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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

William B. Lawrence, dean of Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, has been elected president of The United Methodist Church’s 2012 - 2016 Judicial Council. He was elected May 3 at the General Conference.

Dr. Lawrence, dean and professor of American Church History at Perkins since 2002, was first elected by the 2008 General Conference as one of nine members of the Judicial Council. Known as the denomination’s Supreme Court, the council determines whether acts or proposals of the General Conference, as well as Jurisdictional, Central and Annual Conferences, conform to the Constitution and Book of Discipline. It rules on declaratory decisions during General Conference sessions and reviews decisions of law by bishops.

Judicial Council members are elected to eight-year terms by the General Conference and can serve no more than two consecutive terms. Members of the Judicial Council elect their own president for a four-year term. Lawrence will serve as president until 2016.

Dr. Lawrence also has been elected president by the Association of United Methodist Theological Schools for a year-long term.