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January 27, 2012
Volume 157, Number 24
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Events honor Martin Luther King, Jr.
 Hundreds attended a special MLK Interfaith Service at St. Paul UMC, San Antonio, the first United Methodist congregation to host the yearly service to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
By Peggye Mills
Member, St. Paul UMC,
San Antonio
An MLK Interfaith Service drew a packed sanctuary at St. Paul UMC, San Antonio Jan. 15, the actual birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Offered at 4 p.m., the service was hosted by the MLK Commission of San Antonio and coordinated by the MLK Interfaith Committee.
Due to overflowing crowds, the church’s lower auditorium was fitted with cables to receive a live feed from the sanctuary.
The opening procession consisted of banners displaying symbols of most of the world’s oldest and continuing major faith groups, led off by the Hindu faith which predates all others participating in the service.
This year is a historic high point in the MLK Celebration, as the 25th Anniversary of San Antonio’s sponsorship of the MLK March. As host of the Interfaith Service this year, St. Paul had an opportunity to share with the world the historical significance of this first African American congregation in San Antonio. Everything for this year’s MLK observance was based on history. St. Paul was selected by the Committee partially because of its historic significance to the city, leaders said.
The speaker for the 2012 Interfaith Service was the Honorable Wallace Jefferson, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, a historic first African American to be so appointed. He also grew up in San Antonio as the child of a military officer.
To host this event is a grand opportunity for the historic St. Paul congregation, which this past November celebrated 145 years of Christian service to the San Antonio community. During the Nov. 4-6 historical celebration, the pastor and congregation of St. Paul were presented with the unveiling of a historical plaque from the state of Texas, recognizing the site as a historical landmark.
 Many different religions joined Jan. 15, the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., for a special service celebrating Luther’s life and ministry. The citywide interfaith service was the first held at St. Paul UMC, San Antonio.
Bishop Jim Dorff, bishop of the San Antonio Episcopal Area, participated in the program, delivering a moving and thought-provoking benediction, exhorting the congregation to go forth and do good deeds in love and solidarity, celebrating the oneness of the human family. His appearance can be considered historic, in that no other sitting bishop of The United Methodist Church
has participated on the program prior to this 2012 service.
The entire San Antonio Interfaith Community came together at this service to honor King, including Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindu, Sikhs, Baha’i and Unitarians. The chair of the MLK Interfaith Committee is Dr. John Abdo, a member of the Baha’i faith. His right-hand person is Judy Lackritz, who is Jewish.
Other program participants included Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Stiller, Archdiocese of San Antonio; Imam Omar Shakih, Masjid Bilal; Dr. Rajam Ramamurthy, Hindu Temple of San Antonio; the Rev. Marcus A.L. Freeman III, St. Paul UMC; Art Hall, MLK Commission Chair and former District 8 City Councilman; Laus Deus, Praise Dancers; Children’s Chorus of San Antonio; and the Ushers of Second Baptist Church.
 An interfaith worship service at St. Paul UMC, San Antonio, honored the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and welcomed many religions.
San Antonio’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. March, happened Jan. 16. The march began at 10 a.m. at the MLK Academy located in the 3500 block of MLK Drive and ended at Pittman-Sullivan Park, 1101 Iowa. Once again, it drew more than 100,000 adults and children. San Antonio hosts one of the largest marches in the United States. Nathaniel Davis, a member of St. Paul, chairs the March Committee.
The MLK Commission organizes the march and leads the community effort of various events paying tribute to Dr. King. The wide variety of these events take place at locations across the city. Many members of St. Paul have served and continue to serve on the MLK Commission and 25th Anniversary Blue Ribbon Committee.
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Rethink Green event seeks to teach stewardship of creation
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
Stewardship encompasses many facets of the Christian life. Money. Time. Talents.
The planet.
It was that realization that spurred members of the Southwest Texas Conference Commission on Stewardship, which had previously relegated itself to addressing the first three areas among conference members, to begin looking for ways to teach stewardship of the earth.
Rethink Green, an event that will examine some ways to care for the environment, is the committee’s response to a growing conviction that stewardship of the earth is just as important as stewardship of money, said Leighanne Brechin, a member of the committee. The event will begin at 9 a.m. March 3 at Gruene UMC and run through 4 p.m.
“This is part of what our commission is called to do, and we were not even addressing it,” Brechin said. “We were addressing the stewardship of money, the stewardship of God’s churches, but we weren’t talking anything about being stewards of this earth that God has given us. There was a little bit of disconnect.”
Byrd Bonner, chair of the stewardship commission, said the committee developed a strategic plan for the quadrennium that included environmental stewardship. Members created a policy for the conference office on living more sustainably—recycling and using recycled and compostable paper products for the meetings at the office.
But as they drew closer to the end of the quadrennium, Bonner said, they decided on a larger event that would reach the local churches, too.
“We knew that with the elected members of the commission on stewardship, while there were pockets of passion, we weren’t experts in the area,” Bonner said. “But we have some experts within our conference.”
So commission members put together a planning team that’s been working on Rethink Green for about a year now. The team included members like the Rev. Tina Carter, pastor at Parker Lane UMC, and her husband, Bill Carter, both of whom have degrees in environmental areas.
The event will include six courses, each offered three times during the day. The first session is about simplicity—“how do we, as congregation members, live a simpler life without as much stuff, and how do we do that in the church as well?” Brechin said.
In another session, a master gardener from the San Antonio Food Bank will teach about community gardening and sustainable foods—how to put together a community garden at a church and how to raise food sustainably, without all the chemicals and pesticides.
A third session will share about climate change—what’s really going on, what the facts are and what all the information really shows, Brechin said.
Another will look at recycling and reusing—how to do both. A fifth will teach about organizing local church green teams—what the logical steps are for starting a green team. The last session will be about water and land conservation and management—how to conserve water and catch rainwater to use for landscaping.
Bill Carter, who will lead the last session, said it will focus on basic principles, designs and resources for using “green infrastructure” and sustainable landscaping to reduce erosion, drainage problems and water pollution and to “enhance the value and natural beauty of church property.”
Carter said he’s participating in the event because his vocation and much of his “passion is invested in restoring and preserving the richness and beauty of creation from the threats posed by uninformed human choices and actions.”
Christi Felps, a planning team member from Coker UMC, San Antonio, said she’s put together a children’s program for the event.
Kids kindergarten through six grade will be offered three breakout sessions, in which they’ll be doing some hands-on activities like planting something to take home and making crafts from recycled materials.
Felps said that as the mother of kids who are 11 and 15, she “personally felt it was important for the people who want to come to have their kids go someplace and do something besides childcare.”
“We need to get to the younger generation,” Felps said. “A lot of times, we’re not sharing that important thought in caring for creation. The younger we do that, the better.”
Bonner said he hopes people will gain some practical ways their churches can become more creation-conscious, to “create a cycle that is helpful to the earth rather than hurtful to it.”
Brechin said she hopes people will start thinking about one thing they can do to make a difference.
“Even if they just go home and change out all their light bulbs,” Brechin said. “Just one little thing. I’m not expecting people to go hardcore green overnight. If they can just do one thing. We can make a difference.”
“A conference-level event has the potential to raise awareness and energy in many local congregations that are not touched by most national and jurisdictional creation-care events,” Carter said. “The annual conference level provides reasonable local accessibility but also is more likely to generate a critical mass that can begin to transform how the church relates to creation at the local and connectional level.”
To conserve paper, registration for the event is happening online at www.umcswtx.org. Cost is $15 by Feb. 16 and $20 after that and at the door. Childcare is provided. For more information, contact Brechin at (830) 988-2535.
Click for event registration
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Men of Light conference purposes to
grow local men’s ministries
 Men of Light conference includes worship and teaching times. This year’s event will also feature a small group discussion time.
Managing Editor
Hundreds of men will gather this weekend at San Antonio’s TriPoint facility, a nondenominational facility used for concerts and seminars, for the sixth Men of Light Conference.
The conference runs from 6:30-9:30 p.m. Jan. 27 and 8:30 a.m.-noon Jan. 28.
Men of Light is a spiritual outreach program of Light Shine Ministries, which exists to inspire men to become godly leaders through a relationship with Jesus Christ, said the Rev. Steve Coker, spiritual director for Men of Light. The conferences reach out to men ages 15 and older.
“We’d like (men) to come and get a fire built in them to become godly leaders,” Coker said. “We men are great at setting up chairs and doing a breakfast and building a wheelchair ramp, but there’s so much more in the kingdom we can do. (Men of Light) is truly about directing these men back to their local church for discipleship and growth.”
The first Men of Light conference was offered in March 2008 at Bulverde UMC, the church where Coker is an associate pastor. About 120 men attended.
Since then, the conference has grown to attract hundreds of men—mainly through relatable speakers, said Charley Hrdlicka, a member of Alamo Heights UMC, San Antonio, who has attended every conference.
“They reach so many men because the speakers they have are just real men, and they come from a variety of backgrounds,” he said. “They’re everyday guys who have had some of the same problems we all have. And what happens is that men see they’re not alone, that their problems are not unique.
“Guys are always kind of macho. They have their problems, but they can handle it. But these (speakers) get up there and expose their own vulnerabilities. This is guys locking arms together and helping one another, and it’s really inspiring.”
Speakers this year include Michael Franzese, a former mob leader and author; Bishop Al Blue of Family Life Christian Church; Jim Rackley, retired head football coach for Judson; the Rev. John Valenzuela of Community Bible Church; and Joe Reinagel, a local sportscaster.
Theme for the event is “Healing from the Scars of Life,” Coker said.
“Men tend to hold on to their pasts,” he said. “They allow their pasts to define them and limit who they are and who they can be in the Lord. By recognizing these scars, laying them before the Lord and recognizing that God himself took scars in the form of Jesus Christ, we realize that he scarred himself so that we could relate our scars with him and find healing through him.
“We’re going to walk through that theme and get real with each other. We are scarred, we hold on to them, we hide them, we think we can get away with not talking about them. When God helps us expose them for what they are, we can then turn to Christ our healer. Our scars can be healed.”
Coker said they’ll be offering a time after each worship session for discussion and an opportunity for men to digest what they’ve heard with each other.
“We’re excited about that,” he said. “It’s something the men asked for, so we’re trying to make it available.”
While attendance varies at each conference, leaders hope to reach out to more men because of the nondenominational venue TriPoint.
“Our goal is to be in a central location in San Antonio and to reach men across denominations and across cultures,” Coker said. “Really, we’re a bunch of Methodists trying to reach across denominational lines.
“We’re certainly not a Promise Keepers trying to fill the AT&T Center. We’re really going after that one man. If one man shows up at the conference and his life is turned around, it’s worth all that effort and work.”
The venue is also affordable, Coker said—important for an organization that pays none of its staff and exists because of donations.
Tickets for the event are pre-sold at local churches around San Antonio, are offered at the door or through the ministry’s Web site at www.menoflight.org.
Coker said leaders hope men will “find healing from their pasts and not let their pasts define who they are any longer.”
“I hope they’ll come away knowing that they are certainly God’s chosen ones,” he said, “that they’re to be leaders, that they’re not to listen to those voices or look at those scars and say, ‘I can’t do this because…’”
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Marriage, family nurturing helps stimulate a culture of growth
In his latest book, Will There Be Faith: A New Vision for Educating and Growing Disciples, Thomas H. Groome (Boston College) devotes an entire chapter to faith formation in households of faith, suggesting that we think back to our family of origin’s success in nurturing our identity in faith. He states practical strategies for families to be centers of community and hospitality, such as, making sure that every family member feels cherished, respected and included; finding ways to welcome “the other” with an open heart and open mind; favoring the ones who need the favor most; joining a local faith community; being a family of reconciliation; reviewing often the atmosphere of the home to reflect Christian values; using language patterns that reflect Christian values and relationships; crafting the family’s Sabbath-keeping and recreation to reflect Christian values; practicing an environmental consciousness; recasting as needed the family’s gender roles toward equality; practicing everyday rituals of prayer and worship; creating your own family prayer rituals; finding rituals in the common faith and in cultural traditions; having religious symbols in the home; engaging the arts and nature to nurture spirituality; reviewing often the shared life of the family for commitment to justice, peace and compassion—within; in matters of discipline, trying to practice restorative justice; giving everyone their voice “at the table;” paying attention to family finances for justice and compassion; doing works of justice and service as a family in the community; taking every opportunity that comes along to share faith as a family; creating opportunities to break open the Word of God as a family; joining in the education programs of the congregation; parents sharing your own faith stories with your children; lacing everyday conversation with God-talk and faith language.
Congregations can develop and provide ways to “nurture the nurturers.” While Jesus is the heart of what and how we teach as congregations/people of Christian faith, the family or household is the heart of where we teach it.
Nurturing the Nurturers: ME-UM Weekend for Clergy/Lay Couples
A Marriage Encounter-United Methodist Weekend is set Feb. 24-26 at the Holiday Inn Express North Austin, 14620 North IH 35, starting at 8 p.m. Friday, and concluding at 4 p.m. Sunday. For more information, contact Carl and Jan Dodd at (512)468-0691, cdodd1@austin.rr.com or visit www.encounter.org. The weekend is designed to deepen communication for married couples, spending a weekend in a hotel away from the distractions of home, job, children and other activities, in order to experience rediscovering their love for each other and to learn how to communicate more effectively. It helps couples with good marriages make them into great marriages. ME-UM’s affiliation with the General Board of Discipleship offers 1.5 CEUs to pastors who attend.
Family “Grand Camp” Update
Your Southwest Texas Conference Family Council continues to look toward 2013 for scheduling a possible “Grand Camp” for grandparents parenting grandchildren. Contact Chair Gini Christian at sangpd@suddenlinkmail.com for more information.
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Kerrville District news
Superman takes the Polar Bear Challenge!!!!
 You can tug on Superman’s cape, you can spit into the wind, but sending him down a slide into ice cold water? Not so much!
As always Superman comes to the rescue and it was no different for the kids that are helped with the Partners in Ministry programs. New Year’s Day at Mo Ranch Conference Center, our own Ray Altman, Associate Pastor at First UMC Kerrville, agreed to slide down the Mo Ranch slide, into the frigid Guadalupe waters … all to raise funds for Partners in Ministry programs that serve the kids of Kerr County. Partners in Ministry benefits children all across Kerr County who need guidance—spiritually, educationally, and emotionally.
The Partners in Ministry programs help the youth in the community with 40 developmental Assets, reach out to unchurched youth and connect them with youth ministers. The program reaches out to mentor young mothers and their babies with a 21 month program to help equip them with good parenting skills and a mentoring program for elementary kids that are at-risk. They have a program to help the elderly and low income families with repairs, houscleaning and beautification projects. Partners in Ministry is one of the Kerrville District’s Advance Specials. Other ways to help are to pray, volunteer and tell others. If you would like to get involved in this program call theDistrict Office at (830) 896-6400 or the PIM Office at (830) 792-3131. If you would like to visit their website and download their brochure go to www.partnersinministry.com.
Rev. Altman was one of 82 willing to brave the slide into the river raising more than $22,000 in the Polar Bear Challenge. We want to thank you for your help and all the others willing to help raise funds for our kids and families that are in need.
District happenings
 First UMC cooks are ready to go. Left to right the are JoAnn Routh, Jeanne Hardy and Tom Mills.
First UMC, Johnson City
Just add water and stir? Making soup isn’t quite that simple, but the good cooks at the First United Methodist Church in Johnson City will make it worth your while to support the Food Pantry at a soup-and-dessert lunch Sunday, the 22nd. January is hit doubly hard because of the holidays. The Food Pantry also doubled its January food distribution to hungry families here because the Mobile Food Bank skipped its normal mid-month distribution while a new schedule is put in place...making your donation to our Food Pantry all the more critical right now. These cooks, left to right, are JoAnn Routh, Jeanne Hardy and Tom Mills.
 Building a much needed wheelchair ramp are left to right Jack Ragsdale of Marble Falls, Harry Conger of Blanco and Rev. Lee Romero from First UMC, Johnson City.
George Barnette
A big thank you to a group of men that are helping put in ramps for those that are in need. This is a growing need as our population gets older. These men looked more like a bunch of Eskimos, bundled up against the freezing temperature and brisk wind, but a group of Blanco County’s wheelchair ramp volunteers went to Marble Falls Thursday to help the crew there build a 44-foot ramp. These builders included Jack Ragsdale of Marble Falls, left, Harry Conger of Blanco and Pastor Lee Romero of the First United Methodist Church in Johnson City.
Corpus Christi District news
Start of new year raises question: What will it bring?
The start of a New Year always brings to us questions about what lies ahead, what could happen during this year, will this be the “big” year for this or that? And for many of us those types of questions bring fear. A New Year started in fear is not a way to start a year or for that matter, a day. We are Christians. We are believers in the Most High God. Our faith is anchored in the One who holds tomorrow, no matter what tomorrow may hold. In fact, our Scriptures tell us this about fear, “For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind...” (2 Timothy 1:7). Our decisions and our actions as individuals and as members of churches, that power and love to all the world. I read recently about an interesting man by the name of Ron Wayne. This was a man whose acquaintance with two young men allowed him to be offered ten percent ownership in a company these two young men were starting. Ron thought about it, and I’m guessing because of fear of the unknown, turned it down. He insisted on getting $800 and when the two young men could afford to, to be paid an additional $1,500. The young men were Steve Jobs and Steven Wozniak and their company was Apple Computers. Fear kept Mr. Wayne from becoming a billionaire because had he held on to his ten percent by 2010 he would have been worth $35 billion. Today Mr. Wayne lives outside of Las Vegas on his Social Security and retirement checks from Atari computer and spends time playing the penny slots. How many times has fear kept us or our churches from doing or being the very thing God would have us be? Our choices may not involved billions, but they may involve making a difference for the better in the life of someone. How many times have we felt led to shake the hand of a first time guest to our church and then we let our mind talk us out of it for different and now silly excuses? How many times have we felt we needed to vote a certain way because we feared that what we were asked to vote on might be the “wrong” thing? How many times has fear caused us to join with those who are not building up our churches because we think this is the thing to do?
Our should be a living faith that gives witness to our having defeated fear and our willingness to move forward during this year. And this is in all matters; our outreach, our welcoming ministries, our willingness for visitors to be from all walks of life, and our willingness to take risks for the Kingdom of God in the days ahead. And it comes only through our listening to God and not to our own fears. Yes, we sometimes need to be cautious, but don’t we also have to trust that sometimes we may do something that will bring dividends of great reward to God and God’s children?
It is not too late to resolve to be a person of stronger, loving faith. To be one who welcomes all, who greets all, who risks being the person God wants you to be. Wouldn’t that make for a better 2012?
¡Feliz Año Nuevo!
District happenings
Linda Morrow
Director of District Ministries
January is often the time in which we think of beginning anew. It is also the time in which we look forward to all that the new year holds as well as what God is calling us to do and be in furthering the kingdom of God. With this in mind, the Leadership Development committee of the Corpus Christi District has designed two Ministry Workshops. The first one will be held on Jan. 28th at First United Methodist Church in Three Rivers Texas. The second will be Feb. 4th at Grace UMC in Corpus Christi at their new location, 14521 Northwest Blvd. Both workshops begin at 8:45am and go through 12:30pm. If you have not registered to come, don’t worry you will be welcomed at the door. Please join us at one of these locations. These workshops are designed not just for leaders. They will be helpful for all disciples. I hope you will gather a group from your church to attend. There are two Session with over six topics to choose from at each session time. Once again, there will be a book table with books for sale so bring your checkbook and/or your cash.
Brush Country churches mark your calendar for March 21, 2012 as we look forward to celebrating Discipleship and Ministry at the Brush Country District Awards Banquet. This year the Laity board is asking churches to submit a ministry in which their church has been effective. The evening will be a time of sharing and highlighting ministry throughout the Brush Country. Lay Leaders you will be receiving details in the mail telling of times, cost and how to submit your ministry and nominations.
Youth pastors and workers, please mark your calendar for the Corpus Christi Confirmation Rally to be held on April 14, 2012 at First United Methodist in Corpus Christi. The day will include a worship service and lunch.
I look forward to seeing you at one of these events.
Other Upcoming Events
March 21, 2012 - Brush Country Awards Banquet Goliad Memorial Auditorium
April 14, 2012 - Confirmation Rally, First UMC, Corpus Christi.
McAllen District news
Herding cats and finding God
Last year the McAllen District reported in the Witness about the event we called SOS--Serve Our Schools. It was an initiative supported by a publicity grant from the Rethink Church program of United Methodist Communications. These grants are generally used to support community impact days in a particular location, but we decided to target the whole district. The churches or each community were encouraged to reach their own school district or campus to see how we could be of help and to mobilize non-UM folks to help as well.
Well, when you take a district that reaches from Kingsville to Alice to Freer to Laredo, down to Brownsville and everything in between, and you want to invite Rio Grande Conference churches, too, the metaphor “herding cats” comes to mind. Trying to get our churches to coordinate with their schools all on the same day was hard. We cover three different TV broadcast areas, and most would never see the same billboards, so advertising was hard. Sometimes people couldn’t make the meetings, or people or email addresses changed, so communicating was hard. UMCom wanted us to do something different from what the church normally does, so making sure all of us fit their profile was hard. Working with non-church people who had their own ideas was hard. I knew it would be a mess when we decided on this multi-pronged approach, and in fact it was. It was hard.
In preparing for the conversation about our plans for 2012, I thought I might hear about how hard it was (did I mention it was hard?) or that churches would really rather be on their own to figure out their own path and activity. Boy, was I surprised when I heard that one of the most meaningful parts of SOS in the dozen or so churches that participated was knowing that United Methodists across the district and even across conference lines were all serving at the same time. The vote was unanimous to do it again, as a district, with Rio Grande, all on the same day, and to invite even more churches to join in this time.
Hard? So what? What blessing God gives when we push through and learn to do a new thing! What abundance God has planted all around us, and what joy we can find in the harvest, at once working and being fed. This year’s SOS will bring its own new challenge--at least, if we do it right--but I am so grateful for the conviction that is already growing in the hearts of our people. God is raising up a generation of old and young people who know God lives not just in the sanctuary, but beyond the walls as well.
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43:19)
San Angelo District news
Wesley Trinity United Methodist Church
The vision of a Methodist Church for North San Angelo originated in the mind of the Rev. J.W. Howell, pastor of the First Methodist Church, San Angelo. A finance committee was appointed to work with Rev. Howell, and they purchased a lot across the street from the present location of the church. A small building was purchased from the Church of Christ. In 1907, Rev. R.D. Moon was sent as first Pastor and soon organization was completed and thus began Chadbourne Street with 40 members. In 1923, under the guidance of Rev. A.V. Hendricks, the little church was torn down, other additional lots were purchased and work began on a basement and when work was completed was used for services on Chadbourne Street. In 1929 extensive work began to renew and enlarge the church. The name of the church was changed to Trinity Methodist Church, later Trinity United Methodist Church.
Over the years, membership was up and down. In 2007 Trinity celebrated 100 years and celebrated with a special service. As time has moved on, the decline of membership has brought about change. In 2010, Rev. Michael Bell, Pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church since 2005, was appointed to Trinity United Methodist Church. A partnership was formed by worshiping together every 5th Sunday and sharing in Bible Studies, Prayer meetings and Vacation Bible School.
On November 2, 2011 Trinity United Methodist Church made the decision and voted to merge with Wesley United Methodist Church effective January 1, 2012. After the vote to accept the merger it would become a new organization, Wesley Trinity United Methodist Church. Sunday, January 1, 2012 the first service for Wesley Trinity UMC was held and celebrated the new organization with 50 in attendance.
Trinity UMC was a church built by “Faith and Works”. This San Angelo icon will be remembered as a church haven for many parishioners. This lovely old church with its beautiful stain glass windows will remain in many hearts forever.
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Briefs
30 days of preparation for General Conference
We would like to invite you to join Robert Schnase for “Remember the Future: 30 Days of Preparation,” a series of reflections as The United Methodist Church prepares for General Conference 2012. These daily meditations explore hope, purpose, leadership and making and becoming disciples of Jesus Christ. With Wesleyan, scriptural, and leadership themes, explore together the mission of the church in a time of great change.
The link, www.ministrymatters.com/30Days, will take you and your readers to an introduction to the series and an easy signup page. Each day beginning March 26, a new essay by Bishop Schnase will be posted here and will be delivered without charge to email subscribers. Each essay will explore a key topic and scripture and will suggest ideas for deeper reading and exploration. Along with the blogs, short video clips will be posted on key topics each week.
In the meantime, visit the page to read the first blog by Robert Schnase and, in a few days, a video introduction.
If there is anything we can do to help share this opportunity with the people of your conference, please let us know. As the author writes in his introduction, “I hope the daily writings help focus the conversation on the mission of the church in Christ, and that they cause delegates at General Conference as well as local church leaders to continually remember the future!”
Kerrville District
Bill Henderson
Superintendent
dskerrville@texxa.net
Elizabeth Cover
Admin. Assistant
kdumc@texxa.net
Address:
222 Sidney Baker S # 528
Kerrville, Texas 78028
District Office
(830) 896-6400
Program Office
(830) 896-6400
Fax: (830) 896-6407
District calendar
January
28 Equipping the Saints/District
Celebration First UMC Kerrville.
31-Feb.1 Cabinet Meeting.
February
14-16 Cabinet Meeting.
21 Cabinet at APTS.
24-26 UMM Retreat
27-28 Bishop’s Convocation.
Corpus Christi District
Eradio Valverde, Jr.
Superintendent
districtsuper@bizstx.rr.com
Sheila Campbell
Admin. Assistant
ccdistrict@bizstx.rr.com
Linda Morrow
Ministries Director
ccprogram@bizstx.rr.com
Address:
3510 Gollihar Road
Corpus Christi, TX 78415-2750
District Office
(361) 852-8268
Fax: (361) 852-3370
Program Office
(361) 852-8268
District Calendar
January
28 Ministry Workshop, Three Rivers UMC.
31-Feb.1 Cabinet Meeting.
February
4 Ministry Workshop, 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Grace UMC.
9 Pros meeting, TBA.
15 Newsletter Deadline
27-28 Bishop’s Convocation.
March
13 Newsletter Deadline
21 Brush Country Awards, Goliad Community Center.
April
12-13 Cabinet meeting.
14 Confirmation Rally, First UMC, Corpus Christi.
17 Newsletter Deadline.
21 Lay Speaker Training, First UMC, Beeville.
24-May 4 General Conference, Tampa Florida.
May
15 Newsletter Deadline.
20 District Conference, TBA.
25 Newsletter Deadline for June.
28 Office closed for Memorial Day.
June
7-10 Annual Conference.
McAllen District
Rev. Laura Merrill
Superintendent
lauramerrill@sbcglobal.net
Linda Jewell
Admin. Assistant
umcmcallen@sbcglobal.net
Oralia Sanchez
District Editor
oralia0804@yahoo.com
Address:
1909 W. Harrison St.
Harlingen, TX 78550
District Office
(956) 428-0200
Fax: (956) 428-1728
Program Office
(956) 428-0200
Website:
www.umcmcdistrict.com
San Angelo District
Larry Altman
Superintendent
sangds@suddenlinkmail.com
Amy Moore
Operations Manager
sangom@suddenlinkmail.com
Gini Christian
District Ministries Coordinator
sangpd@suddenlinkmail.com
Address:
1315 S. Abe Street.
San Angelo, TX 76903
District Office
(325) 486-1500
Fax: (325) 482-0033
Wesite:
www.gbgm-umc.org/umcsa
District Calendar
January
27-28 Adult Choral Workshop, Manchaca.
31-1 Cabinet
February
1 Cabinet
6-7 District Committee on Ordained Ministry Interviews.
14 Doug Hester Class, SAng First UMC.
14-16 Cabinet.
18 UMW Spiritual Enrichment, St. Luke UMC.
23 Pastors and Professionals meeting, Eldorado UMC.
23 UMM Mission Project, Mount Wesley.
24-26 UMM Retreat, Mount Wesley.
27-28 Bishop’s Convocation.
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