Spring IM campaign has broadcasts, billboards

North Texas Conference Igniting Ministry will be contributing to a cooperative buy of broadcast television spots and highway billboards during the April 23-May 2 United Methodist General Conference as the primary spring 2008 marketing effort. Local churches are encouraged to take advantage of the general church messages by developing inviting and welcoming plans to encourage potential visitors to "Come Home for Easter." Resources, including over-sized postcards featuring an African theme to...

Juntos Servimos issues plea for wheelchairs

Juntos Servimos Ministry, based in Matamoros, Mexico, is seeking 24 "traditional" wheelchairs for use in several nearby villages. Larry Cox, Juntos Servimos executive director, reports that the ministry is moving close to collecting a thousand wheelchairs, primarily through the organization Joni and Friends and efforts by First UMC, Mansfield, and individuals in the Brownsville area. Cox cites an example of the kind of persons who need the chairs. A young man named Cuco had a diving accident...

Palmer Studies lecture series set at Suncreek UMC, Allen

Suncreek UMC, Allen, announces the Palmer Studies in the Faith lecture series set Feb. 17-18 with Rev. James W. "Jim" Moore as guest lecturer. He will also speak at a special clergy luncheon at 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 18. Dr. Moore will preach for worship on Feb. 17 with services scheduled at 8:15, 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. Evening lectures will both begin with a 6:00 p.m. fellowship dinner, and the program beginning at 6:45 p.m. Tickets for the dinner may be purchased from Suncreek UMC. "Faith is the...

SCJ episcopal candidates

Among the candidates for the office of bishop interviewing with the South Central Jurisdiction Women's Leadership Team Jan. 28 at Highland Park UMC, Dallas, were from left: Revs. Earl Bledsoe, Texas Conference; Jim Welch, Texas Conference; Tim Bruster, Central Texas Conference; Roberto Gomez, Rio Grande Conference; Jim Dorff, North Texas Conference; Cheryl Bell, Kansas West Conference; Rodney Steele, Arkansas Conference; Mike Lowry, Southwest Texas Conference, and Steve Rankin, Kansas West...

First UMC, DeSoto hosts global poverty workshop

First UMC, DeSoto, will host the Bread for the World "Offering of Letters" workshop, March 1 from 9:00 a.m. to 1 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The worship will focus on an understanding of the role of Bread for the World as an organization and its advocacy information on the 2008 "Offering of Letters," an initiative promoting the Global Poverty Act and an increase in funding for poverty focused development assistance. There is no cost to the workshop. Presenters will be Seth Wispelwey, Texas...

MCH hosts statewide child care conference

BY KIRSTEN PASHAMethodist Children's Home Methodist Children's Home (MCH), Waco, hosted a four-day statewide conference Jan. 15-18 to discuss the Mstate of child care in Texas and what the faith-based community offers the foster care system. The more than 100 attend ees were invited by MCH and Judge Carole Clark, of Smith County. They included Texas district court judges, social workers, attorneys, CASA volunteers, juvenile probation staff, Texas Department of Family Protective Services and...

Krum UMC holds 'Dare to Dream" groundbreaking

BY JOHN A. LOVELACE Special Contributor The little church that dared to dream outdid itself in 2007. And because it did, 217-member Krum UMC in the Dallas-Denton District, broke ground for its new home -- its first since 1924 -- on a blustery blue-sky Sunday, Jan. 20. Last year, early in the church's "Dare to Dream" first-ever capital funds drive, consultant Don Smith and the building committee set three goals: One they were sure of at $200,000, a challenge of $250,000 and a "very-best...

Wichita Falls "Hearts Afire 2008" celebrates old and new

BY REV. LIZ TALBERTFloral Heights UMC, Wichita Falls  From north, south, east, and west United Methodists from across the Wichita Falls District gathered Jan. 20 for the third annual district-wide evangelism event "Hearts Afire 2008." This year's theme "Ponder Anew What the Almighty Can Do:Living in Covenant with God and One Another" was ably and powerfully addressed by Bishop Alfred L. Norris. The event featured:  The new---a new hymn for the congregation, the voices and faces...

Rev. 'Woody' Poore returns home after the flood

BY DR. JOAN GRAY LABARR Editor When Rev. Elwood (Woody) Poore turns 86 on Feb. 12, he will be able to celebrate in his home on Laurel Drive in Gainesville. It was once far from certain that this spirited retired pastor would be able to return to the only home that he and his late wife, Ruth, ever owned. The interior of the much-loved home and most of its contents, representing more than 50 years of marriage and ministry, were destroyed in the flash flood that swept through Gainesville in...

Dallas Methodist Medical Center employee-patient lauded with 'Comeback of the Year' recognition

BY LYNETTE WILKINSON Methodist Dallas Medical Center The Liver Institute at Methodist Dallas Medical Center recently announced that Amy Hackney, business coordinator, has been awarded the Patient Comeback of the Year Award by the American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP). Hackney received a kidney transplant in 1999 after being diagnosed with end stage renal disease when she was only 23-years old. After her transplant, Hackney went on to obtain her MBA in Health Care Management and...

Verna Edwards plays to bless others

BY DR. JOAN GRAY LABARREditor When Verna Edwards was a young girl, she dreamed of being a classical musician in a symphony orchestra. Her father had been a jazz trumpeter and her mother was a musician too. In 1939, her senior year in high school in Flint, Michigan, teenage Verna won the state coronet championship.She wanted to go to college, but there was no money. She had to go to work to help support the family. She did find a venue to continue her music – the Salvation Army. That's where...

'Bible Stories Come Alive' by Dr. Peter Pitzele

Stonebridge UMC, McKinney, will present Dr. Peter Pitzele in a family event, "Bible Stories Come Alive," from 4:00-6:00 p.m. Feb. 10, and also in a special theory workshop from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Feb. 11. Dr. Pitzele uses "Bibliodrama," or biblical play, to explore the Bible in a fresh , invigorating manner through imagination and dialogue. It is a playful, yet serious, investigation in which readers assume the role of biblical characters to develop stories through participation in...

Pleasant Mound-Urban Park UMC to host Town Hall Meeting

Sharon Grigsby, deputy editorial page editor for the Dallas Morning News, is leading the Editorial Department's "Closing Dallas' north-south gap" project. On Feb.18 a panel from the News editorial board will participate in a town hall meeting for the residents of the Pleasant Grove area. The staff and members at Pleasant Mound - Urban Park UMC are working with other churches and schools in the area to encourage participation in this unique event. City of Dallas Deputy Mayor Pro-Tem and...

Here he comes to save the day

It was more like March than January on Jan. 29 when wind gusts approached 60 miles per hour at the NTC Ministry Center. One of those gusts picked up several pieces of outgoing mail and lofted them over the fence and onto the railroad tracks bordering the property line on the north. A windblown Associate Director of Connectional Ministries Rev. Duane VanGiesen, shown holding some of the errant mail, jumped over the fence and saved the mail --- and the day. Associate Director of...

Transforming lives -just one neighbor at a time

Methodist Mission Home (MMH) in San Antonio, Texas, has been serving our churches and neighbors across Texas and New Mexico for 112 years. MMH began in 1895 when a brothel owner, Madame Volino, was led by the grace of God to transform her house into a "Rescue Mission for Wayward Girls." Today, MMH continues to transform lives by expanding its programs and services to meet the ever changing needs of our community through Family Services and the Southwest Center for Higher Independence...

NTC deacons volunteer to pack food for needy

BY REV. MARJI BISHIR Associate Director, NTC On a sunny winter morning, deacons from all over North Texas joined together to work at the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB). The Jan. 11th event was coordinated by Rev. Jo Biggerstaff, chair of the NTC Order of Deacons. The energetic deacons worked all morning boxing food donations that will end up at one of the 400 agencies that get food from the NTFB, a nonprofit center for food distribution. Later that morning the deacons shifted to work on...

NT youth keep the dream alive

BY RICHARD NEWTON Northaven UMC, Dallas Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King's work and message reminds us that there is no holiday for Christ's disciples. Even in the most difficult times and places, we are called to mission. Kathryn Holburn, a youth at Spring Valley UMC, Dallas, also knows this and encourages all Christians "to remember it's not about you and to focus on what you're here for." During the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday observance, 93 United Methodist youth from the Dallas area...

AU Initiative Lenten devotional guides arrive

In this 2006 photo, Africa University students select books in the library of this first fully accredited UM-related institution of higher learning on the African continent. For more information, visit the Africa University website at www.africau.edu. BY DR. JOAN GRAY LABARR Editor The "Transforming Lives/Transforming Africa" Lenten devotional guides have gone to press and should be arriving in all NTC churches by the time this issue arrives in mail boxes. These 40-day devotional guides...

A historic accomplishment-100% apportionment

PHOTOS BY ANGELA WYLIE BY JOE DAN BOYD Special Contributor It's a first for the North Texas Conference. Each individual church in an entire District paid 100 percent of its apportionments! "No other District in our North Texas Conference (NTC) has ever done this before," declared Rev. Keith Payne Boone, Superintendent of the Paris-Sulphur Springs (P-SS) District, who had recently verified the historic accomplishment with NTC Director of Administration and Treasurer, Rev. Marvin Guier. (See...

Health Living Expo-A family helps others

BY STACI WITTEN First UMC, Plano In life, you may experience a "defining moment" or a "life changing event" where you launch a new beginning, relying on your faith. While this event creates many challenges, it leads to enormous gratitude. Our family experienced such a life changing event, and today our hearts are full of appreciation. We are continually motivated to find ways to give back. As an example, our family assists in the coordinating and leading of the First UMC, Plano, Health...