Delegates Elected to 2020 General and Jurisdictional Conferences

Clergy                                                                                      

General Conference

Laura Merrill                                                                            

James Amerson                                                                        

Raquel Feagins                                                                         

Taylor Fuerst                                                                           

Jurisdictional Conference

Paul Escamilla                                                                          

Abigail Herrera                                                                         

Wilson Pruitt                                                                           

Amelia Beasley                                                                        

Alternate

Russell Miller                                                                           

Liliana Padilla                                                                           

Michael Mumme                                                                     

Thomas Deviney

Laity  

General Conference

Jay Brim

Rachel Wright

Charles McGarity

Ralph Thompson

Jurisdictional Conference

Carol Loeb

Cynthia Johnson

Kercida McClain

Iris Chavez

Alternate Delegates

Priscilla Patterson

Aislinn Deviney

Patricia Stewart

Abby Gutierrez

Thank you from UMW Rio Texas President Grace Perez

I wish to express my sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to the “Call to Action” organized by United Methodist Women last week at Annual Conference. Many items were received, including cash and gift cards. We appreciate your efforts to help make the lives of those families traveling long distances a little bit better. 

Items were turned over to Michael Smith, Holding Institute, Laredo, and Susan Hellums from El Valle District who will take them to the Good Neighbor Settlement House in Brownsville. 

If at any time you would like to send other items such as socks, underwear, t-shirts, bras, or other clothing directly to Holding Institute or Good Neighbor Settlement House, please feel free to do so. 

Once again, many thanks. May God continue to bless each and every one of you as we continue to serve in this important ministry.

Grace M. Perez 
President, Rio Texas Conference UMW 

UMW Call to Action at Annual Conference 2019: Donate Items for Migrants

The Good Neighbor Settlement House is a non-profit multi-service agency in Brownsville Texas serving needy men, women and children by providing the basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, showers and hot meals. Today, they offer respite to migrant asylee seekers daily.

Members of the Rio Texas Conference United Methodist Women are collecting tote bags filled with hygiene items for Holding Institute in Laredo and Good Neighbor Settlement House in Brownsville. These two centers are National Mission Institutions and are trying to respond to the needs of hundreds of migrants arriving daily.

Everyone is invited to participate in this project. Please bring your bags to the Mission Breakfast on Friday morning or the UMW Luncheon on Friday at noon. UMW will accept donations at their display table in the exhibit hall.

If you are not attending Annual Conference, you may send your bags with your clergy or lay delegates.

These are the most-needed items: 

·       Shampoo

·       Wash cloths

·       Bath soap/body wash

·       Lotion

·       Toothpaste/toothbrushes

·       Chapstick

·       Deodorant (women and men)

·       Hairbrush

·       Band aids

·       Disposable razors

·       Wet wipes

·       Feminine pads

·       Kleenex  

·       Tote bags

·       Non-perishable snacks

Travel sizes are also acceptable.

Gift cards to Walmart and Target are also accepted.

Please contact Rio Texas Conference President Grace Perez with any questions.

Located in downtown Laredo, Texas, Holding Institute is in covenant relationship with the United Methodist Women and in collaboration with other community partners, we are responding to the needs of women, children, youth, and families. Holding Institute hosts 40 to 60 migrant asylum seekers weekly. Lately, upwards of 100 persons have been sleeping at Holding nightly.

Light on the Hill @ Mount Wesley is Mount Wesley Re-Imagined

The new programming dream for Mount Wesley Conference Center, Light on The Hill @ Mount Wesley (LOTH) is taking shape! LOTH is infusing new life and ministries into the Kerrville campus. Families & Literacy was among the first ministry partners to offer services at LOTH. The first graduating GED and ESL classes received their certificates in early May.

Other ministries on the LOTH campus are Kerr-Konnect, Mustard Seed Food Pantry, Methodist Healthcare’s Wesley Nurse program, Education & Exercise Center and Nutrition Center. These ministries combine to provide hope and a hand up for people in Kerrville and the six surrounding counties.

LOTH is a non-profit corporation whose Board of Directors come from both the Kerrville Community and the Rio Texas Conference Board of Trustees. At Annual Conference, the delegates will be asked to vote to accept a long-term lease agreement with LOTH.

The Rio Texas Conference Board of Trustees views this as the best path to honor the legacy of Mount Wesley and assure its continued viability as a fruitful ministry. This vision was born out of the work of the Mount Wesley Oversight Team and strategic partners that include First UMC: Kerrville, and Methodist Healthcare Ministries.

Does your church have a Youth Director or are you a Youth Director who would benefit from Theological Education? CYMT can help!

The Center for Youth Ministry Training (CYMT) is entering into its fourth year in Texas!  For the past thirteen years, CYMT has trained over 100 youth ministers in the Southeast. 

“The Center for Youth Ministry Training is excited to bring our ministry of developing theologically informed and practically effective youth ministries to Texas. We have had tremendous success in the Southeast developing sustainable, effective youth ministries and are excited about doing the same in Texas,” stated Dietrich Kirk, CYMT’s Executive Director. 

In today’s world, good youth ministry requires more than just games and guitars.  For youth to experience a life-changing faith, they need an intentional community of teens and adults where they have a personal encounter with God, are encouraged to understand God’s purpose for their lives and find hope in the intersection of their story with God’s bigger story.  

If your church has a youth director, or you are currently working in youth ministry at a church, and would like more practical training and theological education, the CYMT Training-Only program is for you. Residents in the Training-Only program are given the opportunity to earn their Master of Arts in Youth Ministry degree through a unique intensive-based curriculum format in partnership with Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

We are currently accepting applications from Churches and Residents for our Texas Regional Campus. Applications will be accepted through June 15th space permitting.

For more information please contact Teresa Kingsbury, CYMT’s Texas Regional Director at teresa@cymt.org or (512) 960-2989.  You can learn all about the CYMT Graduate Residency program at www.cymt.org. 

Conference Names Harvest Sunday Champion Diana Woods, Collection is Nov 3

The Transforming Communities Vision Team has appointed Diana Woods to serve as the Rio Texas Conference HARVEST SUNDAY champion. As a means of promoting this annual offering, the Harvest Sunday Initiative Group, led by Diana and under guidance by The Transforming Communities Vision Team, will coordinate promotion and publicity for the 2019 Harvest Sunday offering.

Diana Woods is a consecrated Deaconess through the Office of Deaconesses and Home Missioners, serving the Rio Texas Conference. Her appointed ministry addresses poverty and hunger in the northern Hays County area, primarily among the rural poor, elderly, and first-generation immigrant families. Diana graduated from Texas State University with a Bachelor of Social Work and a Master's of Public Administration. She served as the Hill Country District United Methodist Women's President as well as Mission Coordinator for Education and Interpretation. She previously worked as a social worker in public housing and in disability programs for the Social Security Administration. She is a member of Buda United Methodist Church where she previously served as Lay Leader and President of the United Methodist Women's Group.

Soon to be published in the upcoming Pre-Conference Journal, the Harvest Sunday Initiative Group will be recommending the following for approval by the 2019 Annual Conference:

That, Sunday, November 3, 2019, be recognized as the date of participation by local congregations in the Harvest Sunday Offering.

That, acknowledgement be given to congregations for their action toward meeting United Methodist goals of “engaging in ministry with the poor” and “combating the diseases of poverty by improving health globally.” One of the four areas of mission focus for the church is Ministry With the Poor. In the gospel of Matthew, Chapter 25, we hear the biblical mandate to care for those in need: "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it to me." – re: www.umc.org

That, distribution of 2019 Harvest Sunday offering funds shall be as follows:

1.) 1/3 of totals collected, will be allocated for hunger initiative projects along the Texas-Mexico border areas that are situated, and served within the El Valle, Hill Country, Las Misiones and West Districts.

2.) 1/3 of totals collected will be returned to participating districts. Funds would be distributed, in consultation with district mission committees. Projects that seek ministry with, and, address root causes of poverty, would be of priority.

3.) 1/3 of totals collected, will be equally allocated among 5 Global Ministry Advance Projects with focus on food security and economic empowerment to be determined by the Harvest Sunday Initiative Group with concurrence by The Transforming Communities Vision Team