Moved by Christ’s love to pursue reconciliation and peace, honoring the dignity of every individual made in God’s image, The United Methodist Church is unwilling to turn a blind eye to injustice. Although you, and possibly even your congregation, may lack the resources alone to effect change in a broken world, your giving is vital for the UMC to continue its global ministries of reconciliation.
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The 2017 Rio Texas Annual Conference Hospitality Team is proud to announce that our June session will be baby friendly! We are still offering great child care at First UMC, Corpus, but sometimes very little ones do better closer to family. Babies are cute, portable and unlikely to run away, making them perfect attendees during plenary sessions. To make things more comfortable for Rio Texas babies and the moms, dads, and others caring for them, the Hospitality Team is planning a couple of upgrades.
One is the addition of rocking chairs in the back of the plenary hall. We may have to post bouncers to make sure the chairs do not become napping spots for big people, but hopefully this will be a spot where little ones can be comforted and encouraged to chill out.
A second change is an upgrade to the station provided last year in a separate room for nursing moms. This year the Mommy Station will be located in the plenary hall itself, to allow for more convenience and the ability for moms to still hear the action. The station will include comfortable seating, a microwave and refrigerator.
Sometimes babies have just had it with conference and need to take a walk outside. (Don't we all?) But while they're in session, we want to make their presence as easy as possible. Your Hospitality Team looks forward to greeting both babies and attendees of all ages on June 7 in Corpus Christi!
Dear Friends,
Grace and peace of the risen Christ be with you.
As you may have already heard, the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church heard arguments this week concerning the election of Bishop Karen Oliveto by the Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church. They will release a decision when they conclude their business, likely later this week. As we await the decision, I would like to share the following thoughts.
It is important to understand the limited reach of the Judicial Council's decision in this case. The Judicial Council is the church’s highest court, but it does not make church law. The Book of Discipline will not change because of the Judicial Council’s decision. Only the General Conference can change The Book of Discipline.
The 2016 General Conference asked for the formation of the Commission on A Way Forward to work on a way by which those who disagree on issues of human sexuality can coexist in the same church. The Commission seeks to maximize the presence of a United Methodist witness in as many places in the world as possible. We seek to allow for as much contextual differentiation as possible, balancing different theological understandings of human sexuality with a desire for unity. I am a member of this commission and its work is well underway. The Council of Bishops called a special session of General Conference in 2019 for the sole purpose of hearing the report of the commission.
Robert Schnase, Bishop of the Rio Texas Annual Conference, announced the appointment of Rev. Dr. Robert Lopez as the new District Superintendent of the Coastal Bend District. Lopez will replace retiring District Superintendent Eradio Valverde. Lopez is currently the superintendent of El Valle and Crossroads districts and will continue to serve El Valle in addition to Coastal Bend. Rev. Dr. Marcus Freeman III was earlier announced as the incoming superintendent for Crossroads.
To support Robert in fulfilling his expanded responsibilities, Bishop Schnase also announced the appointment of Rev. Dr. Karen Boehk as the new Assistant to the District Superintendent for the Coastal Bend and El Valle Districts, serving part-time and working in the Corpus Christi area.
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The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church has called for a Special Session of the General Conference. It will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, February 23-26, 2019.
According to Bishop Bruce R. Ough, president of the Council of Bishops, the session will be "limited to receiving and acting on a report from the Council of Bishops based on the recommendations of the Commission on a Way Forward."
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Frank Rojas is the new VIM Coordinator for the Conference
The Office of Outreach Vitality, Mission Vitality Center of the Rio Texas Annual Conference is excited to announce and welcomes the service of Frank Rojas as the Rio Texas Conference Volunteer-In-Mission (VIM) Coordinator. Frank is a long-time active member of Bethany UMC, Austin. He has directed United Methodist Army Youth mission teams as well as VIM trips to Cuba. Frank brings to this work a heart and passion for missions, social justice, and great interest in the organizational development of Volunteer-In-Mission ministry in the conference.
A volunteer position, the VIM Coordinator serves as a focal point for equipping disciples in growing in relationships and partnerships with communities around the world; growing partnerships between UMC and agencies that are active in local communities; and aiding church teams grow “In Mission Together” (50/50) events that leverage assets in local communities and bless all involved by developing strong collaborative partnerships. The vision is that missions are directly linked to each member’s calling and their discipleship walk with God. This work will be carried out by the conference VIM committee composed of VIM coordinators from each district.
To learn more about the In Mission Together process, see:http://www.umcmission.org/Get-Involved/Partnerships/In-Mission-Together.
Frank Rojas can be reached at frank6591@gmail.com / 512.422.0210.
The El Valle District recently hosted representatives from six Texas Annual Conference United Methodist churches, their Conference Center, and Center for Missional Excellence. They came to the Texas/Mexico border to meet with representatives from the El Valle District and the Mexican Methodist Church as part of a new TAC Border Partnership Initiative.
The March 30-April 1 trip is part of a new mission initiative birthed through the TAC Center for Missional Excellence, the El Valle District and General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) Missionary Willie Berman. The partnership is based on the 50/50 “In Mission Together” program conceived by Global Ministries. The goal of the partnership is to begin from an asset-based approach rather than a needs-based approach. Instead of looking to a mission field and asking “what does that community need?”, the partnership asks, “what do I have to share with that community, and what do they have to share with me?”
In years past, the temptation in mission engagement was to go somewhere and do something FOR someone else. Now, we are moving to a model of being in ministry WITH another community.
The 50/50 model looks at both partners as equals and allows both communities to share their gifts and graces together for the Kingdom of God. Using 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 as a guide, partner churches share their unique talents and callings for ministry. Ideas for partnerships discussed during this trip were: shared discipleship and training sessions, shared worship experiences, a shared youth camp experience, and assistance with construction of sanctuaries, education buildings, and parsonages.
Churches represented from the Texas Annual Conference included Kirbyville UMC; Faith UMC, Orange; FUMC, Livingston; FUMC, Conroe; FUMC, Humble; and Christ Church UMC, Sugar Land. Representatives from the Center for Missional Excellence and Lakeview Methodist Conference Center were also in attendance to explore conference-wide partnership possibilities.
Those from the El Valle District taking part in the visit were Rev. Cindy Layton from El Mesias UMC; Pastor Juanita Martinez from Nueva Vida UMC, Las Milpas and El Paraiso Mission Church; Rev. Amelia Beasley and Cindy Johnson from El Buen Pastor UMC, Brownsville; Rev. J.J. Wicke of First UMC, Weslaco; Roland Pecin, and Susan Hellums the EVD Border Area Mission Coordinator. Also participating from the Methodist Church of Mexico were Guillermo “Willie” Berman, GBGM Missionary and others, including Pbro. Raul Garcia de Ochoa and Pbro. David Medrano.
Article adapted from TAC article
This article was written by Abel Vega, Director of Outreach Vitality, Mission Vitality Center, Rio Texas Conference, United Methodist Church
Missionaries Sara Flores Quinonez and Dakin Cook visited the Rio Texas Conference offices in San Antonio on April 4 to discuss their ministry in Ecuador. The couple has witnessed seven new mission initiatives, including five churches for indigenous peoples and after-school programs for 300 children, as well as a K-10 school.
They are visiting churches in the Hill Country District emphasizing the need for more formal pastoral training. “Our pastors are earning minimum wage, so they usually work more than one job,” said Flores.
The Outreach Vitality Center hopes to hold more luncheons focusing on missionary work in the future.
Missionary Advance #13988Z
Robert Schnase, Bishop of the Rio Texas Annual Conference, has announced the appointment of Rev. Diana Phillips to the position of Director of Connectional Ministries. The Director of Connectional Ministries serves as a steward of the vision of the conference; leads the process of continual transformation; works to ensure alignment with the conference vision; and ensures the connection between the local churches, districts, annual conference and general church.
Read MoreThe Global Young People’s Convocation (GYPC) is a worldwide gathering for United Methodist youth and young adults, taking place July 7–11, 2026, in Dublin, Ireland. This event happens only once every four years, and we are excited to support a group of young people from our conference in attending this event.
