here or there. Some of those things are just customary in churches, in music selection. Let’s put some more power in the music.”
In the sermon design, he said, there’s almost always an opportunity to address men directly—and men will respond.
Real men go to church
Huck Nelson, a member of Taft UMC and husband of Melissa Nelson, who pastors the church, said he developed an evangelism program for small churches around his rural area called Real Men Go to Church.
The program would use bumper stickers, yard signs, flyers and roadside signs to get the attention of men who don’t go to church.
“It’s an eye opener,” Nelson said. “It makes people start thinking. The guy mowing the grass on Sunday, it’s not going to make him put his lawn mower away and come to church, but it will change his attitude, eventually.
“We’re not going to be able to change a thought in a day. It’s going to be a long process.”
Nelson said he was reading a story about a plant that manufactured pants and dresses in the 1960s and 1970s. The plant started putting less money into making pants and more money into making dresses because more women were buying dresses. Eventually, the pants production completely shut down.
“The church has basically done the same thing,” Nelson said. “So many woman are available as volunteers, so we let them start running the church. We gave up. We gave our work ethic to the women.
“So my thing is that men had to get the idea that for them, going to church was not a sign of weakness. Real men go to church.”
Information about the program can be obtained by e-mailing or calling Nelson at JudgeHuckNel@aol.com or (361) 528-2880.
Going deeper
Both Thompson and Coker said that while men are wired for action, action will only get men to church. Leaders must go deeper to get them to stay.
Thompson said he fears that many of the United Methodist Men breakfasts have left behind much of what men wanted in the first place.
“While breakfast offers a wonderful opportunity for men to enjoy fellowship, the purpose and meaning of the men’s breakfast was lost,” he said. “Men’s breakfast was originally shared as a means to call men together for fellowship, prayer, study, service and worship. Food was the lure, not the purpose. Along the way, many men’s groups dropped everything except the food and fellowship.
“Unfortunately, younger men, especially those seeking Christ for the first time or who are looking for their ‘purpose,’ are more interested in the things that too many men’s groups have dropped.”
Thompson said he and other United Methodist Men leaders are planning events and activities in the coming months and years that they hope will “rebuild a sense of deeper purpose among the established men’s groups and that will help establish purposeful men’s groups within congregation that are currently without a strong men’s presence.”
Coker said men crave a deeper sense of engagement.
“The church has concentrated more on emotional feeling-type experiences, and that tends to be more attractive to women because of their increased sensuality,” he said. “(Men) have to be more spiritually mature before they get to that place—just to embrace another man in public, much less hold hands with him or pray or shed a tear in front of him.
“Guys do not see engaging in church. I think that’s what’s keeping them away. The ones who do take those steps, who allow themselves to be more vulnerable, those are the guys I think are truly growing spiritually. I believe they grow and get hooked on it. That’s where God wants us to be.”
Reasons for lack of male worshipers
- Men must watch their language, mind their manners and be extra polite.
- Sunday school teachers are mostly women
- Other than serving on a committee or ushering, there aren’t many “manly” things about church.
- Church expects men to be religious rather than real
- Churches today proclaim a faith consisting of “having an unconditional love relationship” with Jesus, an idea that appeals to women more than men
- Feminization of the church can be traced back to the twelfth century and the rise of the female orders, and when the “Mystic Bernard of Clairvaux popularized the metaphor of the Church as the Bride of Christ.”
- Holding hands and praying, small-group sharing and emotional displays seem more like a “ladies club” than worship that might appeal to a man.
- There are few opportunities for men to hear and talk about life isseus that matter to them: the workplace, responsibilities to wives and families, sports.
- There are very few service opportunities involving activieits such as fixing cars, building and repairing houses, landscaping or maintenance.
- There are more opportunities for giftrs of nurturing and community than for building.
- Male pastoral leaders are diminishing in numbers.
- There is lack of adventure, challenge and “in-your-face” sermons
- Pastors more often develop themes of Jesus’ tender and empathetic side than his strong, confrontational, challenging side.
- Pastors tend to preach long, boring sermons rather than a sermon of shorter segments, punctuated with a song, drama or video clip
- Feminine terminology prevails, talking about the lost and the saved. We talk about he need to have a personal relationship with Jesus rather than a call to hear and take up Christ’s command to “follow me.”
Information collected from Dean McIntyre's worship column
Problems with music and arts in worship, according to men
- “Blue-haired ladies” play the organ
- The quiet, expressive praise and worship music that emphasizes emotional needs is better suited to women than men
- The church as the Bride of Christ results in everyone taking on a feminine role and relationship, a metaphor continued in much of the contemporary music’s “love songs to Jesus”
- Young girls and women in tightly fitting, flowing dresses with high slits performing liturgical dance are a distraction in worship
- Pretty banners on the walls, dainty doilies on the furniture, floral arrangements and scented candles around the sanctuary confirm the church as a women’s place.
- The loss of male language and imagery in hymns and liturgy, brought about by the rise of inclusive language, has resulted in language that is more neutered than inclusive.
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Health care should be on United Methodists’ agenda
 Jim Dorff
Bishop, San Antonio Area
Item 1. Health care was on Jesus’ agenda. He taught, preached, loved and healed. His most remarkable acts were often related to his compassion and acts of mercy with the sick and dying.
Item 2. Health care was on the agenda of John Wesley. In 1747 Mr. Wesley printed a book titled “Primitive Physick.” This was done because Mr. Wesley recognized that the health of persons is a concern of the people of faith. Healthcare in his society was indeed primitive and virtually non-existent for the poor. The Methodists made it their business to do what they could to treat the body, mind and soul. Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke had the book of remedies revised, republished, and distributed in America.
Item 3. In the San Antonio Area (which includes the Rio Grande and Southwest Texas Conferences) the Methodist Healthcare System and the Methodist Healthcare Ministries are not Methodist in name only. We are full partners in seeking to provide quality healthcare to as many of God’s children as we possibly can. Through the hospital system, the Wesley Nurses program and a host of other initiatives we are engaged in the task of healthcare.
Item 4. Our national agenda is consumed by the great healthcare debate of 2009. We can’t escape it. We shouldn’t escape it. It’s our agenda as human beings, Christians, United Methodists and Americans.
As we recognize the challenge of the agenda which has been place before us, as your Bishop I ask you to:
- pray for the leaders of our country
- study the issue of health care as it relates to you, your family, your church, our society and our nation
- express yourself, as you feel led, in a Christ-like manner, to those in positions of decision making
- pray for all those engaged in the provision, development and delivery of healthcare
- know that we virtually never arrive at perfect solutions to every issue on our agendas
- do what disciples, Methodists and San Antonio Area United Methodists have always done… provide for the “least of these;” the children, the aged and the poor.
We have a big agenda these days. There are many important issues before us. May they all be understood as God’s issues as we look for solutions that will be pleasing to Almighty God. Grace, peace and good health to all.
P.S. Please receive this heartfelt expression of gratitude to you all for your prayers, cards and expressions of support during this time of grief at my brother’s death.
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7 reasons why the conference youth ministry ‘works so well’
I hope you know that by sharing this I am not bragging. Perhaps boasting the Lord, but not bragging. I simply feel the need to share with you why what we do in youth ministry works so well. Why going on 10 years of this renewed ministry our numbers are up, our spiritual vitality is soaring and our commitment to making disciples has never been higher.
God First. We make no apologies about this one –conference youth events are about each student getting to know God better. Jesus Christ is first and foremost in our thought. Knowing him and making him known is our top priority and mission.
Clear Vision. Reachingyouth.org isn’t just the Conference Council on Youth Ministries (CCYM) Web site, it is our vision. It’s the reason for everything we do. We are “reaching youth for Christ.” We strive to keep the main thing–the main thing. Our vision must remain clear and find basis in Matthew 28 and Acts 1.
Committed Workers. When we show up at a Midwinter and have 50 committed staff, I know something is working. In the early days, adults were hard to come by. Now, we often have too many who are willing to help and wanting to be a part of this movement of God’s Spirit. It is the camp staff members’ commitment to Christ and students that makes it work.
Supportive Management. My boss (the Rev. Austin Frederick), his boss (Bishop Jim Dorff), the Conference Treasurer (the Rev. David Seilheimer) and my counterpart and friend Patti Ziontz (director of Mt. Wesley) help make it work. Not only is the financial backing present, but the freedom to love students, put on events and sometimes take chances on new ideas comes from having a supportive and trusting management team.
Common Purpose. For years the mission statement of the conference has been “Offering Christ To All—Radiating God’s love, the Southwest Texas Conference empowers ministries to make disciples of Jesus Christ.” The common purpose of conference members help create a culture of growth. We are not just about having fun and entertaining youth. We strive to have an intentional purpose that extends into every one of our events.
Engaging Worship. Worship is the essence of what we do. It is not only the core of our camp/retreat experience; it is the favorite part for most participants. The experiential, interactive, up beat and authentic worship ushers in God’s Spirit in a revival-like manner.
Visible Results. This year 85 students accepted Jesus as their Savior during the summer youth events. More than 50 reaffirmed a new or existing call to ministry. In total, we had 725 summer participants, up more than 250 from last year. Visible results like these allow us to see growth and offers encouragement and momentum to the Movement.
If I had more space, I might throw in careful planning, a strong connection, enthusiastic mission and awesome theme parties just for fun!
It is Jesus’ message and mission to make disciples, redeem his people and grow his Church that makes us what we are today. I am thankful to be a part of an amazing and transforming movement of God’s Holy Spirit!
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Hamilton G. Horton’s first year appointed in Texas was dangerous
This is the fifth of eight articles related to teh
sesquicentennial celebration of the
Southwest Texas Conference.
By Robert Sledge
One of the young preachers of the new Rio Grande Mission Conference was Hamilton G. Horton, later an effective pastor and prolific writer. Only 22, he had been admitted on trial to the Georgia Conference and was getting close to qualifying for deacon’s orders. The Austin meeting received him by transfer, Bishop Pierce having arranged the move of Horton and the Rev. Dr. Jesse Boring from the Georgia Conference to Texas.
After being alerted that he was going to Texas, Boring met a promising young preacher named Hamilton G. Horton at a camp meeting. Impressed by the young man’s potential, Boring persuaded Horton him to join him in the trek to Texas. Both men became members of the new Rio Grande Mission Conference in Austin in November.
This was one of those rare occasions when a preacher knew where he was going before the conference even met. Boring and Horton remained members of the Texas Conference for just two days before Bishop Pierce read them their new appointments—Boring to the prestigious San Antonio city church and Horton to the frontier—the Uvalde Mission, both in the new conference. The two men did not attend the Austin conference, going straight from the ship at Galveston to San Antonio by stage, “the male passengers usually having to walk and carry a rail to prize the wheels of the stage out of the mud.” The stage finally arrived at its destination, “passing in front of the old Alamo down to the main plaza.” This was Boring’s new home, but Horton had yet a long journey ahead.
Uvalde Mission was a new charge on the far edge of the frontier. The first settlers came to the region in 1853, encouraged by the presence of a cavalry post, Fort Inge. The post had not slowed continuing Indian raids much, and every man in the area went about armed. Parson Horton got the message. When he set forth west from San Antonio, he “mounted a mustang, putting on a pair of spurs, [and] buckling a big six-shooter around my waist” to travel to Uvalde along a new trail from San Antonio to El Paso. The road was nearly a hundred perilous miles to Uvalde. Horton recounted:
“Arriving on my work in December, I found every western cabin a fortification and the Comanche Indians raiding the country on nearly every light of the moon. Most of the men were then out in pursuit of the Indians, who had just raided the country. Sunday following was our appointment eight miles down the country on the Sabinal in a log school house with a dirt floor. At the hour of service everybody in the community was there, the men with their rifles and six-shooters, they stacking the rifles in one corner of the house, but keeping their pistols around their waists, for they might be called into play at a moment’s notice. My dragoon pistol was placed on the wooden stand by the side of my Bible.”
Despite the dangers, Horton and his flock had a good year. When Bishop Pierce came through Uvalde on his way to California the following spring, he found Horton “in fine health, pleased with his work; he is loved by the people, and likely to report a well-organized circuit at his Conference this fall.” And so it happened; HGH (as he liked to sign himself) reported 29 new members on his circuit at the Goliad conference in November.
One of his fruitful camp meetings was interrupted by reports of a nearby Indian raid. At the revival, “one good sister had gone into a trance [but] the shout of ‘Indians’ soon recalled the sister from the spirit land where she seemed to have been wandering.” When Bishop Pierce pushed on westward after preaching for Horton, the young pastor loaned him his dragoon pistol just in case.
Several other pastors were stationed on what was called “the outside row.”
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Ozona UMC responds to Nothing But Nets challenge to conference
Bishop Jim Dorff encouraged the churches of the Southwest Texas Conference to join in the “Nothing but Nets” campaign at the Annual Conference session in June. Pastor Ron Shott and Lay Delegate Billy Reagor of Ozona UMC took the Bishop’s invitation seriously and returned to Ozona to plan ways for the members of the congregation to participate in saving lives of children in Sierra Leone.
The campaign began July 12 for the church with a call for a special offering each Sunday throughout the months of July and August. On July 17, Shott and his wife, Kathleen, brought four of the church’s youth to the Silver Stars WNBA game. Each ticket sold for the game that night brought $5 to the Nothing but Nets campaign. Shott, Kathleen, Cuatro Jones, Lexi Poindexter, John David De Hoyos and Westin Seahorn, met with Dorff in his office and presented the first check of $405 for the ongoing campaign.
During Vacation Bible School the week of July 20, the children were encouraged to bring coins to be donated to Nothing But Nets. By the final day of VBS, the children had built a “mountain of coins,” which then had to be counted and wrapped. The coins were offered to Senior members of Ozona UMC who were asked to pray first for the children, by name, who had brought their offerings to VBS, and then for the children who would receive the mosquito nets in Sierra Leone—as they rolled the coins for deposit in the bank.
By the end of the first week of August, the “Nothing but Nets” campaign contributions totaled $1,362.73 for mosquito nets in Sierra Leone.
Northeast Community holds first fund raiser
 Northeast Community UMC, a new church start in northeast San Antonio, held its first annual golf tournament fund raiser June 18 at the Woodlake Golf Course. The tournament was assisted by 1st Tee, an organization that helps inner-city children experience the game of golf. Emerson Allen Jr., pastor of the church, said “fun was had by all and everyone said they were looking forward to next year.”
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San Antonio District news
Bringing a spirit of growth where we are
My memories from childhood do not include green grass and trees. My memories include row houses, no backyard or front yard, busy and dusty streets, cars and noise everywhere. To me, those are sweet memories. It was great to grow up in downtown Monterrey and to remember that when I went out to the street, I was bound to find someone with whom I could play.
Many of my friends lived in a type of housing we used to call “vecindad.” These were two room apartments that faced each other in a narrow open yard. At the end of the corridor, or yard, there were communal showers, communal toilets and communal, cement washboards. The “apartments” had one window and the door. The corridor was concrete and normally, there would be about five “apartments” on each side of the corridor.
These were folks who were very poor and had to share very little space with a lot of other folks. What was amazing in these “vecindades” was the number of discarded oil cans, detergent containers and other vessels that would function as flower pots.
In the midst of extreme poverty and need, they had time to grow some of the most beautiful roses, carnations, jasmines, gardenias, bougainvilleas, hibiscus and other pretty flowers, as well as some used for healing, like mint and aloe vera.
In the midst of need and squalor, these folks could grow beauty in containers that were trash for other folks. They had a culture of growth even when everything we know would say that nothing could grow, there.
It seems that for some of us, growth can only happen in perfect conditions. These folks proved that a culture of growth can be sustained and continued even in terrible conditions. As we look into the future, let us find creative ways to foster growth, let us find ways to plant beauty and transform the world around us. Hey! We live with yards and trees and plenty of toys. Let us get into the spirit of growth.
Bringing in the sheaves, er...seeds!
 Children and adults enjoy the festivities.
Beginning in 1990, Northwest Hills UMC introduced “Pumpkin Patch” in our District. Since that time, at least nine more UM churches have joined the growing number who will host a Pumpkin Patch this year. Each year, thousands (yes, I said thousands!) of pre-school and elementary children take a “Field Trip to the Patch.” Northwest Hills and Bracken UMC host between 1000 and 1500 school children each year.
In addition to the obvious local outreach that these “Patches” bring, there are other layers of ministry as well. The production of the pumpkins is a non-profit affair for the distributors that gives back to the growers – Navajo reservations, as well as providing a fund raising opportunity for the host church. Unsold pumpkins are donated to food banks; and those unfit for human consumption are often donated to area farmers for animal feed and fertilizer.
From toasting pumpkin seeds to pumpkin soup to pumpkin bread – food for the body and for the soul! Make a point of visiting your local Pumpkin Patch this October. The following churches will be hosting Patches this year, give them a call for times and events: Alamo Heights, Bethany, Bracken, Floresville, Helotes Hills, New Braunfels-First, Northwest Hills, Oxford, St. Mark’s, University, and Windcrest.
UM Missions Night a success!
On Saturday, Aug. 15, more than 200 United Methodists attended United Methodist Night at the Missions. While the home team didn’t win the game, there was lots of fun, laughter and fellowship that ended with a rousing fireworks display and over $300 raised for “Nothing but Nets.”
Both the Southwest Texas Conference and the Rio Grande Conference were represented in pre-game ceremonies. Mr. Abel Vega, Jr., Director of Connectional Ministries for the RGC, and Mrs. Penny Leonhardt, Lay Leader of the San Antonio District - SWTxC, each threw out a first pitch. (Both folks got the ball over home plate! Let’s sign ‘em up.) Rev. John Feagins, Director of Campus Ministries, did a wonderful, a capela version of the National Anthem. And, at the third inning break, Mr. Kenneth Leonhardt and Mr. Johnnie Crisp, both of Floresville UMC, and Mr. Thomas Hernandez of Principe de Paz UMC, entertained the crowd with a tricycle race.
Plans are already in the works for a United Methodist Night at the Missions next year. Be looking for date and time after the first of the year!
Victoria District news
Here’s a new twist on church clusters
 Victoria District
Superintendent
Victoria District Superintendent
I am the proud District Servant of fifty of the “Happiest Churches in Southwest Texas.”
My Job is simply, ‘to enhance the virtues of the churches I serve’. Many of our district churches are smaller membership churches. My larger membership churches are generous, kind, and loving. There is very little strife, no dead horses, and no gators.
Our district churches are comprised caring fathers and nurturing mothers who bake bread, sweets and carry children to the fair. Our emphasis will be on networking our churches, in ministry.
We applaud our small membership churches that have a sustainability that has survived floods, wind, rain, and droughts. Many of the Smaller Membership Churches in the Victoria District are over one hundred years old. Many small membership churches fought Santa Anna, survived world wars, gave of its children as war dead. In addition, they are fiercly loyal to the United Methodist Denomination. Smaller membership church is farmer’s, ranchers, steel men, women, and oil people. Our entire are sophisticated and they Love Christ. One member of the Monthelia told me, “Reverend; if you see Santa Anna send him back we got something for him.”
Members who keep documents, pictures, and quilts preserve the history and the heritage of our large and smaller membership churches faithfully.
The Victoria District is a place of where people remember the birthdays of children and they march in community parades. This year we will honor all of our churches by launching the church cluster concept. We are inviting each church to participate in shared ministry.
Our District Council on Ministries Team and program director invited George Joehnk to lead us in strategic planning. We are bringing in national names such as Terry Tykle, Julia Klum Wallace, national Small Membership Author, and advocate, Dr. Diana Hyson on teacher training.
We are also lifting, and acknowledging the genius within our own churches. Persons young and older will be asked to teach courses. Team Victoria is very sensitive to smaller membership churches and so we emphasize shared resources such as joint youth groups activities, apportionments, joint United Methodist Women’ Studies, joint United Methodist Men’s’ works of faithfulness and acts of kindness’.
We are developing growing communities in our ‘corner of the connection.’ We are working to be the “Happiest Churches in South Texas.”
To my friends in the Victoria District
I know it’s a little late for a Thank You Note, but I’ve been trying to get used to this thing they call “Retirement”. The first month wasn’t much fun because I missed everyone so much and am certainly not used to staying at home. I’ve worked for 40 years and it’s different staying at home. Also, my job was my dream job. I loved it and loved everyone. It’s a job with a lot of work but I loved it because I dealt with such nice people the whole year. I am starting to do better and feel better, so I guess we’ll make it. We are planning a trip to the East Coast in October, so that is something good to look forward to.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to my retirement gift. I will put it to good use. It was very thoughtful of all of you.
Sincerely, Leta Reeves
Victoria District’s
former Admin Asst.
Telferner UMC celebrates 55 years of area ministry
A few months after the Telferner United Methodist Church was founded in June of 1954, a WWII barracks building was purchased and renovated. This refurbished building served as the sanctuary for more than fifty years.
Around the turn of the century, the idea of a new sanctuary began to evolve. A building committee was named and plans were developed. Late in the summer of 2004, a ground breaking event was held. Bishop Joel Martinez, then District Superintendant Rev. W. Bernard Sandberg, and Pastor Rev. Emmet Huntsman presided over the service.
The following year, John Kirkpatrick and son Jamie were contracted to build the new facility. Funds from the TUMC building fund, the sale of an outdated parsonage, and the proceeds from the sale of a cemetery accounted for approximately sixty percent of the new building cost. A building campaign, led by Ed Engleking from Texas Methodist Foundation, provided the remaining forty percent. The pledges were to be paid over a three year period. The pledge program had been in progress for one year when the building was completed. A two year promissory note was secured to cover the shortfall. The first worship service was held in the new sanctuary on Easter Sunday, April 6, 2006. District Superintendant, Rev. Sandberg and then Pastor Rev. Huntsman presided over the service. One hundred thirty seven people, members and friends of TUMC from the surrounding areas filled the pews. This was an awesome outpouring of support for a small church with an average attendance of thirty. August 23, 2009, District Superintendant Rev. Terrence Hayes and current Pastor Rev. George Barcus presided over a special worship where 55 years of ministry were celebrated and the note, which had been paid in full, was burned by the Trustee Chair Jim Matson. After the service a fellowship meal of Brisket and all the trimmings and local live entertainment from Wade Stockton was enjoyed by all.
On Sunday, August 2nd Chris Moore asked Mrs. Remia Nobles if the children were going to sing On Youth Sunday, August 14th. Quickly after church the children had an impromptu practice and on Wednesday evening, the 5th, the children learned two new songs, as well as how to sing “Yes, Jesus Loves Me” to the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle”. Then the children donned their Vacation Bible School, and “poof, we were a choir”. It seems God took charge! All because one child had a dream! Rethink church and wonderful things will happen!
Austin District news
Guess what? You are making it happen.
By the Rev. Bobbi Kaye Jones
Austin District Superintendent
I flew in from DS school in Lake Junaluska late Thursday night and left the next afternoon for the joint SWTC-Rio Grande Conference cabinet training. I would venture to guess I ‘took in’ about 60 hours over the 7 days. My cup runneth over.
Too late for last year’s event At Lake Junaluska, I joined about 78 new District Superintendents, a scattering of spouses, a bevy of bishops, and dozens of staff folks from our General Boards and Agencies. Every one of them competent, efficient, inspiring. Who knew???? At our area cabinet event, we were led in four intensive sessions on understanding and developing our leadership by a woman working with the Council of Bishops through a Lily grant to Duke University. (or something like that) The two cabinets worked hard, listened well and grew stronger. Did I mention my brain being very, very full?
And I’ve never been more enthusiastic about being United Methodist. I have long believed the UMC is uniquely shaped for the time in which we live. Our custom blend of social gospel and personal holiness is the daily brew we need, my friends. Our founders and their followers changed the course of history – certainly for Great Britain and in early America, and possibly for the whole world. THIS IS STILL HAPPENING! And you are part of it. I saw a sign in the Kerrville Starbucks that said something like “You purchased more fair trade coffee than anyone in the world.” What struck me is that the sign did not say, “We (as in Starbucks) purchased……” It said “You …” I thought about how often I hear church folks, and Methodist pastors, refer to the general church as ‘they.’ Folks, I am here to tell you that there is no ‘they.’ There is only you and me and 8 million other people inside this roomy, gracious, productive tent of ours. You built Africa University. You rescued the Tsunami survivors. You teach Bible study in the bush of sub-saharan Africa. You bring dignity to women dying of Aids and to the children they leave behind. You started 400 new churches in eastern Europe. Not ‘them.’ Not ‘somebody.’ You.
Check it out. Go to UMC.org and just spend a while seeing what you are doing. Then reach around and give yourself a hug, look in a mirror and say ‘thanks.’ And remember, I’m your biggest fan.
Austin District happenings
Event to help parents, professionals nuture spiritual growth of children
Rev. Gina Campbell, of the Center for Family Process, will lead a time of discussion and reflection entitled, “Parenting for Spiritual Maturity: Raising Calm, Confident, Competent Children” at St. John’s UMC on September 24, 2009. The event will be held from 6:30-8:30 PM. Campbell, a United Methodist pastor with a background in children’s ministry, will focus on the ways in which both families and church families can nuture healthy spiritual growth in children.Parents, church professionals, and volunteers who work with children are encouraged to participate. The cost of the event is $10 and includes a snack supper. Childcare is available by reservation only.
Please RSVP to Rachel Wright at the District office by calling 512-444-1983 or emailing rachel@umcad.org.
Fall Candidacy Forum set for September 17
The Austin District will host another Candidacy Forum on Thursday, September 17 from 4:00 – 6:00 pm at the District Office. This is a great opportunity for persons in the candidacy process or considering candidacy to get information, meet the District Superintendent and DCoOM chair, ask questions, and network with other candidates. If you attended the Candidacy Forum last January, you are welcome, of course, to come on back! These meetings are geared to help you through the process. We realize that questions abound throughout.
Please RSVP to jill@umcad.org or call 512/444-1983.
United Methodist Women’s Annual Meeting
The Austin District UMW Annual Meeting will begin at 9:00 am Saturday, September 19 at Lake Travis United Methodist Church, Austin. Our morning session will focus on celebration of the 43 UMW units in the Austin District as well as election and installation of the new mission team for 2010. Mission Studies for 2008-2009 will be taught by: Vikki Schwarz Native American Survival; Wanda Holcombe Sudan and Rev. Sarah Currie Food and Faith. Local units are encouraged to have at least one member in each of the classes. This training is an important link in the education program of the Women’s Division, GBGM. During the lunch hour, Adalid and Mary Linda Verastegui will share their experiences while serving the Methodist Church in Bolivia. They are now residents of the Austin area and attend Cedar Park United Methodist Church. Our mission focus for this meeting is the Lake Travis Crisis Ministries. Please bring non perishable food items to help this important local ministry.
Course offered on Interpreting Our UM Heritage for Lay Speakers, Others
September 26th and October 3rd, the Austin District Lay Speakers are leading an Advanced Lay Speaking Certification Course at Oak Hill UMC. This two-day course, Interpreting Our United Methodist Heritage, will be held from 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. The fee is $40, which covers your lunches, book and tuition. The course will address the “who, what, when, where and why” of our Methodist history, mission, and core values: who we are, how we came to be United Methodists, and how our heritage continues to influence our daily lives in Christ. It will prepare you to lead a course on the same topic in your own church for new United Methodists.
If you want to become a Certified Lay Speaker, the course will enable you to do in conjunction with the Basic Lay Speaking course offered each spring.
Please prayerfully consider taking this course. An on-line Registration Form is at www.oakhillunitedmethodistchurch.org/pdf_files/LaySpeakingForm.pdf. You can also e-mail tamianderson2000@yahoo.com.
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