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November 25, 2011
Volume 157, Number 24
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Launch season produces many challenges
 The congregation at The Journey UMC, Kyle, observes communion during one of the church’s outdoor services. The church plant turned 3 on Sept. 18.
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
Dreaming and planning and showcasing are the easy parts.
Executing on a week-by-week basis is the hardest part.
Southwest Texas Conference church planters agree that the launch season, which follows a pre-season of intense planning, training and waiting, is one of the most difficult pieces to planting a brand new congregation.
The Rev. Kyle Toomire, pastor of The Journey UMC, Kyle, which turned 3 Sept. 18, said the most difficult time in the life of his church was “immediately following the launch.”
“The uncertainty of launch had come and gone,” he said. “We had not launched with as many as we had hoped, and the very real fact that Sunday follows Sunday follows Sunday became very clear. Instead of being able to continue to devote my time and energy almost primarily to reaching new people, I had to shift a great deal of energy toward preparing weekly for worship.”
“There are SO many unknowns,” said the Rev. Karen Horan, pastor of Gruene UMC, which launched in September of 2006. “Who will come? Will there be enough money? Will we have enough ministries for the people who come?”
 The Rev. Aaron Saenz, left, pastor of Valley Praise, Harlingen, which started as an extension ministry of First UMC, Harlingen, leads a baptism for the now-a-church-plant congregation. The church, as its own entity, is barely more than a year old.
For many of the conference church planters, the first disappointment is seen in the numbers who attend the launch service—the first service that marks the Sunday after Sunday grind Toomire talked about.
Horan said she wanted 150 or more at the first service. They didn’t have it. Only about 130 attended, with about 25 of those being “rent-a-members” from Gruene’s mother church, First UMC, New Braunfels.
“It was a really good service, and we learned a lot about the equipment, setting up, breaking down, etc.,” she said. “It was amazing to see so many new faces—it was actually better than I hoped for, except for the numbers.”
The Rev. Adam Knight, pastor of West U, an extension service of University UMC, San Antonio, that meets in the northwest part of town, said that his launch season, however, saw more people than even he expected.
The last “pre-season” service the church had done was a Christmas Eve one, with more than 200 people in attendance. He had an expectation for a higher number attending launch services than had attended services during the pre-season—which were about 80 or 85. He expected, he said, between 120 and 125 people and made sure to let his launch team know not to expect the 200 they’d seen at the Christmas Eve service.
When the church launched Jan. 9, 2011, they had 172 people in the dance hall where they meet, including a local news station to observe the church’s “nontraditional” location, Knight said.
“We were scrambling for more chairs again,” he said. “After that service, again, I kept telling our folks to expect a pretty significant drop on week two because that’s what we were taught to expect. We had 165 the second week. We did see some decline over the next several weeks, but we never saw the huge drop-off I thought would happen.
“I don’t think our launch services could have gone any better. It was fun, the music was great, people were engaged and excited, and it seemed the holy spirit was present and guiding things. I couldn’t have been happier.”
He said the launch surpassed his expectations in the number of people present in worship, the quality of service, the excitement launch team members and new visitors brought and the number of first-time visitors who returned to the church.
“It really was a great day,” Knight said. “At the end of the service, I said to the congregation, ‘It’s been great having you in worship with us today. I hope you’ll stop by and introduce yourself to me as you leave. I’ll be under the Coors Light sign.’ How cool is that?”
 People who attend West U, an extension campus of University UMC, San Antonio, fellowship after service is over. The plant, headed by the Rev. Adam Knight, launched in January 2011.
Horan said that before the launch services, she and leaders did some mass mailings, placed some ads in newspapers and made some T-shirts to let the community know about Gruene’s launch. She also joined different community organizations to spread the news, and the launch team helped distribute mailers in the shops around town. They had big signs made for the property and other places around Gruene to further advertise.
The efforts got people in the seats, she said.
Knight said he and the launch team did an outreach in the local shopping center to publicize about West U’s launch. Team members set up a table outside Old Navy and had a collection area for the San Antonio Police Department’s Blue Santa program.
“People came by, and they would come back and leave something with us, and we would give them an invitation to our launch service,” Knight said. “We walked neighborhoods with door hanger invitations and we did a mailer. We told our people to be super intentional about inviting their friends and neighbors as well.”
He said the advertising was effective.
“We had people actually tell us that they got a card in the mail or got a door hanger on their door,” Knight said. “It was worth it.”
From pre-season to launch
Knight said that the transition from pre-season to the launch season, with weekly services, has gone well for his team.
After about two months, he said, “some of the newness wears off,” and “you really need to fight through that to keep the evangelistic mission in front of folks.”
“But we have settled into a good rhythm,” Knight said. “We have worked hard the last few months to develop our discipleship ministry, and, as of September, we have 48 percent of our average worship attendance involved in studying the Bible in either our small groups or Pathway to Discipleship. We are really excited about that.
“As I mentioned earlier, we still have to really keep people focused on reaching out and inviting, but they are doing a good job. I constantly remind our people that we have not planted a church; we are still planting a church. We have a lot of work left to do.”
Horan said many aspects of the launch season made it an enjoyable season for her and launch team members.
“All the energy, all the new faces, all the ways God confirmed that we were on the right track,” she said. “For example, we needed someone for a specific task—a drummer. We prayed and prayed, and he just showed up. Things like that happened all the time.”
The most difficult part, she said, was the unknown.
“You never knew from week to week if you would make it,” she said. “Would anyone come back? You never knew for sure if the school (where Gruene met) would be ready or clean or if the AC would be on. There were so many uncertainties. It was stressful.”
During that season, Horan added, the church’s biggest needs were prayer, support, people with different skills and money.
The church used a “huge amount of our funds from the conference then,” she said. She is grateful that conference leaders “trusted” Gruene UMC leaders and let them “have a large amount of money in just seven months.”
Knight said that during the launch season, they had a woman, a single mom of three adopted boys, begin coming to services. She was quiet and slipped out every week as soon as worship was over.
She e-mailed Knight after being around the church for about a month to thank him for something he’d said in a sermon.
“She told me that she had had a bad experience with another church and had not been in any church for more than four years,” Knight said. “And it wasn’t until she heard me say whatever it was I said that she found some healing. She has since joined West U and is growing as a part of our Pathway to Discipleship. That and other stories like it were the best part of our launch season.”
But the season was not without difficulty, he said.
“Having to always adjust on the fly can really wear on you after a while,” he said. “Seems like every week there’s some small thing that needs to be adjusted or changed or something. Even the most flexible person can grow weary of constant adjustments.”
The church’s biggest need during the launch season also remains its biggest need today—prayer.
“If anyone were to try to do this kind of endeavor without significant prayer coverage, I just don’t think it can be done,” Knight said.
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Conference pastor rides 1,000 miles in 24 hours
By Rachel L. Toalson
Managing Editor
In an attempt to raise ministry money in a nontraditional way, the Rev. George Barcus rode more than 1,000 miles in 24 hours on his 2001 Harley Davidson Heritage Softail.
The trip, part of an official Iron Butt Association’s long-distance rides, raised almost $1,500 for the ministry of his churches, said Barcus, who pastors United Methodist congregations in Telferner and Fannin.
Official mileage was 1,010, and by an official clock, Barcus made the trip within 24 hours, starting at 8 a.m. Nov. 11.
The fundraising idea, he said, began forming in his mind back in 2006, after he’d gotten his current motorcycle and was talking to a friend who told him about the Iron Butt rides. Since that day, he said, he’s “wanted to give it a try.”
“One day I decided I was going to attempt an Iron Butt ride, and it came to me that this would be a great fund raiser,” Barcus said.
People pledged to the effort per mile but also gave one-time donations. Some people donated gas cards or credit card points toward his effort, too.
The money, Barcus said, was used to support camp scholarships for students in Fannin, where he and leaders have begun an afterschool program, and to help get a food pantry off the ground in Telferner. The pantry started in April with 10 local families and last month served 20 families, totaling 79 people.
While he had a mixed response on his nontraditional fundraiser, Barcus said he believes it was an effective one.
“It’s effective if it’s not overused,” Barcus said. “It’s good for a shot in the arm or a special occasion, for the opportunity to get out and allow the community to have another way of being involved in the ministry of the church.
“This allows people to see that we’re real people. We’re struggling through life like they are. This gives me the opportunity to reach into the community and say, ‘We’re not a bunch of stuck-up people who think we’ve got it all made and perfect. We’re just as human as you are. We want to do things that are fun, too.’”
He said he’s hoping to inspire some other ideas among other bikers in the conference—maybe even organize a full-blown motorcycle rally in the spring, starting at one end of the conference and ending at the other.
The money raised is invaluable for sending some of their students to the conference summer camps and providing a “solid foundation” for the Telferner food bank.
“When you get to small, struggling churches, the price of a pastor to a small rural church is quite steep,” Barcus said. “I don’t like doing the budget where, when you get through and we’ve cut everything we can, we hope to possibly just keep the doors open. I don’t serve a ‘Let’s just keep the doors open’ kind of God.
“Maybe we have to serve outside the box and do something like this. We have to continue looking to where Christ is calling us, and we have to do everything for his glory.”
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Call of the Wild: an intergenerational outdoor
experience in 2012
Five summer Southwest Texas Conference camps for children in 2012 are announced at Mount Wesley Conference and Retreat Center. Churches are urged to begin now to go out and invite and scholarship children in their midst for a potentially life-transforming camping experience. It’s been said that “a few days at camp is worth a year of Sunday School.” Even adults will agree! Adult volunteers are invited to contact a dean to serve and help at one or more camps.
Theme is “Call of the Wild” for Children’s 3rd-4th and 5th-6th grade camps in 2012. The “call” of the wild speaks to the call in every person’s life to respond. God calls all persons to discipleship; some are called to be teachers, preachers, policepersons, insurance salespersons, but all are called to “Love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbors.” From the very beginning God has created and called it good that which God has created from the midst of chaos. God continues to “call” each of us to discipleship from the “wilds” of life. We are challenged to HEAR the call, DEFINE the call, ACCEPT the call and LIVE the call of God through the example of Jesus Christ, relying on the Holy Spirit to fulfill the call in our lives. Theme for the 4th-6th grade Music-Art-Drama (M.A.D.) Camp will be announced in the new year. All camps are for children entering those grades in the fall of 2012.
Grade levels, dates and deans for children’s camps are:
Early 3rd-4th Grade, Monday-Thursday, June 11-14, the Rev. Ken Houston, Dean; Early 5th-6th Grade, Sunday-Thursday, June 17-21, the Rev. Kyle Toomire, Dean; Late 3rd-4th Grade, Sunday-Wednesday, July 8-11, the Rev. Bill Duke, Dean; M.A.D. 4th-6th Grade, Wednesday-Saturday, July 25-28, the Rev. Alan Delafield; Late 5th-6th Grade, Sunday-Thursday, Aug 5-9, the Rev. Stella Burkhalter.
If there is any way you are able to help a child attend camp (and help your church reach Five Star status), please contribute to the Advance Special 2021 for children’s “Camper$hips” by sending a check in any amount, payable “SWTC Treasurer,” to 16400 Huebner Rd, San Antonio, Texas, 78248-1693. Camping creates a culture of faith growth among our children. Thank you for supporting their spiritual growth, indeed our church’s growth…a call of the wild!
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Kerrville District news
On the road again with Bill Henderson
Session Players
How many times did you hear him on that piano in the background of a song you loved? His sound added so much, sometimes “made” the song what it was, even with a famous singer headlining. On that Steinway piano in RCA Studio B in Nashville he played behind Elvis Presley, Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline, The Browns, Jim Reeves, Eddy Arnold, Roy Orbison, Don Gibson, the Everly Brothers, Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney, among others. It is his piano riffs that I most love about some of the songs I still remember so well. Floyd Cramer was his name; perhaps you remember his “Last Date” solo? I still listen to him on Pandora or YouTube quite often.
He was like so many others, as in Chet Atkins, that were very busy as “session players,” brought into a studio to record with well-known singers. Their unnoted, quality music is behind so much of the music we enjoy.
“Session Players – we have so many working behind the scenes in our churches. They are absolutely essential but too often unnoticed and under-appreciated. Their names are almost never in the bulletin. Yet the “music” we play on Sundays or the mission we carry out through the week would simply not happen without them.
Recently I preached for the 3 morning services at First UMC, Kerrville. Before, during, in-between and after these 3 services (not counting the one down in the Fellowship Hall with 300 worshippers) there was a large team of “session players.” God bless them! I know that every week they are there, smiling as they help people coming in to worship God. Through them the worshippers meet the love of God as they enter to praise God. In study after study it is shown how important these “session players” are in drawing people into our fellowship and mission. They may even be YOU.
So, thank YOU. In church after church across the District I see you. I know how important you are. I pray that your pastor does as well -and that members of the church know as well, and join you inside and outside those cozy walls in making some beautiful music pleasing to the Lord. Whether in sanctuary, in the food pantry or on a neighbor’s roof you are “always on my mind.”
By the way, have you heard Floyd play that?
District happenings
 Tommy Levitt, left, and the Rev. Glenna Kelly were among the members and former pastors who took part in the re-dedication of the First UMC sanctuary on Sunday, led by Pastor Lee Romero, right, and District Superintendent Bill Henderson.
First UMC, Johnson City
Members and guests of the First UMC of Johnson City re-dedicated their church sanctuary Sunday following the extensive remodeling work done to the building.
Although an early completion allowed the congregation to move last week’s Sunday services from the temporary worship space in the Activity Building, this was the first look at the renovations for many of the members.
The former pastors of the church were invited to return for the occasion, and several took part in the service, along with District Superintendent Bill Henderson.
Gone is the yellow pine paneling and the low fiber-panel ceiling, replaced by a brighter, more open-feeling room, with a high barrel ceiling.
Work started at the beginning of the summer, with the interior stripped out to the bare support structure.
The small entry room at the back of the sanctuary was demolished to make room for a larger entry area, which re-directs the new front doors around the corner from LBJ Drive to Pecan Street.
The stained glass “flaming cross” window, symbolizing the living church, has been relocated from behind the altar to the center of the exterior front of the building, where it is illuminated from the outside in the day and from interior lights at night.
A reception between the two services featured three cakes...one featuring a picture of the original building, and representing the founding in 1889; a second on the 100th anniversary in 1989; and the third illustrating the church’s newest configuration today.
Pastor Lee Romero invites the community to tour the renovated sanctuary at an open house from 10 to noon Saturday.
Mission: Border Hope
By Becky Ballou
Mission: Border Hope is the service mission of the Eagle Pass First UMC that helps feed, clothe, and advocate for the poor of Maverick County, the community bordering Piedras Negras Mexico. We are blessed with a quiet safe community in Eagle Pass, but are always working to help meet the needs of people seeking refuge. The migration to our community and the lack of financial resources to accomodate the needy is overwhelming. We need your help.
There is a tremendous shortage of beans and rice and other foods that are the staple of the diet of poor local families caused by the overwhelming draught in Texas this year. In Maverick County there are about 1000 impoverished families that need help to feed their children. From now until the year end, the shortages are overwhelming leaving hundreds of needy families without food. They need our help.
We get calls daily for baby and children’s clothing and diapers. The need is tremendous.
Mission: Border Hope volunteers will be blessed to pick up all food and clothing donations across the district and we will make sure your gifts will end up in the homes of the most needy.
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Corpus Christi District news
As busy as I am, can I do 'churchy' things?
Read Matthew 25:31-46. Here is that passage in The Message version of The Bible: “When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. 32 Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, 33 putting sheep to his right and goats to his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what’s coming to you in this kingdom. It’s been ready for you since the world’s foundation. 35 And here’s why: I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, 36 I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? 38 And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ 39 40 Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me - you did it to me.’ 41 “Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. 42 And why? Because I was hungry and you gave me no meal, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was homeless and you gave me no bed, I was shivering and you gave me no clothes, Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’ 44 “Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’ 45 “He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me - you failed to do it to me.’ 46 “Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ‘sheep’ to their eternal reward.”
The demands of our job or our schooling can prioritize our life. I need to do this and I have to complete that. I don’t have time for churchy things! Yet, can you imagine some students prioritizing their lives not around school but around this passage? Yes, it actually has and does happen. The ones I’m referring to were some interesting students. Their leader would awaken early and spend about an hour on his knees in prayer. Then he would spend about an hour in reading his Bible,join his friends for about an hour of worship, to breakfast, to class. After school was when the interesting part would happen. They had a schedule for what they would do to comply with this list of demands from Jesus. They would visit orphanages, jails, hospitals and widows. They actually took Jesus serious about these demands being important for the life of the believer.
The list we place up on top of most Christian lives include the words worship, prayer, Bible study, etc. This list given by Jesus very honestly comes as a result of a great and earnest relationship with Him. And to make it more powerful and urgent, Jesus says, “That was me whom you helped or neglected to help.” Was that you, Lord, on the street asking for money or in the homeless shelter that took the bowl of soup and thanked me and the shelter for doing this? “Yes,” Jesus will reply to you and me, “That was me. Thank you again.”
That group of students were mocked for their goodness by other students. They were called “holy rollers,” and because they always had their Bible, “Bible Moths,” and one smart aleck even thought to call them, “A bunch of Methodists!” Yes, that’s who we are. Thank you, Jesus. And thank you, John and Charles Wesley, and all of those of the Holy Club who started a movement that became a church that needs to become a movement again.
District happenings
Linda Morrow
Director of District Ministries
As we quickly approach the holiday season of Advent and Christmas many people are rushing around trying to make things just right. Yet, what we really need to recognize is that no matter what we do, this time of year promises of great joy, hope and expectation. Since this is the case shouldn’t we all slow down and savor these blessings?
Throughout the weeks of Advent we prepare our hearts to welcome Christ once again and allow Him to grow within us. Having a two year old grandson, I have found renewed passion for telling of God’s greatest gift to humankind, since young children hear stories with such awe and excitement. It is through his eagerness that I have come to see the awe and wonder of such a simple act of becoming human and living in our midst.
Even if you do not have a child in your midst, I pray that you will experience this season as the blessing it is, will slow down long enough to share it with someone who needs to hear it, and will tell it with the gusto and excitement that all of us had when we first heard it. I believe there are many who need to know the true meaning of Christmas, how God’s love continues to come to us over and over. What better gift can be given than this?
Pawnee UMC
The Pawnee UMC has invited the four other churches in the community to participate in a Pawnee Community Thanksgiving Meal on November 20th from 11 until 2 invitations have been extended not only to the local community with meals to be delivered to shut-ins but also to the area oilfield worker camps, many of whom are excited by this meal as they will be unable to go home on Thanksgiving. This event will take place at the local school cafeteria thanks to genorisity of the school. Music will be provided by the different churches. Those involved include Pawnee UMC, First Baptist, Sherma Pentecostal, Catholic Church and Emmanual Baptist.
Turkey, dressing and all the extras are being prepared for 300 meals.
Work will start at 8 a.m. that Sunday and all Churches have agreeded that this will be our worship for the day.
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McAllen District news
Serving our Schools, one kid at a time
As a result of all the work around the Serve Our Schools event in our district, I finally signed up to do something I hadn’t done since my son was in pre-K: tutor at a local school. I take my daughter to Dr. Hesiquio Rodriguez Elementary School every day when I’m in town, and it occurred to me that this would be about the easiest way ever to work in my community. In fact, once I figured out that I could take the 8:00-9:00 slot every Monday, I was embarrassed I hadn’t done it sooner.
The reading tutor program, called HOSTS (Helping One Student To Succeed) is used in many school districts across the state. HOSTS volunteers work with two children per hour, working through flash cards, alphabetizing, making up sentences, covering basic reading rules, and, of course, actually reading books. Since I serve at the beginning of the day, I get to witness the pledge of allegiance to the US and Texas flags, the moment of silence, the Character Counts pledge, and the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner. Those who haven’t made the connection between our democracy and the public schools, who don’t understand that our schools are the lynchpin of this civil society and that we do ourselves harm by neglecting or cutting them—well, I would invite those folks to show up at school some morning.
Anyway, I can say unequivocally that working with these second graders is one of the more gratifying experiences of my week. Already this fall I have seen progress in one of my regular kids, and it makes him and me both very happy. The little girl I work with is often late to school; her home life is unstable, and the adults in her life don’t always do what they should. She sometimes shows up with very sleepy eyes and not a lot of focus. But she was also the one, when I showed her the rhyming pattern of the story she was reading, turned to me and said, “You could sing this!”
There are surely a lot of folks who volunteer merely because it’s the “right thing to do.” We as Christians have a different motivation—the call of Christ upon us to love our neighbors in ways that challenge us. (I hesitate to use this tutoring as an example, because it really feels like too small a sacrifice!) We also are powered by the motivation of the world we cannot see, yet which God has promised and which even now appears around us—the in-breaking Reign of God, both already at hand and yet to come. I do not pretend to say that my sitting with kids for an hour a week is a magnificent sign of anything. I do mean to say that my sitting with them pulls me outside myself and opens my eyes, pricks my conscience, inspires my days. That hour causes me to see what I might not otherwise, a reality beyond my own that matters, lives that I will now tenderly hope and pray for. That hour prepares me, I believe, to hear and respond to the call of Christ in ways that go beyond my familiar paths and patterns. This season, may each of us open a place, an hour, where Jesus has room to enter in.
District happenings
 Sandra Salazar, JFON Attorney, welcoming Irene Medina as a new citizen.
by Rev. Carole Lahti, Regional Director of Justice For Our Neighbors South Texas
118 U. S. flags held proudly, 118 voices promising to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same, 118 voices acknowledging “one nation, under God.” It was the first time I attended a Naturalization Ceremony, and as the National Anthem was sung, tears filled my eyes as I watched our newest citizens join in singing, many with tears on their faces.
Colombia, Ukraine, Costa Rica, Kuwait, Chile, Vietnam, India, The Philippines, Mexico… one by one people from those countries of origin stood. Some young, some elderly, all proud new citizens of the U.S. Kisses, hugs, slaps on backs as each new citizen walked from the courtroom clutching their Certificate of Naturalization and wearing a broad smile.
Irene Medina, a client of Justice for Our Neighbors South Texas (JFON-STX), was one of the 118 people taking the oath. Irene had been in the U.S. 43 years but had not been able to complete the process to move from Legal Permanent Residency to Citizenship. Now, thanks to the help of the JFON-STX attorney and the volunteers who make JFON possible, Irene can enjoy all the rights, responsibilities, and privileges that accompany U.S. citizenship.
Irene was honored at a reception given for her during the JFON intake clinic at Pharr UMC on November 12. Volunteers, new clients and their families, members of the Board of Directors, JFON-STX attorney Sandra Salazar, Rev. Melanie Monroe of Pharr UMC, and I were on hand to congratulate her and enjoy a time of fellowship.
It was a time that made me cry tears of joyful emotion, but it made me think of all whose pathway is so hard. The undocumented mother whose child would die without specialized medical care in San Antonio yet who was detained at the check-point traveling from the Rio Grande Valley—because of the efforts of the JFON attorney, now she will be able to take her child freely. The mother and children who were forced by an abusive husband to live in a tool shed with no running water and holes in the floor and roof—now she is a legal permanent resident, can work to support herself and the children, and no longer has to endure abuse.
I see families who are separated by a narrow river of water and a broad sea of difficult, broken and unjust immigration laws. I see fathers who desperately want to make a better life for their family. I see the sister whose brother is in danger of reprisal by the cartel but has no legal way to cross that broad sea… and my soul weeps for these hurting, often frightened children of God; my arms go out to embrace them, and my prayers surround them.
Yes, Justice for Our Neighbors offers a doorway to legal help for many immigrants; for others it gives the heartbreaking news of no legal pathway. For me, it also opens wide the doorway of my heart to share the love, mercy and grace of Jesus Christ with my brothers and sisters who need renewed hope for their future. And in the face and the smile and the hurt of each one, I see the face of Jesus.
As we approach the season of Advent, the candles of hope, love, joy and peace remind me of all those who do not know these in their lives—and the candles speak anew Jesus’ words…”as you did to the least of these.”
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San Angelo District news
The use of scripture in worship
The publication of The King James Version of the Bible is 400 years old this year. For a majority of United Methodists the New Revised Standard Version is preferred for its recent scholarship, including the use of more recent manuscripts (like the Dead Sea Scrolls) and a more modern language style. Nevertheless, the KJV is still the most revered English-language Bible in the world.
I would hope on this important anniversary that we would take a look at how we use scripture in worship. As a District Superintendent I am privileged to visit many worship services. I am struck in the variety of ways scriptures are read in worship. Most churches, I noticed, use lay readers to read the scripture for the day (whether it is The Common Lectionary or not). This is a good thing, for the Bible does belong to the people. However, I am concerned about how clergy and laity READ the scripture in public worship. Here are some thoughts on the subject:
- Use a translation that is easy to read and will be understandable to your particular audience. (That may be the KJV).
- Be sure that if you have pew bibles, scriptural inserts in the bulletin or a video image on a screen that it is the SAME translation that is being read publically. I have observed persons with a confused expression when they are not the same. Different translations (your favorite) are appropriate for Bible study, but not in the context of common worship.
- Whoever reads scripture (lay or clergy) practice – practice – practice before publically reading it!
If we truly want to hold the Bible in high regard and respect, which I believe we should, then let us be serious when we read it in worship.
Just some thoughts and Happy Anniversary KJV!
District happenings
 Sheila Walsh, speaker for the Women of Faith.
“The Shelter of God’s Promises”
SHEILA WALSH is one of the most beloved and popular featured speakers with Women of Faith. She is a powerful communicator, Bible teacher, and best-selling author with more than 4 million books sold. Sheila has reached more than 3.5 million women by artistically combining honesty, vulnerability, and humor with God’s Word. Sheila will be in San Angelo on December 9 and 10 for a powerful, uplifting weekend filled with God’s Promises! Tickets are $35 each and are available from the San Angelo District Office. Ticket price includes both Friday night, to be held at First Baptist Church and the Saturday event, being held at the McNease Convention Center. The Saturday event is a Bible Study (bring your Bibles!) and includes a light breakfast and box lunch. Both Friday and Saturday will also include praise and worship music lead by Jennifer Thigpin, one of the Women of Faith worship leaders, along with Shelly Weise and Sidonna Hartman with “Broken Glass”. This will truly be a weekend to remember! Get your tickets early, as we are limited to 800 and know this event will be a “sell out”. Please see the Women in the Light website at www.womeninthelight.com for more information.
Friday, December 9, 2011 – 7:00 p.m.
First Baptist Church
37 E. Harris
San Angelo, TX 76903
Saturday, December 10, 2011 – 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (doors open at 8:00 a.m.)
San Angelo McNease Convention Center
500 Rio Concho Drive
San Angelo, TX 76903
Unification Steering Team Listening Sessions
In the October 14th issue of The Witness, Rachel Toalson has an article about the Unification Steering Team. The article states, “An independent team of consultants has recommended to Bishop Jim Dorff, conference leaders and the cabinets of the Southwest Texas and Rio Grande Conferences that the two individual conferences embrace unification and create one new conference. With this recommendation in mind, Bishop Dorff created a Unification Steering Team made up of Southwest Texas and Rio Grande Conference leaders.”
This Unification Steering Team is requesting a time to meet with each District, clergy and laity, for a Listening Session. The San Angelo District has set a date and times for these meetings to take place:
San Angelo District UST Listening Sessions:
Saturday, December 3, 2011
South: Junction First United Methodist Church, 10:00 a.m.
North: San Angelo St. Luke United Methodist Church, 3:00 p.m.
All church members are encouraged to attend, but if you are a 2012 Lay Member to Annual Conference this meeting will be extremely beneficial. For more information please contact the San Angelo District Office.
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Briefs
Rethink Green event scheduled for March
Save the date for this great event
Saturday, March 3
9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Gruene UMC
More information coming soon.
Contacts needed for future Witness issues
Several series are planned for future issues of The United Methodist Witness, but we can’t write them without you! Please let us know if you have any contacts for the following themes:
Health and wellness—what does your church do to promote health and wellness (including physical health, financial health, spiritual health)? Contact us and let us know names of people in charge of ministries that promote wellness within members of your congregation.
Environmentalism—Is your church taking steps to care for the earth? We are in the brainstorming stage of a series that examines the conscious choices churches are making to “clean” up their practices and be better stewards of the planet.
Please send us names and contacts of people who have spearheaded this in your church.
Evangelism—This series will focus on the ways churches in our conference evangelize.
Please send all information and contacts to rtoalson@umcswtx.org or call (210) 408-4524.
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
November
24-25 District Office will be closed for the Thanksgiving Holidays.
28 Information on ETS sent out.
30 New Churfch Development meeting in San Antonio.
December
8-9 Cabinet
16 Pastor/PPR Consultations due in to the District Office.
19-30 District Office closed for Christmas Holidays.
January
5 Unification Listening Team Discussion meeting, TBA.
11-13 Cabinet Meeting.
18 District Committee Ordained Ministry,
Mt. Wesley Lounge, 9:30 a.m.
19 Unification Listening Team
Discussion meeting, TBA.
District Check-out for Local Church
End of the Year Reports, District
Office is available if you need help entering data.
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
November
21 United Campus Ministry meeting,
District Office, 6 p.m.
23-25 District Office will be closed for the
Thanksgiving Holidays.
29-30 Cabinet Meeting.
December
7 Pastor’s Report due.
11 Grace UMC Building Dedication.
12 Newsletter Deadline.
13 Cereal Killers Meeting, District Office, 8 a.m.
15 Consultation Reports due into the District Office.
16-Jan1 District Office closed for Christmas Holidays.
January
11-13 Cabinet Meeting.
16 District Office closed for MLK Day.
18 Check Out Day, Year End Reports are due.
19 Pros meeting, Bishop.
28 Ministry Workshop, Three Rivers UMC.
31-Feb.1 Cabinet Meeting.
February
4 Ministry Workshop, Grace UMC.
9 Pros meeting, TBA.
27-28 Bishop’s Convocation.
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
November
23-25 District Office closed.
28 Women’s Advent by Candlelight.
29-30 Cabinet Meeting.
December
3 Unification Steering Team Listening Sessions, Junction, 10 a.m., St.
Luke UMC San Angelo, 3 p.m.
8 District Youth Professionals, Sierra Vista UMC, 11 a.m.
10 Women in the Light with Sheila Walsh, San Angelo Conention Center.
15 District Open House, 4-6 p.m.
19-30 District Office closed.
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