The Capital District Youth gathered over 120 youth from 12 churches at Camp Tejas on Feb. 23-25 for the Capital District Midwinter 2018. This year’s speaker was Rev. Hilary Marchbanks. She shared reflections on what it means to be created in the image of God.
Read MoreWASHINGTON, D.C. – As the nation marks the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., United Methodists will unite with members of the National Council of Churches in Washington, D.C., April 3-5, for the Truth and Racial Justice Initiative.
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Bishop Ortiz met with leaders at the Rio Texas Conference. Photo by Rev. Will Rice
Almost five months since two Category 5 hurricanes – Irma and Maria – made landfall in Puerto Rico, Bishop Hector Ortiz of the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico was in San Antonio, telling the church’s story of recovery response to the devastation.
Ortiz met with United Methodist Church leaders to share how the church is setting up the infrastructure to receive volunteer teams that wish to come and be part of the rebuilding process.
A third of the population still does not have electricity and over 300,000 people have left Puerto Rico for the U.S. mainland. Upwards of 30 Methodist churches in Puerto Rico were damaged.
Conference leaders empathized with Bishop Ortiz’s story, as Methodists here have been dealing with the recovery of the Texas Gulf coast from the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey last August, including damage to Methodist churches in the conference’s area.
The United Methodist Committee on Relief, or UMCOR, the church’s global relief agency, is working with both Rio Texas and Puerto Rico to provide funding and support recovery needs assessments through case management.
Bishop Ortiz indicated that in some areas of the island, relief work as basic as placing tarps on roofs to prevent leaking and mucking out debris is still desperately needed. In other areas of the island, the rebuilding of homes and buildings has started.
Bishop Ortiz champions this mission of Puerto Rico’s recovery, a ministry of traveling, connecting and listening to people, offering hope through his pastoral presence and prayers.
A distinct facet of his visit was to invite U.S. United Methodist Churches to partner with Puerto Rican Methodist churches in the rebuilding process. As U.S. volunteer work teams come to help, Puerto Rican Methodists will be alongside them. The bishop highlighted the need for attentiveness to his flock of pastors because of burnout due to “compassion fatigue.”
Bishop Ortiz shared again the country’s recovery status with various UMC congregations and pastors as well as members of San Antonio’s Puerto Rican community.
Despite the story of hardship reflecting the slow and methodical pace of the recovery, Ortiz’ story reflected the confidence that Puerto Rico’s future is bright.
“With the help of God, we want to rise up again. We are going to rise up again,” he said.
Information on how you can help the Methodist Church of Puerto Rico is on their official Facebook page here. You can also send a check or money order to: Iglesia Metodista de PR. PO Box 23339 San Juan, PR 00931.
Or
Mariana Bracetti #8 San Juan, PR 00931.
Written by Abel Vega, Outreach Vitality Director
This 'Belief' editorial was featured in the March 4, 2018 edition of the San Antonio Express-News
Attention clergy, clergy spouses, and staff covered by the conference health plan:
In a couple of weeks, a new challenge will begin on Virgin Pulse, the Wespath Winter Sports Challenge. Teams can be organized with up to 10 people in them. One team, Rio Texas Ramblers, organized by Paul Harper, is already full. Assistant to the Bishop, Laura Merrill has started a team, Rápido Rio TX, and she invites others to do the same or to join teams with empty spots.
Read MoreDirector of Project Transformation–Rio Texas Kercida McClain spent an hour on SA Beacon Radio program with Steve Teel. She discussed the impact Project Transformation Rio Texas is having on our community, and how volunteers and college students can get involved.
Read MoreOver 350 Rio Texas pastors gathered together last week for the annual Clergy Convocation. This year's event was hosted by University United Methodist Church, San Antonio. The time together kicked off worship event led by Abel Stewart of Northern Hills UMC, San Antonio and his band of clergy and friends. Attendees were inspired by a sermon delivered by Rev. Olu Brown, Lead Pastor of Impact Church in Atlanta.
This year's theme was, "Resilience: From Staying Alive to Thriving in Anxious Times." Brown focused on that theme.
"Friends, we are living in the midst of anxious times," said Brown. "But we still believe that there is a God who sits high and looks low."
The Rio Texas Conference will send several delegates and members of the Young Adult Ministry Council and the Youth Ministry Council to the Global Young People’s Convention in Johannesburg, South Africa on July 18-22.
The Rio Texas individuals going to the GYPC include three delegates:
ZEPHYR STRAUS
“I want to make church relevant for people in my age bracket who have questions and doubts and encouraging them to ask the questions instead of discouraging exploration of self and other topics of religion and spirituality,” said Strauss. “As a 20-year-old who has gone through periods of having questions and even doubts about my faith and feeling like church was not a safe place to express those things, I would like to help equip the church to nurture youth who are in the same place as I was.”
In addition to these youth delegates, other members of the conference traveling to Johannesburg are:
Marlee claes
The purpose of the GYPC is to celebrate the mission and vitality of young people in the United Methodist Church, raise the joys and concerns of young people from the global community, develop young people as leaders for effective ministry in local churches and communities of faith, highlight emerging trends in youth and young adult ministry, provide a common forum that embraces the global reality of the church.
CHICAGO–Robert Perales, from the Rio Texas conference, will be working in 2018 to help shape the way Wespath Benefits and Investments (Wespath) serves The United Methodist Church by participating in Wespath’s inaugural Young Leaders Advisory Board (Y-LAB).
Wespath is the general agency of the UMC responsible for administering benefits and investing retirement plan assets.
Wespath created Y-LAB in 2017 to engage and better serve young adults dedicated to the Church. Members are partnering with Wespath to identify gaps in connecting with young clergy and lay employees, generate ideas that help improve Wespath’s products and services, and help shape how Wespath shares information.
In November, the group traveled to Pensacola, Florida to attend Wespath’s revitup! For a Lifetime in Ministry, an event for young clergy, where they provided insights about how Wespath can enhance its educational outreach. The group also met at Wespath’s headquarters in Glenview, Ill in September, where they interacted with Wespath employees and senior leadership, including General Secretary, Barbara Boigegrain.
Their hard work will continue into 2018!
“The discussion among the Y-LAB members has been lively and energetic, and their feedback has already proven valuable,” said Ms. Boigegrain. “We appreciate their willingness to help us better serve the Church, and look forward to hearing more from this engaging group of young UMC leaders!”
The 15 Y-LAB members are all aged 35 or younger, and represent both laity and clergy across the U.S. Y-LAB members were selected by Directors of Connectional Ministries in their UMC jurisdictions who viewed these individuals as young leaders within the Connection.
Wespath has created a similar Conference Advisory Board consisting of Conference Benefits Officers and Treasurers across the UMC in order to better engage with, and connect to, the annual conferences and participants it serves.
Clergy from across the Rio Texas Annual Conference gathered at four churches last week for A Sacred Trust: Clergy Sexual Ethics Training. The training is required for all clergy serving within the bounds of Rio Texas and conference clergy serving elsewhere.
Read MoreThe 2018 Rio Texas Annual Conference will be held June 6-9 at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. This year's theme is "From Come & See to Go & Do: Rethinking the Five Practices." It has been ten years since the release of Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations by Robert Schnase, Bishop of the Rio Texas Conference. Much has changed in those ten years.
Read MoreThanks to your generosity, over $821,000 has already been given to support flood relief across the Rio Texas Conference—and the work continues.
In this video, Bishop Harvey celebrates the overwhelming response so far and reminds us that recovery is a marathon, not a sprint
In this video message, Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey offers words of comfort, gratitude, and hope following the devastating floods that have impacted communities across the Rio Texas Conference.
The Rio Texas Conference is excited to welcome Lamar Davis as our new Disaster Recovery Coordinator. Lamar brings a wealth of experience in crisis management and a deep sense of calling to serve. He will guide our Conference through the long-term work of recovery and resilience following recent floods.
With 150 years of history, Memorial UMC joins Restore Austin to celebrate a new chapter of ministry, mission, and witness in the heart of Austin.
Restore Austin—a vibrant, inclusive church community—will soon join The United Methodist Church and merge with Memorial UMC to form a new congregation in Northeast Austin. This Spirit-led partnership marks a fresh chapter of shared mission, expanded ministry, and hope for the future.
