For half a century, Ida Padilla has quietly and faithfully helped support the financial ministry of the Southwest Texas and Rio Texas Conferences of The United Methodist Church.

On September 16, 1976, Ida began what would become an extraordinary 50 years of service in the Conference Finance Office. Through changing bishops and treasurers, office moves, new technology, and the formation of the Rio Texas Conference, Ida has remained a steady and trusted presence. On September 15, Conference staff, colleagues, friends, and family gathered for a luncheon at the United Methodist Center to celebrate Ida's remarkable 50-year milestone.

Her story began thousands of miles from Texas. Ida was born in Bedfordshire, England, about 40 miles north of London. Her journey eventually took her around the world, including two years in Taiwan, before she made her way to San Antonio. On September 16, 1976, Ida joined the Southwest Texas Conference staff at its historic building at 535 Bandera Road, beginning her work in bookkeeping and deposits.

It was a very different time in both the world and the workplace. Gerald Ford was President, a gallon of gasoline cost around 60 cents, and the financial work now accomplished with computers and electronic transactions relied on paper, pencils, adding machines, typewriters, and a great deal of patience. Just one month after Ida's arrival, she experienced a Special Called Session of Annual Conference in October 1976. The following year brought her first regular Annual Conference in 1977, one of many she would experience during the next five decades.

When Ida began, Jim Ferguson served as Conference Treasurer. Over the years, she would work alongside six Conference treasurers and generations of bishops, clergy, Conference leaders, and staff. In 1984, Ida was named Associate Treasurer, reflecting the knowledge, dedication, and trust she had earned through her work. For many years, the Southwest Texas Conference called the Bandera Road office home. In 1996, Ida moved with the staff to the new United Methodist Center on Huebner Rd. The new Conference building quickly provided its own memorable stories, including a lightning strike just months after opening that activated the sprinkler system and flooded the Rotunda.

Through it all, Ida continued her work. She witnessed enormous changes in how the Finance Office operated, from handwritten records and adding machines to computers, electronic banking, and increasingly sophisticated financial software and systems. She also served through significant changes in the life of the Church, including the unification of the Southwest Texas and Rio Grande Conferences to form the Rio Texas Conference.

In 2013, after 37 years, Ida retired from full-time employment. At least, that was the plan. She was encouraged to stay on in a part-time role, where her extensive experience and attention to detail have continued to be invaluable in the areas of internal controls, auditing, and reconciliations. Thirteen years later, she is still serving. Those who have worked alongside Ida know her as someone who does not seek the spotlight. She is reserved, dependable, hardworking, and extraordinarily knowledgeable. She approaches her work with a simple determination: make sure what needs to be done gets done, done correctly.

Her colleagues have shared much more than financial ministry work over the years. Together, they have celebrated and mourned. From personal milestones to historic events, both here in the United States and from Ida's roots in England. Through decades of change, these relationships have become an important part of Ida's Conference story. Fifty years of service is about much more than longevity. It represents thousands of workdays, countless deposits and reconciliations, audits and Annual Conferences, deadlines and transitions, friendships and challenges. Behind those numbers are ministries, churches, clergy, and people throughout South and Central Texas whose work has been supported by Ida's faithful service.

For half a century, Ida has been part of the history of the Conference. We give thanks for her loyalty, knowledge, quiet determination, and faithful service to the Church.

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50 Years of Faithful Service: Celebrating Ida Padilla