Opening Worship

Participate in worship to open Annual Conference and invite the Holy Spirit to be a part of the entire event.

7 p.m. Sunday, June 3

Custer Road UMC, 6601 Custer Road, Plano. 

Streamed live at www.NorthTexasUMC.org/ntcac12

General Sessions

Annual Conference members will handle the business and legislation affecting the clergy and laity of the North Texas Conference. Only official members may speak, but there will be a designated visitors area. 

8 a.m. - 5 p.m. - Sunday, June 3 & Tuesday, June 5

Plano Centre, 2000 E. Spring Creek Parkway, Plano

For a preview of the legislation to be discussed at Annual Conference, visit www.northtexasumc.org/2012-Annual-Conferences/workbook.html

Commissioning and Ordination Service

The Board of Ordained Ministry will present candidates for commissioning and ordination.

7 p.m. - Monday, June 4

St. Andrew UMC, 5801 West Plano Parkway, Plano

Spouses Luncheon

Spouses will dine and be entertained by the Connections Band, which has raised money to fight malaria. 

Cost is $20. 

Noon - Monday, June 4

Windhaven Room, Plano Centre

Register at ntcspouselunch.eventbrite.com. For those who prefer to pay at the door, RSVP to Tracie Davis at 940-733-0990 or tlyndavis@gmail.com.

Mission Day

Join the North Texas Conference in hands-on transformation. On the last day of Annual Conference many clergy and laity give back and learn about mission opportunities all over the Metroplex.

8 a.m. - Wednesday, June 6

St. Andrew UMC, 5801 West Plano Parkway, Plano

Get the details at www.northtexasumc.org/2012-Annual-Conferences/home.html and click on 2012 Annual Conference Mission Day at the right.

Website/Social Media

Tweet it up! The official hash tag for the 2012 Annual Conference is "#ntcac12".

The official website for all Annual Conference materials is http://www.NorthTexasUMC.org/ntcac12

Child care

Child care will be provided at

First UMC, Plano, 3160 E. Spring Creek Parkway, Plano.

To make a reservation for your child, contact Ruth Bearden at 972-423-4506 or rbearden@firstmethodist plano.org.

Hotels

For those coming from out of town, some hotels are offering special rates for United Methodists.

See www.northtexasumc.org/2012-Annual-Conferences/hotel-information.html

Annual Conference Workbook

Each year a workbook is produced to provide details on the entire Annual Conference events, reports and legislation. 

Download the 2012 Annual Conference Workbook at www.northtexasumc.org/2012-Annual-Conferences/workbook.html

By Sheron C. Patterson
Editor

About 25 million Americans report difficulty performing everyday tasks due to limited vision, according to the American Foundation for the Blind. Leslie Bledsoe, wife of Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe, is leading the charge to help.

Mrs. Bledsoe, a licensed local pastor and social worker, lost her sight completely in 2002 from an infection that cut off the blood supply to the optic nerve.

“I got scared when I lost my sight,” she recalled. “The only blind person I’ve ever seen is Ray Charles. When I got over losing my sight, I said to myself, ‘Lord, this is not as bad as I thought. God wants us to get on with our lives.’ ”

Mrs. Bledsoe is now an advocate for those without sight or who have low vision. She crisscrosses the North Texas Conference to champion the fact that even without sight, God and life are still good. Her message is holy ghost-filled and humorous. She is not afraid to laugh at herself or to give God praise for her journey.

Weekly, Mrs. Bledsoe can be found at the Center on Vision Loss, sponsored by the American Foundation for the Blind in Dallas. She catches a bus dispatched from the center — and learning to catch the bus was a major step toward independence.

“It took me two years to get on this bus. I was afraid that they’d take me somewhere and leave me,” she laughed.

The center is a modern, high-tech resource center that provides visually impaired individuals with vision rehabilitation programs, community services, and assistive technology, such as electronic video magnifiers and computer screen reading software. 

The center also features a state-of-the-art independent living demonstration apartment donated by Esther R. Smith of Lovers Lane UMC. The apartment includes items as varied as kitchen cutting utensils and office supplies for those with low vision or no sight.

On a recent visit to the center, Mrs. Bledsoe demonstrated some of the technology. She used a computer to type a letter, then read a book using a machine called a Scanning and Reading Appliance.

“There is rapidly developing technology. Some of it did not exist five years ago,” she said. “People do not realize how common sight loss is. Blindness or low vision affects about 1 in 28 Americans older than 40 years of age. People will think that their sight loss is due to aging.

They will not be able to read their mail or the Bible. But their problem is not a part of aging. It is sight loss, and there is help available.”

Mrs. Bledsoe will soon add “author” to her résumé. She recently agreed to serve as co-author of the 2014 School of Christian Mission Study Guide for the United Methodist Women.

For details on the Center on Vision Loss, visit www.afb.org.

By John Lovelace
Special Contributor

On a sun-drenched, bell-ringing, guitar-playing, song-singing Domingo (Sunday in Spanish), hundreds of North Texas United Methodists consecrated a mission raised from seeds planted more than a decade ago.

This is the new home — land and building — of Christ’s Foundry United Methodist Mission in the north Love Field area of Dallas. The mission’s reason for being reads clearly in two languages:

La mision de la Fundicion de Cristo es hacer disciples de Jesucristo para ayudar: Ninos, jovenes y familia. 

The mission of Christ’s Foundry is to make disciples of Jesus Christ through helping: Children, youth and families.

No one knows the story and the mission better than the founding pastor, the Rev. Owen K. Ross. He said the dream, approved near the end of the North Texas Conference’s 2001 session, was to establish a United Methodist presence in this section of northwest Dallas.

“Well, we’re here,” Rev. Ross said as he delivered the May 6 consecration service’s Declaration of Purpose/Declaracion de Proposito. He compared the decade-long endeavor with being in the wilderness and crossing the Jordan. Then he described the “fellow citizens” with this:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.” (Ephesians 2:19)

(A brief scan of the next week’s schedule indicated just how active this household of God really is.)

Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe presided over the presentation and naming and consecration of the building. At his invitation, all pastors in the crowd came forward and stood touching a portion of the building’s columns during the prayer of consecration.

Dr. Clara Reed, Metro District superintendent, offered the opening prayer in English, followed by Christ’s Foundry’s Pastora Lucia French en espanol. Former District Superintendent Larry George pronounced the benediction.

An all-ages ribbon-cutting (“Bring your own scissors!”) symbolized entry into the new building. Tables laden with food dominated two classrooms, and guided tours were given.

One wall of the bell tower garnered considerable attention. On it are plaques bearing names of all major contributors to the Christ’s Foundry building campaign. During the years-long campaign, a gift of $500 or more entitled the giver to a miniature model of the finished bell.

In an email memo, Pastor Ross noted that Christ’s Foundry lacks only $85,000 to pay off the original $2.5 million indebtedness for the land, building and furnishings.

 

 

 

A hint: There’s plenty of room for more donors’ names on Christ’s Foundry’s bell tower wall plaques.

The Rev. Jodi Smith, director of the Center for Connectional Resources, was elected to the General Council on Finance and Administration at the 2012 General Conference in Tampa, Fla.

She is one of three representatives from the South Central Jurisdiction and the only newly elected person from the jurisdiction that includes the North Texas Conference for this quadrennium. She expects to serve two terms, or eight years. 

“The members of GCFA are nominated by the Council of Bishops and elected by the General Conference,” Rev. Smith said. “Bishop Bledsoe lifted my name up to the Council of Bishops for this nomination. I am honored that he would do so and look forward to participating in the work before us.”

General Conference 2012 cut the size of the finance council to 21 members. Before, the South Central Jurisdiction had seven people on the 38-member council.

2012 is a year of meetings and holy conferencing. With the completion of General Conference, we have one down and two more to go, with Annual Conference and Jurisdictional Conference.

Although we did not accomplish all that we had hoped at General Conference, it was a great gathering and an opportunity to renew our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ and witness The United Methodist Church become more global in our understanding of ministry.

Now we turn our hearts and minds back to our local annual conferences to continue the work of mission and transformation. It is at the local level that Christian discipleship is lived out. When I see and hear about the wonderful things that are going on in our local churches, I know that Christ is alive and well in North Texas.

I am excited about this year’s Annual Conference. It will be a time for us to renew our faith through worship and hear some exciting things going on in the four NTC centers.

We will receive a report from the Nehemiah Group, which has worked all year on recommendations on how we can make Annual Conference more meaningful and inspiring.

You will not want to miss any part of the Annual Conference — some exciting things are in store for us all. As clergy, we must not forget our calling in Christ. It is our call that unites us in ministry and enables us to navigate through changing times and contexts for ministry.

The older I get, the more I find myself hanging out with other older folks. We need to rediscover what it means to be young and reconnect with young people.

Listen to their ideas and value their thoughts and contributions as they serve Christ and His church. At a church I visited one Sunday, a young man named Byron was asked to share some of his poetry. The pastor put him on the spot, but he rose from his seat, stood before the congregation and spoke in perfect rhyme about what it was like to use the gifts and talents God has given you for service to others. 

Do you remember what it was like to be young? I do. I remember the radical things we used to do, the zeal and enthusiasm for change in the church. God has not abandoned the church or God’s people.

The Apostle Paul reminds us in Philippians 3:14: “But I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward — to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.”

I’ll see you on the journey!

Nehemiah Group offers ideas for better experience.

The Nehemiah Group, a task force of clergy and laity, was formed immediately after Annual Conference 2011 to evaluate, assess and revise the experience of Annual Conference for the North Texas Annual Conference. 

The Rev. Paul Rasmussen, convener, presented the group’s recommendations to the Core Leadership Team on May 7. The CLT accepted the report unanimously, and it will be presented at the 2012 Annual Conference for affirmation.

Nehemiah Group presents report on Annual Conference

Here are some highlights from the Nehemiah Group report, which seeks to make the Annual Conference more effective. 

NEHEMIAH GROUP 

Convener: Paul Rasmussen

Members: Alfred White, Brenda McDonald, Dan Perkins, the Rev. Edgar Bazan, the Rev. Gene Wisdom, the Rev. Jim Ozier, Jill Pledger, Joell Stanislaus, Dr. Larry George, Linda Parks, the Rev. Arthur Jones, the Rev. Chris Dowd, the Rev. Chris Schoolcraft, the Rev. Dana Coker, the Rev. Dean Libby, the Rev. Jodi Smith, the Rev. Keith Boone, the Rev. Kory Knott, the Rev. Liz Talbert, the Rev. Lucretia Facen, the Rev. Marti Soper, the Rev. Rachel Baughman, the Rev. Sheron Patterson, the Rev. Valarie Englert and the Rev. Tim Morrison

VALUES

Quality production: As stewards of the resources it takes to fund the event and the time sacrificed by its participants, we believe that the production value of Annual Conference should be world-class. The best and brightest laity within our churches can and do expect quality production.

Pace and flow: A well-organized and executed conference should demand attention to detail of the pace and flow of the event. Agenda items and events should be paired together in a deliberate, intentional fashion to ensure logical flow and inspirational moments throughout.

Inspiring presenters: Great public communication is essential for a meaningful event. We believe that the NTC ought to give platform priority to world-class, inspiring communicators.

Great music: We believe that great music, of multiple genres, strategically placed throughout the programs, is essential to the establishment of a compelling conference environment.

Fun: We believe that the participants of Annual Conference will learn more, contribute more and be more inspired in an environment that acknowledges a spirit of fun.

Valuable content: We believe that we can be more intentional about the content included in the myriad presentations and take-home material of Annual Conference. We believe that our content should not be limited to routine and required presentations, but should also include best practices for the local churches and ministries, compelling presentations of the gospel, and information about institutional and mission promotion.

Creativity: We believe that planning for Annual Conference should demand a comprehensive consideration of creativity in its organization, production and execution.

Inspiring worship: We believe that strategic moments of profound and inspiring worship are non-negotiable components of a meaningful Annual Conference experience.

Participation: We believe that Annual Conference should be an environment that invites and facilitates active participation from its attendees.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The conference office should move the planning, production, and execution of Annual Conference to a third-party task force, including a professional event planner, with the sole objective of planning a meaningful experience anchored by the values.

Additionally, the task force:

Integrates the stated priorities as it celebrates the NTC’s time- honored traditions in meaningful and inspiring ways. 

Pursues nationally and globally recognized keynote speakers.

Pursues a single location that can accommodate the entire

Integrates worship into the fabric of our legislative and presentation sessions rather than as stand-alone, off-site experiences.

Explores greater participation of vendors and vendor fees and participant registration fees to increase revenue and ensure quality production.

Collaborates with NTC officials to reduce the volume of midconference presentations by off-loading applicable reports to district conferences and electronic distribution and increase the volume of teaching and inspirational sessions throughout.

Creates a specific evaluation process and team to thoroughly evaluate every session.
Thoughtfully brands, markets and promotes the event in advance, with particular attention to keynote speakers and music guests.

Crafts and uses language that suggests the leadership and learning benefits of Annual Conference over and above its reporting and business protocol.

The United Methodist Women of Friberg-Cooper UMC in Wichita Falls had a busy week celebrating Mother’s Day. 

Grace United Methodist church in west Sherman celebrated its 40th anniversary May 6. Five of the 10 founding members and other charter members attended the celebration. Other special guests included Henry Stevenson, the first pastor of Grace UMC, and District Superintendent Marvin Guier and his wife, Kathy.

Instead of doing initial planning for a new church at the conference or district level, Grace UMC began with a group of lay people who had the dream of a new kind of church. They wanted the church to be relevant to what was happening in the world, passionate about sharing Christ with that world and creative in its missional approach.

Among its services is the Grace Legal Clinic, providing free legal assistance. The church, along with co-sponsors Grayson County Bar Association and North Texas Legal Services, serves an average of 30 to 40 people at the monthly clinic, which also provides food and child care.

By Carol Parks
Special Contributor - Pastor, Bogata UMC

Church finds that if you build a community softball league, young adults will come

Who would have thought that a church whose members average 72 in age could grow through playing softball? 

Well, God did of course!

First UMC Bogata was like many churches in the North Texas Conference, an aging church with a colorful history but a shaky future. But this was one small-town church that was not going to settle for fading into the history books. 

Instead, this body of Christ reached out into the community to make a difference. In fall 2010, members began a churchwide conversation that included the question: 

What is God asking us to do to accomplish even more?

One of the ideas that emerged was to offer a co-ed softball season for the young adults and families of Bogata and the surrounding areas. 

The dream was to play a summer season using the high school field. The church hoped to get at least four teams to coordinate a solid rotation for the small league. Well, the church ended up with eight teams and more than 200 people each Sunday afternoon on the ball field. 

Not a bad crowd when you consider that Bogata only has a shade over 1,000 residents.

By the end of that first season, the ministry was expanded and the Bogata Athletics Association was born. 

In August 2011, the association held its first meeting and began to dream of a field to be used for year-round games. Once again, this little church moved into action. Under the direction of Duane and Martha Bryson and Kris and Cortney Lawson, an abandoned high school softball field was found, secured, and cleared.

“The Lord could not have talked to Duane or me any more than He has with this softball association. I am just blown out of the ballpark every time I go down there and see what has been accomplished,” said Martha Bryson. 

“Yes, we have grown very weary in the chores at times. But oh, my goodness, just look at what is going on in Bogata, Texas, on Sunday afternoons!”

Besides families having fun, the field is bringing the community together. Many of the local churches participate and even pitch in on improvements on the field.

“We have created a little bit of heaven out here,” said Duane Bryson. “If we have created something that our young people can enjoy and they can take this on for themselves, then we have really done something.”

As a result, the young people of Bogata are discovering that God exists not just in historic edifices called sanctuaries but also on the ball field. 

The church has attracted more young adults, and they are stepping into leadership roles.

By thinking inside the batter’s box, this little church in Bogata is not so little anymore.

Grace United Methodist church in west Sherman celebrated its 40th anniversary May 6. Five of the 10 founding members and other charter members attended the celebration. Other special guests included Henry Stevenson, the first pastor of Grace UMC, and District Superintendent Marvin Guier and his wife, Kathy.

Instead of doing initial planning for a new church at the conference or district level, Grace UMC began with a group of lay people who had the dream of a new kind of church. They wanted the church to be relevant to what was happening in the world, passionate about sharing Christ with that world and creative in its missional approach.

Among its services is the Grace Legal Clinic, providing free legal assistance. The church, along with co-sponsors Grayson County Bar Association and North Texas Legal Services, serves an average of 30 to 40 people at the monthly clinic, which also provides food and child care.

The United Methodist Women of Friberg-Cooper UMC in Wichita Falls had a busy week celebrating Mother’s Day. 

By Carol Parks
Special Contributor - Pastor, Bogata UMC

Church finds that if you build a community softball league, young adults will come

Who would have thought that a church whose members average 72 in age could grow through playing softball? 

Well, God did of course!

First UMC Bogata was like many churches in the North Texas Conference, an aging church with a colorful history but a shaky future. But this was one small-town church that was not going to settle for fading into the history books. 

Instead, this body of Christ reached out into the community to make a difference. In fall 2010, members began a churchwide conversation that included the question: 

What is God asking us to do to accomplish even more?

One of the ideas that emerged was to offer a co-ed softball season for the young adults and families of Bogata and the surrounding areas. 

The dream was to play a summer season using the high school field. The church hoped to get at least four teams to coordinate a solid rotation for the small league. Well, the church ended up with eight teams and more than 200 people each Sunday afternoon on the ball field. 

Not a bad crowd when you consider that Bogata only has a shade over 1,000 residents.

By the end of that first season, the ministry was expanded and the Bogata Athletics Association was born. 

In August 2011, the association held its first meeting and began to dream of a field to be used for year-round games. Once again, this little church moved into action. Under the direction of Duane and Martha Bryson and Kris and Cortney Lawson, an abandoned high school softball field was found, secured, and cleared.

“The Lord could not have talked to Duane or me any more than He has with this softball association. I am just blown out of the ballpark every time I go down there and see what has been accomplished,” said Martha Bryson. 

“Yes, we have grown very weary in the chores at times. But oh, my goodness, just look at what is going on in Bogata, Texas, on Sunday afternoons!”

Besides families having fun, the field is bringing the community together. Many of the local churches participate and even pitch in on improvements on the field.

“We have created a little bit of heaven out here,” said Duane Bryson. “If we have created something that our young people can enjoy and they can take this on for themselves, then we have really done something.”

As a result, the young people of Bogata are discovering that God exists not just in historic edifices called sanctuaries but also on the ball field. 

The church has attracted more young adults, and they are stepping into leadership roles.

By thinking inside the batter’s box, this little church in Bogata is not so little anymore.

By John Lovelace
Special Contributor

On a sun-drenched, bell-ringing, guitar-playing, song-singing Domingo (Sunday in Spanish), hundreds of North Texas United Methodists consecrated a mission raised from seeds planted more than a decade ago.

This is the new home — land and building — of Christ’s Foundry United Methodist Mission in the north Love Field area of Dallas. The mission’s reason for being reads clearly in two languages:

La mision de la Fundicion de Cristo es hacer disciples de Jesucristo para ayudar: Ninos, jovenes y familia. 

The mission of Christ’s Foundry is to make disciples of Jesus Christ through helping: Children, youth and families.

No one knows the story and the mission better than the founding pastor, the Rev. Owen K. Ross. He said the dream, approved near the end of the North Texas Conference’s 2001 session, was to establish a United Methodist presence in this section of northwest Dallas.

“Well, we’re here,” Rev. Ross said as he delivered the May 6 consecration service’s Declaration of Purpose/Declaracion de Proposito. He compared the decade-long endeavor with being in the wilderness and crossing the Jordan. Then he described the “fellow citizens” with this:

“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.” (Ephesians 2:19)

(A brief scan of the next week’s schedule indicated just how active this household of God really is.)

Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe presided over the presentation and naming and consecration of the building. At his invitation, all pastors in the crowd came forward and stood touching a portion of the building’s columns during the prayer of consecration.

Dr. Clara Reed, Metro District superintendent, offered the opening prayer in English, followed by Christ’s Foundry’s Pastora Lucia French en espanol. Former District Superintendent Larry George pronounced the benediction.

An all-ages ribbon-cutting (“Bring your own scissors!”) symbolized entry into the new building. Tables laden with food dominated two classrooms, and guided tours were given.

One wall of the bell tower garnered considerable attention. On it are plaques bearing names of all major contributors to the Christ’s Foundry building campaign. During the years-long campaign, a gift of $500 or more entitled the giver to a miniature model of the finished bell.

In an email memo, Pastor Ross noted that Christ’s Foundry lacks only $85,000 to pay off the original $2.5 million indebtedness for the land, building and furnishings.

 

 

 

A hint: There’s plenty of room for more donors’ names on Christ’s Foundry’s bell tower wall plaques.

One of the rules that dietitians tell us is to “never go shopping for groceries when you are hungry” because you’re likely to make some bad choices. I can adapt this rule to “never write a column when or you are overly despondent.

Since this is my next-to-last column as your Conference Lay Leader, I certainly don’t want to be too negative, but I am still concerned about the results of General Conference. It has, however, been very interesting to listen to the spin that different groups put on what happened. The institution folks believe the church has been saved, and the change folks believe that the church is doomed.

I was in the latter camp for the past week or so, but I am beginning to see the positive.

One train of thought is that the UMC needed a colossal failure like the 2012 General Conference to jump-start serious discussions about our future — can we hold this connection together? The attitudes in different regions of the country are so far apart that there is great doubt that we can continue in a covenant relationship. Nothing would be so painful as a split in our denomination, but I don’t see a willingness of anyone to seek common ground.

I do know one thing: If the UMC is going to be saved or succeed as a new entity, it will be because the laity get involved. Laity must take a leading role in our discussions. The common theme of the three laity addresses at General Conference was “If it is to be, it is up to me.” In other words, we laity must take personal responsibility for the UMC’s future."

I was struck this week with the scripture from James 1:22: “Be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” How can words written 2,000 years ago be so applicable to our situation in 2012?

Many of us laity have convinced ourselves that our role as a United Methodist Christian is to go to church for an hour or two each Sunday, maybe serve on a committee and possibly do some mission/outreach work. I must confess that I am guilty of that.

Being “doers of the word” means to follow the instruction of Jesus to “preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for the prisoners and release the oppressed.” (Luke 4:18) or the Great Commission to “go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28: 19-20). 

We, the laity, have yielded the responsibility for transforming the world to the clergy, and we are the real change agents in this world. The way we act, talk and treat others is what matters. Remember the admonition to preach the gospel; use words if necessary. 

As my journey as Conference Lay Leader ends, my commitment to each of you is to be a “doer of the world.” For if it is to be, it is up to me. How about you? Grace and peace.

Richard Hearne is Lay Leader of the North Texas Conference, which stretches from just this side of Bogata to just that side of Burkburnett. E-mail him atrbhearne@sbcglobal.net.

Have you ever wanted to feel at home in the woods, know how to live with only what the Earth provides or connect to your Native American roots?

Renae Williams of the Native American Fellowship, hosted by Tinney Chapel UMC in Winnsboro, is holding daylong classes on survival basics. Participants will learn to build shelters, make fire by friction, and find and purify water.

Classes are open to adults and children ages 5 and older, with a limit of 10 people per class. 

Cost is $80 for adults and $50 for children under 14, with special rates for parents and children in the same class. Private lessons can be arranged. 

For details, call 903-951- 3131.

The Native American Fellowship meets at 7 p.m. the third Thursday of the month at Tinney Chapel.