First UMC Dallas and the Downtown Food Pantry, a ministry of First UMC Paris, received the Community Innovator of the Year award from the North Texas Food Bank at the annual “Dishing Out Gratitude” program.

Twelve awards were given to individuals, businesses and organizations that advanced the food bank’s values and showcased exemplary efforts in fighting hunger.

First UMC Dallas, through its Crossroads Community Services directed by Jay Cole, and Downtown Food Pantry, directed by John Kirkman, adopted the hub and spoke model in October 2011. The model distributes food closer to where people in need actually live.

First UMC Dallas has seen a 45 percent increase in families served. Paris is the rural hub for the food bank, serving as a central distribution point that moves food to smaller “spokes.”

The partnership between the churches and the North Texas Food Bank provides each house member with up to 30 nutritious meals a month.

Penny Mitchell was approved for commissioning as an elder by the Committee on Preparations and Qualifications in 2011 and has been awaiting news of a full-time appointment in order to be commissioned.

Under her leadership she has taken Pilot Point UMC to a place where the church is able to pay her full time, and she will be commissioned at the Annual Conference in June!

Grant offered to preserve and improve Oak Lawn's historic structure

By JOAN G. LABARR
Special Contributor

Partners for Sacred Places national and regional leaders joined representatives of Preservation Dallas and Oak Lawn UMC Dallas for an April 24 open house and tours of the historic church. The church recently received a $100,000 Partners for Sacred Places grant awarded to community-oriented historic churches.

Grace UMC Dallas also received a grant for $25,000. Both churches were featured in the Feb. 29, 2012, edition of the United Methodist Reporter national edition. The Oak Lawn church’s sanctuary was built in 1916. Its distinctive Gothic style and art glass windows stand in contrast to its bustling urban setting.

The Rev. Frank Drenner, senior pastor, says leaders are now setting priorities and deciding how to use the grant. Replacing the crumbling flat roof of the education building and a new elevator and stairwell are current needs. One of the open house highlights was the hospitality center that opened shortly before Rev. Drenner was appointed last June. He describes the space as “a sort of magnet and breath of new life.”

Bob Jaeger, national president of Partners for Sacred Places organization, said that he and regional director/project manager Suzanne Yowell, were at the open house to celebrate Oak Lawn’s work and reinforce the group’s commitment to working in the Dallas area. “Oak Lawn is so committed to serving the community, and that is our commitment, too,” he said.

He cited the hospitality area as an example of how underutilized space can be developed into vibrant, functional environments that are an asset to both congregation and community. As Oak Lawn reaches out to the community, one of the intriguing possibilities is working with various arts groups that are seeking a home.

The process of reaching out to community groups is leading to exciting collaborative relationships with groups like Preservation Dallas, an organization dedicated to the preservation and revitalization of historic buildings, neighborhoods and places. Lisa Kays, Preservation Dallas project manager, is thrilled about what she saw at Oak Lawn. “We partner with Partners for Sacred Places and others as we work together on projects to preserve Dallas’ historic architectural resources.”

Yowell, who has been involved with the Oak Lawn project from the start more than five years ago, led the required New Dollars, New Partners training for Oak Lawn, Grace and 10 other North Texas Conference congregations. She has made numerous site visits of churches seeking grants and is available to consult with other interested churches.

To date, the organization has awarded a total of $145,000 to NTC congregations. To contact Yowell at the Fort Worth-based Texas office, email syowell@sacredplaces.org or call 866-315- 4840, ext. 252.

Frank Jackson, 84, a reserve delegate from Lovers Lane UMC, and Ricky Harrison, 20, a rising junior at McMurry University, represented the extremes in age from the NTC.

“I enjoy working with Ricky, even though I’ve got ties that are older than he is,” Jackson said. “I never think of myself as old. I still think young. “This is my third General Conference. . . . I am not sure that I will get another shot.” 

For Harrision, “It is great to work with Frank and having the ability to work with others who have more experience and wisdom. There is range of experiences and backgrounds in the delegation, and I appreciate it.”

A North Texas Conference who’s who

It takes a lot of people to put on something as massive as GC 2012, and North Texans were in the mix, including Joe Stobaugh and John Thornburg. Stobaugh, a deacon who is the cantor and curator of worship at Argyle UMC, served in the house band at General Conference.

“I have played in 27 services at this General Conference. I play bass, saxophone and guitar. I have also played in the 2000 and the 2008 General Conference in Fort Worth. This is my first time being here the entire time,” he said. Thornburg, director of A Ministry of Congregational Singing, coordinated morning prayer and recruited worship leaders for morning and evening services.

Some of the recruiting happened only once delegates arrived, sometimes from overseas. “It has been the beautiful experience of going to meet people, grabbing a translator and meeting someone on the fly,” he said. “Some of it comes by the leading of the holy spirit, too. If I see someone whose face or expres- sion of joy or articulate nature tells me that they ought to be a leader, I recruit them.”

Plano’s Mueller adds amendment on women, race and age to proposal on guaranteed appointments

By SHERON C. PATTERSON
Editor

The Rev. Gary Mueller, senior pastor of First UMC Plano, was at the forefront of softening the blow to end guaranteed appointments for clergy. The highly controversial legislation came on the floor for vote quietly May 1 and was approved quickly. However, it is under judicial review, and a ruling on whether it will stand is expected in coming months.

Under this legislation, bishops and cabinets will be allowed to give elders less than full-time appointments. Also, bishops and their cabinets, with the approval of their boards of ordained ministry and annual conference’s executive session, can put elders on unpaid transitional leave for up to 24 months.

The “Mueller Amendment” also lifted up concerns for the inclusion for women, persons of color and older persons. “Prior to General Conference, I had been working with folks across the country on an amendment because of a concern about what would happen to women, people of color and those who are older if the security of appointments went away,” Mueller said. “I crafted an amendment in conversation with the North Texas delegation, and it became known as the Mueller Amendment.”

“It was approved overwhelmingly by the Higher Education and Ministry Committee. Then suddenly it went out on Twitter,” he said. “The amendment lifted up concerns for those who speak up for justice, those engaged in prophetic ministry and those who are on the edges of the theological spectrum. Now there is accountability, dialogue and reporting,” he said.

“I was shocked when the guaranteed appointment legislation was not taken off the consent calendar,” he said. “It was an important enough issue for us to talk about on the floor of General Conference. I am disappointed that the entire General Conference did not talk about it.”

But there was a good bit of conversation on Facebook and other social media about it, he said.

The amendment “provides protection and data in conversation with the bishop on an annual basis,” Mueller said. “The amendment provides that there will be a team that advises the bishop and the cabinet each year on the process of making missional appointments to raise questions about women, persons of color and older folks so those folks are not being left on the edges because it is easier to appoint certain people to certain places. 

The amendment provides that the bishop and cabinet will report to the executive committee of the Board of Ministry annually statistics about who is not receiving appointments. That information will be passed on to the committee on the episcopacy at the annual conference and jurisdictional levels as a part of the bishop’s evaluation. The items built in look at data and transparency to see if there is a trend developing of certain folks not getting appointments.

“Here is how our Annual Conference will be impacted,” he said. “We will create a team of eight people, half laity, half clergy, including the dean of the cabinet. They will meet annually with the bishop to look at trends around missional appointments with attention to women, persons of color and older persons. We will measure the impact of doing away with guaranteed appointments. It will begin good conversation and transparency around missional appointments. I think it will be great conversation, and we will be a healthier conference as a result of it.”

Clayton Oliphint gave high praise to Mueller’s efforts.

“The guaranteed appointment legislation went through on consent calendar. They tried to lift it off, but it was defeated. Hard work had been done in the committee, especially by our own Gary Mueller. His amendment made the legislation palatable for those who had strong concerns about the implementation of the ending of guaranteed appointments.”