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June 12, 2009
Volume 155, Number 58
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1,300 delegates gather in Corpus Christi
Leaders raise money for ministries,
vote on amendments during session
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
More than 1,300 Southwest Texas Conference lay and clergy delegates gathered June 4-6 inside the American Bank Center for the Annual Conference session in Corpus Christi.
This year the conference celebrates 150 years of ministry in the Southwest Texas area.
The gathering was the first over which Bishop Jim Dorff presided. He was elected to the episcopacy in July 2008 and became the Southwest Texas Conference bishop in August of that year.
Dorff began the conference session urging delegates to create a culture of growth in their congregations throughout the area.
“I do not believe God is done with me,” he said. “I don’t believe God is done with any of you, regardless of your church leadership, the length of your leadership or your competence as a leader. God is not done with me or you.
“And God is not finished with the Southwest Texas Conference or the Rio Grande Conference or the churches in them. When God is done with us, we will know quite clearly. I have yet to receive such a message.”
To create a culture of growth on his end, Dorff said, he’ll be spending the next several months evaluating the ministries of both conferences in his area to determine if they could be more effective and resourceful combining efforts.
He encouraged leaders, on their part, to be continually looking for ways to join the spirits work in their areas.
“Our Lord Jesus reflected a life that the creative process of God was not and is not concluded,” he said. “We must continually find ways to participate with the holy spirit in this ongoing creative process and seek to make disciples, do what God calls and go where God calls us to go.
“God can create something more out of us tomorrow than we may be today.”
Conference leaders held a live auction benefiting Nothing But Nets in Sierra Leon, during which a signed Spurs basketball and a Silver Stars basketball were sold. Bruni UMC bought the Spurs ball for $2,500 and donated it back to be auctioned again. An individual from San Antonio bought the Silver Stars basketball for $2,500 and also donated it back.
“Every church can participate in this,” Dorff said. “It’s something you can do right now to save a life. What more of God can you do?”
By the end of the conference, session, conference leaders had donated $6,000 but were still engaging in a silent auction.
Joe Vasquez, chair of the Council on Finance and Administration, reported that CFA members have put together a task force to evaluate the conference’s current apportionments formula. Task force members would recommend formula changes during the 2010 annual conference session.
“We decided we needed to review the present formula,” Vasquez said. “We want to ensure that we are fair to all the churches and that we are fair to the conference.
“Saying that, when it comes time to approve whatever recommendations the task force makes, everybody’s not going to be pleased. But you can be sure it’s the best possible formula we have come up with.”
The Rev. Kim Cape, director of New Church Development and Transformation, reported that her office used a research company to determine areas that were ripe for new church starts in the next few years.
The results are in for San Antonio and Austin, but the results for other districts will be in later this year, she said. Nine locations in both San Antonio and Austin are targeted for new church plants. Details can be found at www.umcswtx.org.
“Our responsibility in new church growth is to nurture a culture of growth by starting new churches and strengthening existing churches,” Cape said. “We have witnessed thousands of neighborhoods change demographically but we’ve not started new congregations. We’ve decided it’s time to revive our missionary heart. We’ve decided it’s time to pick up the pace of the new church starts, to offer Christ today for tomorrow, to invite our strong, healthy, vibrant churches to consider repeating that ancient process, giving birth to new congregations to reach the new mission field that surrounds them.”
Churches that have committed to starting new congregations include Bulverde UMC; First UMC, Seguin; Northwest Hills UMC, San Antonio; and University UMC, San Antonio.
New church starts, Cape said, make up 13 percent of the Southwest Texas Conference churches, but they contribute 27 percent of the church membership. The also account for 20 percent of the professions of faith and 25 percent of all the apportionments that are given.
After an audit, Cape said the New Church Development office received $5.5 million for the Offering Christ Today for Tomorrow campaign, which helps fund new church starts.
She urged leaders to follow through on their pledges.
But she said all the money the church spends and all the new pastors they recruit will not have any impact if leaders don’t invite people to church.
“If someone new moves down the street from you, take them a plate of cookies and say, ‘Come with me to the First United Methodist Church,’” Cape said. “How hard is that? We can do this. We can do this. Together, with God’s help, with Bishop Dorff’s leadership and with your missionary heart beating, we can continue the ministry that was begun here in the Southwest Texas Conference 150 years ago.”
The Rev. David Seilheimer, conference secretary, reported that the conference churches are in a healthy state financially. Income into the conference exceeded spending.
“The way I interpret that is that we were faithful,” he said. “We recognized that we had a difficult year and put some of our capital projects on hold and used some of the money for current expenses.
“We cannot say, as a church overall in the Southwest Texas Conference, that our assets and our ability to fund ministry are keeping us from doing ministry. It’s simply not true.”
He did say that the continuing decline in membership has to be a concern.
“We have made steps in increasing new church starts,” Seilheimer said. “That should begin making a difference in our membership and the ministry we do in the Southwest Texas Conference.
“We have the ability, the resources in people and in money and in will to do the ministry. Now we just have to go out and do it.”
Delegates voted on 32 constitutional amendments, but results were not available at the printing of this issue. Results will be available online June 15 at www.umcswtx.org.
Leaders voted to set the 2010 Annual Conference session for June 2-5.
For more annual conference pictures or information about next year’s conference, visit www.umcswtx.org.
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Bishop challenges leaders to
create culture of growth
By Rachel Toalson
Managing Editor
Bishop Jim Dorff challenged delegates of the Southwest Texas Conference to participate in the ongoing creative process of God and the Holy Spirit and move toward a “culture of growth” in their congregations during his state of the church address June 4 at the annual conference session in Corpus Christi’s American Bank Center.
“If new leaders, younger leaders, are to join us with conviction, I believe we must demonstrate to them that we are moving and growing in grace,” Dorff said. “I don’t think younger leaders will want to sit in rocking chairs on the porch and swap stories about the good old days. New folks want to know where we’ve been but also where we’re going.”
“What does it mean? We are all to recommit ourselves to the reality that in Christ, every day is a new day, that no one is forever left as they are in the ways of this world, that the church of Jesus expresses this in all it does and the leaders step out first. To make disciples of Jesus is to invite anyone and everyone to join us on a journey of faith that we do not control and that does not end with us.”
Creating a culture of growth, he said, also means that “we acknowledge our calling the action of the spirit, trust that God’s hand holds the future and always look to where God is calling the church.”
It does not mean, he said, that he will demand a set percentage of growth from individual churches. But he added that he has yet to meet a pastor, including himself, or lay leader allowing themselves to be led by the Holy Spirit who wasn’t also a part of a community growing in every way.
Dorff said he has been surprised by the vitality of many of the conference congregations he’s visited, many of which already cultivate a culture of growth. At the same time, he said, he has experienced some churches and people who believe “discipleship is a static calling whose purpose is to keep us forever the same.”
“I believe God has called us to this time and this place as an area for such a time as this,” Dorff said. “Our population will continue to grow in the foreseeable future. Will we? God has placed us in one of the most diverse socioeconomic areas in the country. Are we?
“God has given us such room to reach out and to grow. There is a distinct possibility that in the San Antonio area God can grow us into the church that Christ sought to establish.”
He said that individual churches must continue to examine practices and their consistency with the development of a culture of growth.
What he is doing at the conference level, Dorff said, is examining the efforts of both the Rio Grande and the Southwest Texas Conferences to see if they could be done more effectively together.
Immediately, Dorff said, he is creating the Bishop’s Commission on Area Cooperative Ministries. The purpose of the commission, he said, is to determine whether resources are being most efficiently used on both conferences.
The commission, to be comprised of representatives—young and old—from both conferences, will be in existence for two years and will look at missional ministries of the conferences; local church cooperation and opportunities for cooperative ministries; leadership development; and conference staffing.
Dorff said the commission will report in the next to annual conference sessions. He invited delegates to suggest members to be named to the committee.
“The work of this commission, bathed in our prayers and empowered by the Holy Spirit, can set a growth agenda for us all that will lead us faithfully into God’s future,” Dorff said. “Make no mistake. I am calling you, I am calling me and all our places of ministry to look forward to the eyes of Christ. Only God knows where we are headed in our ministry. What we do know is our mission, and we must never be distracted from it. Our mission is to offer Christ.
“As the area, we are one family with two distinct expressions. Now is the time to call ourselves, our churches in a commitment to the common work that is our task. God has placed us here to share together in the family business. The world around us is waiting, and people are physically and spiritually dying, waiting to see what we will do.
“It is my highest honor and deepest privilege to join you on the journey. Let’s get started.”
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Conference lay leader urges delegates
to be leaders in their churches
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
Conference lay leader Jay Brim echoed Bishop Jim Dorff’s call for conference delegates to create a culture of growth in their churches during his laity address June 4 at the annual conference session in Corpus Christi’s American Bank Center.
Brim began his speech by reporting about the success of The United Methodist Church in other countries, including Africa. He said the conferences in Africa are starting hundreds of new churches every year, and the typical church in the faster-growing area splits every six months to start a new congregation.
If reflects the pace of growth of the former Methodist Episcopal Church in America during its first 125 years of existence, when the church was averaging one to two new church starts a day, he said. The Church was a movement then but is an institution now.
“Our churches should not be institutions,” Brim said. “In Africa, as well as other countries across the world, our churches are living, breathing, witnessing, multiplying organisms, made up of ordinary people who have heard and believe and who want to tell others.
“In far too many of our congregations, we have lost the will, the need, the desire to let someone else in on the secret. We have all we need in the congregants around us. Why is the church different in Africa. Why is it, on a continent rife with civil war and disease, church membership in our peculiarly American brand of Christianity is so fantastically successful?”
Brim said that to facilitate a culture of growth, people must build an attitude in the congregations that welcomes and accommodates growth.
Brim urged delegates to make the Four Areas of Focus to which The United Methodist church, as a denomination, has committed itself for the long term, the central theme of their congregational planning—specifically by making changes to their budget.
He added that the conference Board of Laity will draft and publish a guide to “rethinking” the budget process and will have it to congregations by Sept. 1, in time to plan for 2010.
Brim said a culture of growth includes creating places for new people—in the pews and chairs of worship services, in store fronts, school cafeterias and homes in the neighborhoods.
He urged delegates also to lead the church to commit to start or help start another church.
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Seventeen individuals ordained, commissioned
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
 Mark Montgomery, associate pastor at Grace UMC, Corpus Christi, is recognized for his election to provisional membership.
Dorff told those being commissioned and ordained that they should always hold to the knowledge that Jesus said he was the vine and they were the branches.
“One of the reasons it is critical to remember that Scripture is it tells us who we are and whose we are,” he said. “You are getting ready to transition into somebody’s else’s. But make no mistake, at the end of the day, every day, we all belong in one place, and that is grafted onto the vine which is the Christ.”
He said early in his ministry, he always wondered about that particular Scripture because it seemed so negative—that if people weren’t growing and producing fruit, they would be cut off with Christ.
But over the years, he said, he’s realized that the Scripture didn’t really mean that a person was bad; it just meant they were irrelevant.
“If there comes a time when we realize that we are connected to anything other than the Christ, we run the risk of becoming irrelevant,” Dorff said.
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Pastors, spouses remembered
during opening memorial service
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
 Raul Garcia de Ochoa, bishop of the Methodist Church of Mexico, preached during the memorial service June 3.
During the ceremony, seven pastors were remembered for their service to the conference, and seven spouses of pastors were remembered.
“Approaching ministry is scary,” Garcia said. “Getting close to ministry is dreadful. Getting close to the Lord makes you shake.
“But you are called to be a minister of God. It is time for The United Methodist Church to offer our ministry to all people. It is time for us in the Estados Unidos to reach those in need, to reach those who do not know Christ.”
He said the Southwest Texas Conference has 640 clergy members and 130,000 lay people.
“We need many lay apostles,” he said. “This is a wonderful time. When the darkness is strong, any little light can shine. This is your time.”
Garcia said the hour for reviving Methodism is now.
“Methodism awakening includes a new and fresh concept in teaching on the whole area of priesthood,” he said. “Methodism has yet to see its brightest and most fruitful time.
“Imagine the day not when only 640 people are called ministers but when 130,000 people realize, accept and practice the fact that they are ministers unto God.”
Superintendents dare leaders to ‘lose their lives’
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
The Rev. Barbara Ruth, Corpus Christi District superintendent, told clergy and lay delegates that being the church of Jesus Christ is risky business during her superintendent’s report June 5 at the Southwest Texas annual conference session at Corpus Christi’s American Bank Center.
“Recently we have had enough wakeup calls from statistics that United Methodism is not as vital as it once was,” Ruth said. “We’ve been told again and again that we are losing our life. What is so terrifying about that? Isn’t that exactly what Jesus asked us to do?
“Jesus calls us to lose our life for his sake rather than saving ourselves by clinging to our own agendas. Jesus calls us to deny ourselves rather than save ourselves by holding on to our resources no matter what. Jesus calls us to take up our cross rather than save ourselves by denying the ministry to the lost and the needy because it’s costly discipleship. If we save ourselves, what do we gain as followers of Jesus Christ?”
She pointed out that leaders across the conference, both clergy and laity, spend much of their time in church meetings talking about conserving their finances and preserving their facilities.
“So we’ve managed to keep our facilities open yet another year and our bank account is healthy. Where is the risk in that?” Ruth said. “Could there be a connection between our unwillingness to risk our resources and deny ourselves and the fact that we are losing our life as United Methodists?
“What will it matter if someday we are still clinging to what we still have and what we still own if our beautiful sanctuaries are just empty museums?”
She called church leaders to start engaging in risky business.
“Have we admired Jesus for his risk-taking ministry and then actually neglected to follow him in the way he set before us?” she said. “Maybe rather than claiming to be cursed to live in such an age as this, we are called, even blessed, to live in an age of deep spiritual renewal in which we may discover the power of the Gospel words ‘Take up your cross and follow me.’”
Ruth said risky business might look like worshiping at new times in new places with new people. It might even look like worshiping in buildings that churches don’t own, she said.
It might mean mentoring people who are new to the faith.
“It might look like the church is a family, but a family where the church’s most important person is to come,” Ruth said. “It might look like ending the worldwide epidemics of Aids and malaria, entering into the lives of people to end crushing poverty.
“It might look like setting ministry and mission goals that are really too costly for one church, too big for one lifetime and still going forward as if we have an abundance of time and resources because the future belongs to God.”
She gave examples of churches in the conferences already engaged in risky business and then said there is no one right way to participate in it.
The important part is participating, Ruth said.
“Jesus never said to play it safe, to make sure everything always goes your way, to hold on to what you have for as long as you can,” she said.
Giving legacy starts in individual homes
Acacia and I grew up in the same Methodist Church in Monterrey, Mexico: La Trinidad. When we were in high school, we became “novios,” which could be loosely translated as “dating.” It was a wonderful time for both of us, as we moved from high school to college. She was at medical school and I was at civil engineering.
We were talking a few days ago about those days, long gone. How we attended church on Sunday morning; I would sit with the choir at the front and she would sit with her mother; the afternoon youth meetings; and then, going to drink a soda at a drug store.
Going to drink a soda meant that we were using our bus money for the soda and we would have to walk to her home. I would walk to my home from her home. It meant long walks. As we were talking, we realized that it never occurred to us to use the money we had set aside for God to buy our sodas or for a bus ride. We would place our offering in the plate on Sunday morning and again during the youth gathering in the afternoon (yes, we had an offering for missions in our youth gatherings). Where did we learn that? It was the culture of our homes. It was the culture of our congregation. What a great legacy that was passed to us by our family and our church. We did not give from our abundance but from what we had.
UM campus ministry leaders celebrate
students, scholarship winners
Oak Meadow UMC opens new 1,760-foot
addition to existing building
Event to raise money for Nothing But Nets
Bishop Jim Dorff and other United Methodists will join with the San Antonio Silver Stars July 17 to raise money for Nothing but Nets. The event will begin at 7 p.m. at the AT&T Center in San Antonio. Your $20 ticket will get you a great lower level seat, a hot dog, chips and a drink. But most importantly, the Silver Stars will donate $5 from every ticket you buy toward the purchase of a $10 Nothing But Nets bed net that could protect a young child from malaria and other insect-borne illnesses.
Nothing But Nets is a global, grassroots campaign to save lives by preventing malaria, a leading killer of children in Africa. Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly challenged his readers to donate $10 for the purchase of an anti-malaria bed net, and thousands of people have joined the campaign. The people of The United Methodist Church, along with Sports Illustrated, NBA Cares, the United Nations Foundation and several other groups, are raising funds to purchase bed nets to end malaria.
To purchase tickets, contact Cynthia Bedford at the United Methodist Center offices, (210) 408-4527 or cynthiab@umcswtx.org.
San Antonio District happenings
District to offer lay speaker training opportunities this year
The San Antonio District Lay Speaking Ministries and the San Antonio District Council on Ministries will be offering two training opportunities for Lay Speakers this year. A Basic class for new Lay Speaker applicants is scheduled for June 20 at Alamo UMC, 4071 North Foster Road, in San Antonio. In the fall, both a Basic and an Advanced class will be offered. A Basic class designed especially for youth will be included.
Survey course in Christian theology to be offered this summer
The San Antonio District Program Office is once again offering a survey course in Theology. The curriculum for the 20-week course, was developed and will be presented by the Rev. Mike Cave, senior pastor at St. Andrew’s UMC. The required textbook for the course is Introduction to Christian Theology by Bradley C. Hanson. All sessions will be held in the community room at the United Methodist Building. There is no charge to attend the class. To register, or for more information, contact Terry McCandless in the District Office.
The Borg and the mainline church - Ask
By the Rev. Terrence Hayes
Victoria District Superintendent
“Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened for you.”
Matthew 7:7
How are you handling growth in your church? Are you experiencing high turnover? Are attractive people coming in the front door and disappearing out the back door? Well, I dare you, while there is still time have a magnificent obsession with church growth. (William Danforth).
Mainline denominations are like the Federation of Planets from the Gene Rodenberry Series, Star Trek. We face the greatest threat to our understanding by all of the newer denominations and their practices of church growth.
These church communions are like the Borg. According to Wikipedia, the Borg is a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek franchise. The Borg manifest as cybernetic ally enhanced humanoid drones of multiple species, organized as an interconnected collective, the decisions of which are made by a hive mind.
The Borg is aggressive, and they assimilate anybody and anything to enhance their species. Star Trek attempts to resist the Borg becomes one of the central themes, with many examples of successful resistance to and assimilation. They seem to have superior capabilities. “Resistance is futile.”
I mean no disrespect to other faith communities. However, to those of us who belong to mainline denominations, the new communions seem like cybernetic organisms, interconnected to the collective.
Here in Victoria, Texas, and in San Antonio, Texas, I am watching numerous churches and/or faith communities start up, and flourish! They are borderline fanatical when it comes to recruiting. They are the Olsteen organization, they are the Cowboy Church, they are the Two Rivers Organization; they are the Buddhist, the Seven Day Adventist, the Mormons and Jehovah’ Witness. They are non-denominational. Nevertheless, none of these groups is half-hearted or inarticulate about its faith! These groups ask for your money, your time, your children and your church membership. They are using your parking lots to attend their churches. They act like Borg.
We know how to do church as United Methodists! We have 300 years of experience. However, the author Ralph Iron tells us in one phrase that “experience teaches us in a millennium what passion teaches us in an hour” (Key Work Passion).
One group in downtown San Antonio started as a tent ministry that grew to a house and later a very elaborate church building. The ministry started with a small van, and now it has a fleet of vans and a fleet of buses. How did ministry leaders do it? They first defined their population (Key Phrase: Define your population). They serve drug-addicted people, prostitutes, former inmates, current inmates and their families. William Shakespeare says that, “Action is eloquence.”
Let me create a quote: “People can’t get genuinely excited about your ministry if you are not excited about them”(Key Phrase: Get Excited about People).
Another group has a thriving ministry that started in hotel lobbies. Members then graduated to hotel ballrooms. The congregation recently moved from the hotel ballrooms into a multi-million dollar structure fully furnished debt free.
I have visited many of these churches. I want to know what they do firsthand. Like the Star Trek’ “Borg” I want to incorporate their successful practices.
Hospitality is first and a most formidable key. On a personal level, I have never felt like a stranger in a non-denominational church. In addition, I experienced exceptional warmth; passionate worship, engaging music, strong preaching; classes were offered on faith for the “seeker” and the person who has been in church for a while.
They risk by knocking on doors, gaining permits to solicit money in the streets. The Mormons send their teens out either walking or on bicycles. Nevertheless, always, always, with a focus and a tangible purpose that is explained clearly. They are Borg (Key Phrase: Mission with a focus and a tangible purpose).
Sometimes we are fearful of giving too much and we are fearful of receiving. For years, Pastor Draper held services in a very humble worship space. Before Bishop Robert Schnase wrote his book, Five Practices of a Fruitful Congregation, Draper taught his congregation the five practices. Therefore, when Draper moved his congregation to a site on Loop 1604 in San Antonio into a fully furnished multi-million dollar building he and his congregation moved in debt free. He is an African American pastor with a culturally, ethnically and generationally mixed congregation.
In Schertz, Texas, Pastor Brown has a mega Baptist Church that started as an African American Church, is now culturally, ethnically and generationally mixed, and they flourish. Luke 11:9 says, “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.”
Radical growth may mean diversity without apology. Schnase does not outwardly seem to mention cultural, ethnic and generational mixes, but they happen when the five practices are practiced. I believe that the most enlightened people are exhausted of the traditional all European churches or the Traditional all African American churches and even the traditional all Hispanic churches. I believe that the enlightened person simply has a “hunger for God.”
Let us face it: those churches that live with diversity serve God at every level of humanity. Those 21st century personalities are both intellectually strengthened and emotionally satisfied. I need to feel something; I need to feel the radical, passionate intentional risk-taking extravagance of the Kingdom of God.
Diversity and the Kingdom of God is another article. In the Victoria District, all of our churches are open for a cultural shift.
I asked each of the local pastors how they managed to pay for their fantastic, fully furnished, debt free facilities. Each one said the same thing: they taught good stewardship practices. They talked about the spirit of sacrificial giving based on Biblical Teachings. They taught tithing. Each pastor leads the way with his or her tithes. One pastor went on to say that, “we ask and we give based on Biblical Principles and not coercion.
Nanoprobes are microscopic machines that inhabit a Borg’s body, bloodstream and many cybernetic implants. What are the spiritual implants? Could they be the fruits of the Spirit? Could assimilation depend on love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control?.
Lehrer Memorial celebrates 100 years of ministry
Lehrer Memorial UMC (formerly Garwood Methodist Church) celebrated its 100th anniversary April 19. The day’s festivities included a special worship service with Bishop James Dorff preaching. Members of S.A.L.T., the church youth group (Grades 7 thru 12) served as ushers and greeters and assisted in registration of guests. The service included a special performance by the children’s group COB (Christians On Broadway). At the end of the service, the group presented the church with a birthday cake.
After worship, the 200 guests shared a meal and visited with old friends and family members in the church fellowship hall. Each family present received a copy of the history of the church and a DVD of photos.
Churches unite for 30-Hour Famine
Recently First UMC, Columbus, partnered with St. Paul Lutheran Church, First Baptist Church, St. Paul Methodist Church and Church of the Nazarene, all of Columbus, for a very successful 30-Hour Famine. The churches together raised $3,500 for World Vision to help fight hunger in countries around the world. Fifty-one students slept in cardboard boxes, lived on nothing but juice and water for 30 hours and competed in Tribe challenges all weekend. Raising an additional $500 in food and donations for the Columbus food pantry to give back to their community, the students picked up trash along the highway, helped at the food pantry and put together “transient” bags for the churches to give out.
I’m pretty sure I’m not done yet. You?
By Bobbi Kaye Jones
Austin District Superintendent
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” –St. Francis of Assisi
Despite the fantastic hill country view out the shaded windows of the Bee Creek UMC all heads were down, voices lowered and eyes turned toward each other as small clumps of pastors and church staff folks discussed what we had just seen.
The brief, graphic and compelling video introducing the four focus areas (encouraging younger leadership, new places for new people, addressing poverty, stamping out killer disease) drove the questions home: which of these areas most spoke to your head? To your heart? When you answered your calling to ministry (as lay or clergy) was there a social gospel component to your sense of call? What was that? Does it relate to the four areas of focus? Do you feel you have done what you wanted to/hoped to in that aspect of your ministry?
More than one person in that sacred space was moved to tears by remembering God’s call embedded with this passion: change the world, help people, make a difference. Two more questions—Is God done with us? Are we done with this calling?
Are we? Are you? I’m not. You know there are moments I’d like to go sit in my recliner and read a book and enjoy my comforts and just ignore the world away. But God “at my elbow,” as Wesley would say, nudges me forward, opens my eyes and clears my head. And any clear head would say about most of us, we are not done with this calling.
I believe it is not just my job to expect great things from the Austin District but to place great things before you and offer great help to support you. June 27 is such an offering and a help. The second in our series of revamped district leadership workshops directly feeds the hunger to change the world: My Job: Risk-Taking Justice and Mercy.
World renowned leadership and passionate local voices may be just the combo to move the waters God keeps stirring up! Please bring a new person and a young person along with you to this great event. I suspect Baby Boomers and Millennials can close the generation gap when we consider that both are generations that seem to seek change. As a youngster said to me last week, “this young person thing about wanting to change the world in meaningful ways isn’t sooo foreign.” Amen. Those gathered in the Bee Creek church gave witness to that.
How will we do our best to show new people of all generations that we are a relevant and effective force for that change?
My Job: Risk-Taking Justice and
Mercy to be June 27 in Austin
The Austin District and the Amos Commission are pleased to host the second in a series of opportunities to gain the practical skills necessary to address The United Methodist Church’s four areas of focus. The event, to be held June 27 from 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at Memorial UMC, will feature keynote speaker Robert Linthicum and will focus on ways that individuals and local churches can work to end poverty and the killer diseases that accompany poverty.
Linthicum is a Presbyterian pastor and a renowned writer and community organizer with a passion for urban renewal. His keynote address and workshop times will offer practical advice about how congregations can strengthen their communities by working for Biblical justice.
My Job: Risk-Taking Justice and Mercy offers a sweeping view of Biblical justice and the skills and information necessary for congregations—in both urban and rural settings—to address poverty and health issues.
Besides Linthicum, other presenters include representatives from Methodist Healthcare Ministries, Texas Impact and the United Methodist Committee on Relief as well as representatives from local churches who have already begun to organize their communities so that they can impact poverty. Breakout sessions will be organized around three main concerns: poverty, global health and the environment. Participants will have the option to take an in-depth look how each of these issues can be addressed globally, in an urban setting or in a rural setting.
The event is free, though registration is required by June 15 in order to provide you with lunch or to guarantee childcare. For more information contact (512) 444-1983 or admin@umcad.org or visit www.umcad.org.
Driftwood UMC celebrates
125 years in serviceDriftwood UMC celebrated 125 years in ministry May 17. Bishop Jim Dorff officiated at the worship service and was assisted by the Rev. Bobbi Kaye Jones, Austin District Superintendent and the Rev. Carl W. Clark, Pastor of Driftwood UMC. Former pastors in attendance were the Rev. Carl Taylor, the Rev. Bill Hammond, the Rev. Ron Campbell, the Rev. Floyd Vick and the Rev. Roger Parker. Attendees enjoyed fellowship, as well as the chance to renew acquaintances and share memories of Driftwood UMC and its impact on their lives.
In 1884, the sanctuary, in which the church continues to worship, was constructed by the early Methodist settlers of the area. Many descendants of these early Methodists still reside in Driftwood and worship at Driftwood UMC. Dorff’s message revitalized all who were in attendance when he noted that while 125 years of service to the Lord is deserving of celebration, as members of Christ’s church we must never forget that there is still work to be done.
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AREA EPISCOPAL ADDRESS - 2009
Southwest Texas and Rio Grande Annual Conference
I. Introduction
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I want to express again to you all the deep sense of gratitude Barbara and I feel as we experience together our new reality as Bishop and spouse of the San Antonio Area. Your warm reception, ready smiles, keen awareness of the presence of the risen Christ in our midst, and your overall radical hospitality confirms something we already knew: should I be elected a Bishop of the church, it would be a great blessing for us to be assigned to the San Antonio Area. Barbara and I are also deeply grateful and indebted to Bishop Joel and Mrs. Raquel Martínez. Their outstanding leadership, deep love of this Area and their welcoming spirit will forever be appreciated by us both.
We feel at home, at peace, and excited to be among you. Clearly, God has called us to a season of ministry with and for you. We seek your continuing prayers, as you have ours, for our journey together. May God grant us wisdom, insight, strength, and courage. I firmly believe that our journey together will be faithful, fun, forward-looking, challenging, and productive. Almighty God has brought us to this time and place. I know that Almighty God will continue on the important journey before us.
II. Where we are: In need of creating a Culture of Growth
As I have moved through the Area visiting with pastors, lay leaders, and local churches, I have often used this term: a Culture of Growth. I have begun the process of asking us to think somewhat differently about what we’re doing and how we’re doing it. On many occasions, I’ve said, “I pray that we will create a Culture of Growth in the San Antonio Area.”
Our Area culture reflects a shared set of values, attitudes, goals, and practices which characterizes our life together. It is my belief that our Lord Jesus Christ reflected a way of life which was dependent upon the notion that the creative work of God was not, and is not, concluded. Therefore, it is our calling as followers of Jesus to continually find ways to participate with the Holy Spirit in this ongoing creative process. Thus by the Spirit we seek to make disciples. Disciples are those who do what God calls them to do. Go where God calls them to go.
I don’t believe that God is done with me, even though I sometimes wish we could rest a while. I also don’t believe God is done with any one of you, regardless of your position of church leadership, length of leadership, or competence of leadership. Further, it is not conceivable to me that God is finished with either the Southwest Texas Conference or Río Grande Conference or any of our local churches or places of extension ministry.
When God is done with us, I believe we will know it quite clearly. I have yet to receive such a message. In the absence of such finality, it would seem that God can create something more out of us tomorrow than we may be today.
When the preachers were first appointed to circuits in the newly-formed Río Grande Missionary Conference (which has become the Southwest Texas Annual Conference) 150 years ago, surely they came with great expectations. Surely, when Benigno Cárdenas, a former Roman Catholic priest, defied the Catholic Bishop in Santa Fe, held public Protestant worship in the plaza, and committed himself to the Methodist Episcopal Church back in 1853…he had great expectations. Indeed, through his willingness to look forward, and similar acts of the Holy Spirit in Texas, what has become the Río Grande Conference was born. (History of the Rio Grande Conference, Alfredo Nañez)
Does our Area culture reflect values, attitudes, goals, and practices which characterize a clear commitment to submit ourselves to this continually new creation? If not, why not? By the power of the Holy Spirit, we shall be changed and renewed. If this be so, do our actions match God’s ongoing work? Further, do our actions demonstrate to the world that the current reality is the only reality which exists? Or, is there more, much more out there before us?
If new leaders, younger leaders, both clergy and lay are to join us with conviction, I believe we must demonstrate to them in this Area that we are moving, growing in grace. I don’t think younger leaders will want to come sit in a rocking chair on the porch and swap stories with us about the good ‘ole days. I think new folks want to know where we’re going, not just where we’ve been.
What then does the new Bishop mean when he talks about a Culture of Growth?
I mean that we all re-commit ourselves to the reality that in Christ every day is a new day, that no one is forever left as they are in the ways of this world, that the church of Jesus Christ expresses this belief in all that it does and that the leaders of the church step—out, first. To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world is to invite anyone and everyone to join us on a journey in faith which we do not control and which does not end with us. It is a journey of growth in grace, sanctification if you will. This journey is one we share with Christ, each other, and touches each of us and every place of ministry. It’s growth. It’s who we are and what we do…by God’s great mercy and at God’s hand.
What does it mean to be a part of a Culture of Growth? It means we acknowledge our calling, the action of the Spirit, trust that God’s hand holds the future, and always, always look for the ways the Spirit is calling us and our churches to the new!
Does this mean the Bishop will demand a set percentage of growth for each of our churches in worship, membership and money? Probably not – at least not demand. But I say to you my brothers and sisters, I have yet to see a growing pastor, growing lay leader, allowing themselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, which wasn’t a part of a growing community of faith…growing in every way. This is what we do. It’s our culture. Christ died and rose again to let us participate with Him in the newness that is ever before us.
What we do will be framed by our commitment to creating a Culture of Growth in our Area.
And what about our Area? People often ask, “Well Bishop, you’ve been around the Area a bit now. What do you think?”
I have, frankly, been surprised by the vitality of many of our congregations and the conferences. God is doing a mighty work in many parts of the Area. From the north to the south, from the east to the west, large to small, English only and Spanish only, and everything in between there are many places where a Culture of Growth already exists. Many pastors and lay leaders are genuine disciples following the movement of the Spirit. They are preaching the good news of the Gospel. There is newness of life and churches are flourishing. Growth is occurring, both personal and corporate growth.
At the same time, I experience churches and persons who seem to believe that discipleship is a static calling whose purpose is to keep us forever the same. There are pastors, lay leaders, and churches which are not growing in any way. One can look at the statistics and begin to get an idea of our problem. Our culture in the Area is yet to be a Culture of Growth.
The good news is that God has placed us in the middle of one of the riches areas for harvest in the United States, if not the world. What a privilege. What a joy we share.
I need not dwell on the demographics. You will hear more about that later. However, just let me say that if God ever placed a people in a place for “just such a time as this,” (Esther 4:14 NRSV) it is us.
Our population will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Will we? Our Area is in one of the most culturally-diverse regions of America. Are we? God has placed us in one of the most diverse socio-economic parts of the country. Are we?
Oh my friends…God has given us such room to reach out and grow! This is another time ripe for new creation, new life, and new work. Thanks be to God for placing us here! There is a distinct possibility that in the San Antonio Area, God can grow us into the church Christ sought to establish. “What a joy divine.” (UMH “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms”)
III. A way forward: Bishop’s Commission on Area
Cooperation Ministries
At a personal, local church, and extension-ministry level, we must continually examine our practices to determine their consistency with the development of a Culture of Growth. The Four Areas of Focus can help us with this task. You will hear more about them later in the conference.
What can be done at the Area level to help facilitate a Culture of Growth? Obviously, several options are before us. In addition to continuing to grow in my own personal journey, let me share with you what I intend to do to immediately begin our journey toward a Culture of Growth.
Across the Area, I regularly hear the question, “Bishop, what can we do to work better together as the body of Christ?” I think this is a relevant question relating to local churches and annual conferences. It has been my observation that we are one Area with two conferences. But we seldom act like one Area. Surely an important area of growth for us is to begin acting like one Episcopal Area. Therefore, I am:
1. asking Beverly Silas, Chair of the Southwest Texas Conference Council on Ministries, and Rubén Saenz, Chair of the Common Table of the Río Grande Annual Conference to plan at least one joint meeting of their leadership groups in each of the next two years. I believe that with their strong leadership, the two bodies will become familiar with current plans, processes, and short-term goals. Thus, I believe we can begin to grow in an understanding of possible programmatic commonalities. In short, are there programs and emphases we are doing separately which could be more effective if done together?
2. scheduling several joint meetings of the Río Grande Conference and Southwest Texas Conference Cabinets. The agenda will include sharing common concerns, searching for solutions to common challenges, and sharing in conversation regarding various appointive issues.
3. creating the Bishop’s Commission on Area Cooperative Ministries.
The reason for this Commission is to take seriously our common purpose to make disciples as we exist as one Episcopal Area with two Annual Conferences. How can we create a common Culture of Growth, led by the Spirit, and most efficiently utilize the resources God has entrusted to us?
This Commission will begin meeting this summer and have at least four specific agenda items.
- Missional ministries
With the wonderful missional work being done by some local churches and others in both conferences, can we be more effective by doing some of this work cooperatively? Are there new missional opportunities before us we could undertake together?
- Local church cooperation
In the many communities in which churches from both conferences are located, are there positive models for cooperative ministries? Can we do more? Should we do more?
- Leadership development
Can we facilitate growth among existing leaders and identify potential new leaders (both lay and clergy) more effectively by working together?
- Conference staffing
Are there new configurations of conference staff utilization which can make both conferences more effective?
Of course other agenda items might emerge. Everything is before us as it relates to the work of the Spirit and our common desire to grow and be renewed.
This Commission will have a two-year life span. It will make an interim report to next year’s annual conference sessions with a final report and any recommendations to the 2011 Annual Conference sessions.
In a clear recognition of our mutuality, half the Commission will be persons from the Río Grande Conference and half from Southwest Texas Conference. There will be a significant representation of current lay and clergy leaders from both conferences. There will also be significant lay and clergy representation
– I hope as many as one half – from among our new and younger leadership.
Members of this Commission should be persons who (Holy Conversations, Gil Rendle and Alice Mann):
- are open to what God is calling the church to do and be in the future
- understand the value of open deliberations
- are actively supportive of the United Methodist Church and earnestly desire to let the Spirit work through it n the future
- are listened to when they speak
- are willing to put some time and energy, work and prayer into the Commission
- are comfortable discussing ideas and excited about the possibilities of growth and newness through the church
I encourage your input regarding persons to serve on this Commission. It will be large enough to ensure adequate representation and diversity. It will be small enough to effectively be engaged in dialogue and decision-making. I intend to participate fully, but the Commission will be co-chaired by persons from each conference.
Of course, I’m aware that only 60% of the Río Grande Conference churches are located within the bounds of the San Antonio Area. Nonetheless, our calling requires us to begin the creation of a culture of growth in Christ somewhere…and that’s here, for now. I’ve already begun conversations with the Bishops of other areas. More will follow. The insights we receive from the Spirit will flow over into others.
I believe the work of this Commission, bathed in our prayers and empowered by the Holy Spirit, can set a growth agenda for us all which will lead us faithfully into God’s future.
IV. Conclusion
My friends, make no mistake. I am calling you, me, and all our places of ministry to look forward, through the eyes of Christ. Too often we get concerned about saving the church, or a church, rather than saving souls. A soul saved by the amazing grace of God in Christ Jesus is the beginning of true discipleship and the journey of sanctification. I expect all our practices, our culture, to lead us in this direction.
Dr. Leonard Sweet has written an intriguing new book entitled So Beautiful. His contention is that the 21st century calls for what he describes as an MRI church. Missional, Relational and Incarnational. He calls us to be Missionaries, Disciples, and World-changers rather than who we currently seem to be: Members, Believers, and Consumers. He calls his MRI program the original operating system of the Christian faith. Missional, Relational, Incarnational.
Sweet’s book is intriguing because I like it. I agree with a great deal of it. I’ll tell you why. Listen to this shaping of our calling from Part I of his book:
“If there were ‘just one word’ the church needs to hear today, it is the one you will hear in a variety of ways throughout this book: MISSION.
God is a God of motion, of movement, of mission. Or, as is it is popular nowadays to say, ‘two-thirds of the word GOD is GO.’
Mission is not an activity of the church, but an attribute of God. God is a missionary God. Jesus is a missionary Messiah, and the Spirit is a missionary Spirit. Missions is the family business.
…God has made you for a mission and has a design whereby you can accomplish who you were born to be. God doesn’t just have an agenda for you to do; God has a mission for you to live.” (So Beautiful, Leonard Sweet)
Brothers and sisters, now is the time to talk openly, honestly, clearly, and often about the “M” word. The “M” word before us all and our annual conferences is not “Merger,” but “Mission.”
Only God knows where we are headed in our shared ministry. Everything is always on the table. Where the Spirit leads us is up to the Spirit. We do know our mission, and we must never be distracted from it. Our mission is to offer Christ, personally and corporately. Our purpose then is to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
As the San Antonio Area we are, indeed, one family with two distinct expressions. Now is the time to call ourselves, our churches and our conferences in a commitment to the commonness of our task. God has placed us here to share together in the family business. The world around us is waiting. People are physically and spiritually dying, waiting to see what we shall do.
There is no doubt in my mind that God will grow us into what God needs, if we are but open and available. What glorious possibilities are before us as we serve the present age.
Pope John XXIII was fond of saying, “We are not here on earth as museum keepers but to cultivate a flourishing garden of life.”
May we share in the growth of the garden in which God has placed us. It is my highest honor and deepest privilege to join you on the way.
Let’s get started. AMEN.
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