Mexican activist Juan Fraire Escobedo, whose mother, Marisela Escobedo, was killed while protesting the lack of justice for the murder of his sister, Rubi, will speak at 7 p.m. Feb. 8 at First UMC Plano about the struggle to end violence in Ciudad Juarez and along the Texas border. Escobedo brings a powerful testimony of the human costs of the drug war, militarism and gun trafficking, and is part of a movement to forge peace in Mexico. His story has been featured on NBC's Dateline. John Lindsay-Poland of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, who addresses gun trafficking to Mexico, the drug war and what the United States can do, will also speak.

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The Rev. Zan W. Holmes

On Sunday, Jan. 22, the Rev. Tyrone Gordon announced during the two worship services that he was stepping down as senior pastor of the nearly 6,000-member congregation.

The Rev. Dr. Zan Wesley Holmes has been asked and consented to serve as interim pastor until an appointment can be made at the Annual Conference in June 2012.

Dr. Holmes served as senior pastor of St. Luke for 27 years and was named pastor emeritus upon his retirement 10 years ago.

Since then, Dr. Holmes has been actively preaching and teaching at churches and conferences across the country. "This is an unexpected challenge for me," Dr. Holmes said.

"I am sure that working together, with the grace of God, we can make it," he said.

Dr. Holmes' first Sunday in the pulpit of St. Luke is scheduled for Feb. 19.

TAMPA, Fla. — In a three-day briefing, more than 300 delegates, communicators and others got a preview of the diverse issues that the lawmaking body of The United Methodist Church will tackle in spring.

Representing the North Texas Conference, the Rev. Jan Davis, the second elected clergy, and Ricky Harrison, the first elected layperson and lay delegation leader, joined the Pre-General Conference meeting Jan. 19-21 at the Tampa Convention Center.

 
NTC delegates the Rev. Jan Davis (left) and Ricky Harrison (right) attended the briefing in Tampa, Fla

United Methodist Communications sponsored the event, with involvement and support from other agencies and ministries of the church.

Other agencies and ministries of the church also supported and were involved in the preview of some of the issues the delegates will face April 24- May 4.

After attending the briefing, "I feel prepared in my mind because there is so much legislation that we learned about," Rev. Davis said.

"I feel prepared in my heart because we talked about the issues that could potentially divide us," she said. "I feel prepared in my spirit because I am open to what God wants to do through The United Methodist Church. And I am so thankful that North Texas gets to be a part of that."

Harrison was also optimistic and excited.

"This has been a great experience for me as a first-time delegate. I am taking it all in," he said in Tampa. "We've been talking about the big issues. . . . I have met folks from all across the jurisdiction and across the country. I have met people on my legislative team, and we talked about the issues we will focus on when we come back here for General Conference."

He also provided some perspective as a younger delegate.

"This is a wonderful experience to be here as a young person," Harrison said. "It is good to meet other young persons in the UM connection, those in college and in high school.

"I am enjoying meeting the young adult leaders, whether lay or clergy, and working with them to see what it means to be a young leader in The United Methodist Church."

United Methodist News Service contributed to this report.

Here are some of the General Conference issues presented at the Pre-General Conference Briefing. For a full listing, see gc2012.org.

Leading vital congregations

Proposed changes to the ordination process will eliminate guaranteed appointments, streamline the ordination process and sharpen the focus on making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, said members of the Study of Ministry Commission in their presentation on clergy effectiveness proposals.

Bishop Goodpaster

Set-aside bishop

Bishop Larry Goodpaster, episcopal leader of the Western North Carolina area and current Council of Bishops president, discussed the proposal to create a "set-aside bishop" without residential responsibilities. "It is nearly impossible to be president of the Council of Bishops and lead an episcopal area," he said.

Ethnic initiatives

Representatives of United Methodist ethnic/racial ministries expressed concerns about the proposed restructuring of The United Methodist Church, which includes consolidating nine of the denomination's 13 general agencies into a new United Methodist Center for Connectional Mission and Ministry. The representatives said there was little or no consultation with them about the structure proposed by the Interim Operations Team. The restructuring has been endorsed by the Council of Bishops and by the Connectional Table, which drafted the legislation.

Worldwide nature of the church

The 20-member Committee to Study the Worldwide Nature of The United Methodist Church considered how to forge deeper connections, establish greater local authority and create a more equitable sharing of power and representation, reported Kansas Area Bishop Scott Jones, who chaired the committee.

Church budget

The General Council on Finance and Administration's main task is to present a proposed church budget for 2013-16. The agency also submitted 43 petitions. (See gcfa.org/gc2012.) The agency established an economic advisory committee, which created three economic scenarios and worked with the projections of denominational agencies.

At $603 million, the recommended budget reflects general reductions of 6.6 percent and marks the first time that the proposed budget is smaller than the one presented for the previous quadrennium.

The World Service Fund, at $311.6 million, represents 52 percent of the budget. Other categories are Ministerial Education, $105.6 million; Episcopal (the bishops), $90.3 million; General Administration, $8.2 million; Black College, $42.1 million; Africa University, $9.4 million; and Interdenominational Cooperation, $8.2 million.

Changes to clergy pensions

The General Conference will consider two proposals that would change clergy pensions, shifting more of the risk in retirement preparation from annual conferences to individual clergy. The United Methodist Board of Pension and Health Benefits is asking the denomination's top lawmaking body to choose between the two options. The first would combine a defined benefit component with a defined contribution component, like the clergy's current retirement program but with a reduced benefit for clergy and, consequently, a lower contribution for conferences. The second option would be a defined contribution-only plan.

A defined benefit plan provides a monthly pension payment for life, with the employer assuming the bulk of the investment risk. A defined contribution plan, like the 401(k) plans most corporate employees now have, provides an account balance to use during retirement, with the clergyperson assuming most of the risk that the money will not run out in that person's lifetime. The pension board recommends the first option, which combines a reduced defined benefit component with a defined contribution component. Either option would cut costs to conferences by about 15 percent.

Congratulations to the 269 churches in the North Texas Conference that were able to pay 100 percent of their apportionments for 2011.

Apportionments go for missions such as Nothing But Nets, which aims to prevent deaths from malaria. First UMC Dallas youth, the Cameroonian Professional Society and McCulloch Intermediate students last year raised $20,000 for the cause.

The conference's total payout for 2011 was at 95.8 percent, up from 94.6 percent in 2010.

In addition, a very heartfelt thank you goes to the 45 churches that were able to go above and beyond their apportionment in sacrificial second-mile giving on behalf of the 31 churches that were unable to complete their payout this year for various reasons.

You have each demonstrated faithfulness in your support of the work of the Lord in and through The United Methodist Church with your financial gifts as well as your gifts of prayers, presence, service and witness.

May the Lord our God receive all the glory in this time of celebration.

The 100 Percenters

The Rev. Jack Soper, in space designed to be an art gallery.

The addition includes five adult education classes, two large nurseries, a youth center and an art gallery, as well as a storage building for the Boy Scouts, a courtyard and renovations of spaces including the Fellowship Hall and choir room.

It is the first expansion project under Pastor Jack Soper, in his 20th year as senior pastor at the 1,000-member church.

The building project took four years and cost $1.8 million, Dr. Soper said.

Some of the renovations that occurred during 11 months of construction.

"We started with the use of three demographic studies," he explained. "We made use of the annual conference resources, Precept and Missioninsite. These resources gave us very valuable information about our parish. We discovered people in this area who were longing for progressive biblical theology, a truly inclusive church and an emphasis on mission. That is us." Arapaho UMC is also known as the "Pumpkin Church" because for the past 15 autumns, the church's lawn is covered with bright yellow and orange pumpkins that are sold to benefit missions efforts

In the eight-state South Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church, stretching from Nebraska to Louisiana, only one bishop is said to reserve one day per year to meet with the laity.

On Saturday, Jan. 21, at McKinneys Stonebridge UMC, Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe held his fourth annual give-and-take session, attracting about 150 laypersons and a handful of clergy.

Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe made a point with Susan Leddy of First UMC Blossom.

Both conference lay leader Richard Hearne and the bishop cited Eastman Kodak as an example of what happens "when we keep doing the same things the same way," referring to the camera giant's clinging to film as the industry moved to the digital era. Eastman Kodak, which, ironically, invented the digital camera in 1975, recently filed for bankruptcy.

Bishop Bledsoe labeled 2012 "a defining year" for The United Methodist Church, with its once-every- four-years lawmaking General Conference convening this spring in Tampa, Fla.

The four points in the church's Call to Action, he said, are:

1. Leadership development.
2. New places for new people.
3. Ministry with the poor. "John Wesley's kinship with the poor keeps us grounded," he said.
4. "Things going on in the world." He mentioned Nothing But Nets, a program promoted by the UMC, the National Basketball League and others to send free mosquito nets to help stop children's deaths from malaria.

As for issues he backs for approval by the 2012 General Conference, he listed:

Creating the office of a "set-aside" bishop, perhaps a retired bishop, to "help deal with issues." He said he spends more time "in the air" between meetings than he does in the North Texas Conference.

Eliminating guaranteed appointments for all elders. "Some clergy," he noted, "say it's OK for them not to do much because their next appointment is guaranteed. The bishop can't do much about it. There's no place to put them."

Reducing the number of churchwide agencies. This "could free up $60 million for vital congregations and other work closer to home," he said.

Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe and a Laity Day participant exchange viewpoints at the annual event.

Asked what can be done "to get information beyond the pastor's desk," Hearne recommended that local church lay leaders go on the conference website at least once a week and share what they find helpful.

The bishop was asked about the data that local churches are required to gather."I'm not interested in merely gathering more data," Hearne said. "What does the church have to say about unemployment, for instance, and what are we doing about it? Understand what God is calling you to do, then you can understand the data. . . . We are called to do acts of justice and mercy, and we're better at mercy than we are at justice."

From left: Wilford Job, Robin A. Phillips, Jenna Morrison and John Bodnar, representing different NTC churches, joined together for lunch.

In preparing for lunch, Hearne urged participants: "Don't sit with the people you came with; talk about issues in your church."

The suggestion apparently worked.

After lunch, handwritten notes passed to the bishop helped him choose laity to tell about their churches' work in such fields as prison ministry aid to special-needs children and women's ministries.

Formula for a successful Laity Day? The bishop speaks, the people listen. The people speak, the bishop listens.