Leadership Institute 2018 Registration is available now for Church Leaders

Leadership Institute is quickly approaching. We hope you and your church are getting ready to come and learn as a team! Bishop Schnase will be one of the keynote speakers, so it would be wonderful to have a large group from the Rio Texas Conference.

The registration process has changed from last year, so please read everything below:

• COR is requiring that if a Conference is getting a reduced rate, each church registering will need to turn in to the conference office a written paragraph or so about the expectations for leadership development in the local church.

In other words, how will you use the conference to further develop leadership in the local church?

• All Clergy and 2 lay people from each church may register via the discounted rate. The Rio Texas Conference will pay for the registration fee.
  NOTE: More are allowed to register, but not under the reduced rate. The individual or church will need to cover the cost for the additional people.

Instructions for registering:

1. From the website, li.cor.org, select Registration from the top menu.
2. Advise the group to scroll down the page and read through the Registration Tips prior to registering so they’ll have all the information ready to enter.  If a registrant completes only part of the registration before completing the payment section, their registration won’t be complete and they won’t be registered.
3. After reading through the Tips, they can select the Register Now button.
4. After entering their Name and email address, they’ll need to select ShareChurch Registrar Group from the dropdown menu for Registration Type.
5. On the next screen in the ShareChurch Registrar Group, they need to select Rio Texas Leadership Group from the dropdown menu. For payment type, select “pay by check”

Please note: The group registration is for the main Leadership Institute workshops only. If you want to attend the pre-institute workshops, you must pay for these courses separately.

Besides paying for all clergy and two lay people from each church, clergy may turn in travel/hotel reimbursements for up to $150. All original receipts will be needed. Karen Horan will have the forms at the Leadership Institute for you to fill out. You can hand them in or mail them in at a later date.

Since MHM covers the clergy portion, a follow-up survey must be completed before reimbursements will be mailed.

Of course, you may bring more than three church members, but they would go through the “regular” registration process.

If you have any questions, please contact Karen Horan at khoran@riotexas.org or Eve Albert at evealbert@riotexas.org or 210-408-4551 in the conference office.

United Methodists Pass Resolution to End Immigrant Family Separation at Annual Gathering

Dionisio Salazar presented the resolution to 1500 members of the UMC at the American Bank Center.

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
PDF Version

United Methodists Pass Resolution to End Immigrant Family Separation at Annual Gathering

CORPUS CHRISTI (Tuesday,  June 12, 2018) – The Rio Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church passed a resolution on June 9 to formally request the US Department of Justice to cease the separation of immigrant children from their families. Robert Schnase, Bishop of the Rio Texas Annual Conference, presided over the motion during the Annual Conference to address the humanitarian crisis affecting children held in detention centers located across South Texas. 

Rio Texas Transforming Communities Vision Team Chair Dionisio Salazar (of Parker Lane UMC; Austin) presented the “Resolution to End Family Separation” before the conference: 

“Whereas the United States government recently implemented a coercive ‘zero tolerance policy’ resulting in the traumatic separation of children from immigrant parents and the subsequent incarceration of children in secretive detention centers; 

Whereas several of the detention facilities are operated within the geographical boundaries of the Rio Texas Conference; 

Whereas this practice constitutes a violation of international law, child abuse, harassment and discrimination; 

Therefore, be it resolved that the Río Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church, in the name and Spirit of Jesus Christ, shall respectfully request the US Department of Justice immediately discontinue separating children from their families due to the ‘zero tolerance policy.” 

1500 lay delegates and clergy voted overwhelmingly to support the resolution to end family separation. 

The Rio Texas Annual Conference meets every June at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas to conduct the business of the United Methodist Church for the Rio Texas region that spreads from north of San Angelo to the Rio Grande Valley in the south. This is the fourth gathering since the former Southwest Texas Conference and Rio Grande Conference merged to become the Rio Texas Annual Conference in 2015.

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ABOUT: 

The Rio Texas Annual Conference aims to reach out to people of South and Central Texas. Some of our churches are located in some of the fastest-growing areas of the country.  Others are located in areas where people are struggling with issues of poverty, lack of affordable housing, and a loss of hope. We are committed to providing vital missions, vital congregations, and strong leaders to connect our churches to the people. Our churches are in large cities and small towns from Austin to McAllen, from San Angelo to Victoria in vibrant cities, historic small towns and struggling communities.  Our Bishop is Robert C. Schnase. He was assigned to Rio Texas in 2016 after 12 years in the Missouri Annual Conference. For more information about the conference or our bishop, please visit http://riotexas.org and follow us on Twitter @RioTxAC.