News

As we reported earlier this week, after several hours/days of prayerful consideration and as many as 16 rounds of votes, the body of the Central Texas Annual Conference has named its delegates to next year’s General and Jurisdictional Conferences. Of those selected, 12 folks from across the conference (six laity and six clergy) were selected to attend the 2012 General Conference as official delegates. However, this did not shut the door on the opportunity to represent us put the radical ...

One of the major pieces of business conducted during the recently concluded 2011 Central Texas Annual Conference was to elect our delegates to next year’s General and Jurisdictional Conferences. Here are your representatives to each of these important events in the life of the church. The 2012 United Methodist General Conference, our denominations top legislative assembly, will be held April 24 – May 4 in Tampa, Fla. Those elected to represent the Central Texas Conference are (names are listed ...

2011 Central Texas Annual Conference June 5-8, 2011 • Waco Convention Center Host Church: First United Methodist Church of Waco   All information, forms and the Preliminary Report will be posted under this area of the conference website as they become available.   Waco Convention Center: The Waco Convention Center began a $17.5 million renovation and expansion project in October 2009, which should be completed by the June Annual Conference. You can see the changes at the photo gallery http://w...

By this time next week, clergy and laity from all across the Central Texas Conference will be in the middle of the worship, business and fellowship of our 2011 Annual Conference gathering. For those of you who may be new to the United Methodist culture, each year – usually around June – all clergy members and an equal number of lay members selected from the local churches meet together to worship, have fellowship and conduct the business of the conference. During these sessions, members of the ...

Last month, in an article titled Giving Back and Giving Forward, we let you know that Glen Lake Camp and Retreat Center was chosen to receive the 211 Central Texas Annual Conference offering and highlighted other ways that individuals and the local churches throughout the conference could help support the camp – a camp that hosts more than 18,000 children, youth and adults from around the conference each year. Recently we received a link that tells the story via video of how your donations are ...

Every 45 seconds, a child in Africa dies of malaria. Millions of lives, needlessly lost each year. A continent, entire nations slipping away... slipping through life’s precious net…unless you hear the buzzing inside you.  The bite of malaria doesn’t have to kill, but only if you stop it.   Imagine No Malaria is more than just a campaign against a disease that kills children and destroys families. It’s a movement, to make real change in the world. Click the image on the left to learn more about ...

Last weekend, May 14 - 15, United Methodists around the world got together with their neighbors and other members of their local communities to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus Christ during Change the World weekend.  One of those groups who got together and made a difference in the world by effecting change within its own community was Arlington’s St. Stephen UMC. The folks at St. Stephen began the day by sharing the Good News with their neighbors as they delivered 175 Common English Bible ...

                    Five Day Academy for Spiritual Formation - February 12-17, 2012 A Five Day Academy for Spiritual Formation will be held on February 12-16, 2012 at the Prothro Center at Lake Texoma near Pottsboro, TX. The Academy for Spiritual Formation recognizes that the Holy Spirit is the enabling power in all Christian spiritual formation and is designed to provide a setting where a spiritually disciplined community of lay and clergy can open their lives to receive God's love and ...

Have you ever dreamt of changing the world for the better only to let “reality” talk you out of such a crazy notion because it was just too big of a task? Well the reality of it is that you CAN affect positive change in this world simply by working within your own community. This weekend, May 14 - 15, thousands of United Methodists around the world will work alongside their neighbors and within their own communities to serve as the hands and feet of Jesus Christ during Change the World weekend. ...

Have you figured out how you are going to honor your mother this Sunday? Of course, we are not suggesting that the fine folks of the Central Texas Conference are not excellent every day in keeping with the 5th commandment. But we all know that the second Sunday in May is THE day in which we all go above and beyond to show our love, gratitude and respect to the mothers in our lives. Whether you take her out to a nice brunch, shower her with some lovely gifts, spend some quality time in fellowship...

CTCUMC.org has just learned the Council of Bishops, on a motion from the South East Jurisdiction College of Bishops (SEJC), has approved the assignment of Bishop Ben Chamness to the Nashville Episcopal Area effective Sept. 1, 2011 to Aug.31, 2012. The Nashville Episcopal Area is made up of the Memphis and Tennessee Conferences.  Bishop Chamness will be completing the term of Bishop Wills, who has requested early retirement. In his most recent post, Bishop Mike Lowry stated that Dr. Chamness’ new...

Today, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) formally stated what folks across 18 states already know all too well – April 2011 was the most active month for tornadoes in the recorded history of the United States. According to NOAA, more than 600 tornadoes touched down last month, shattering the previous record for April (267 set in 1974) and easily besting the overall record of 542 tornadoes set in May 2003. The storms have also been remarkable this year in their scope and ...

Wildfire Emergency UPDATE – Friday, April 22 Emergency Help Is Needed for Wildfire Victims & Firefighters UPDATE for Friday, April 22: Thank you all for your responses to help the firefighters and victims of the wildfires in our area.  At this time we need people to hold their contributions of supplies. The supply has finally caught up with the demand and all known storehouses are full. Please continue to check back at www.ctcumc.org for updated supply needs and lists.    ______________________...

Jerusalem 33 A.D. Reenacts Jesus’ Final Days First United Methodist Church of Killeen present for the second year the miracles, trials, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ during their “Jerusalem 33 A.D. Thursday and Friday, April 21 and 22, at Methodist Park, 3501 E. Elms, Killeen. All interested persons are invited to witness this Passion play side-by-side with villagers, moneychangers, Roman soldiers, Judas, King Herod and Jesus himself. The members of First Killeen have ...

  Giving Back and Giving Forward Glen Lake Camp & Retreat Center in Glen Rose has been named recipient of the 2011 Central Texas Annual Conference offering. More than 18,000 children, youth and adults visit the campsite each year for meetings, retreats and as part of the summer and mid-year camping and retreat programs. Besides the Annual Conference offering, which will be received during the June 5-8 meeting in Waco, the folks at Glen Lake Camp will be asking individuals and local churches for ...

Community Garden Sprouts at First Hurst UMC to Feed Neighbors in Need In early April, volunteers from First United Methodist Church of Hurst planted a community garden that will benefit their neighbors in need. The garden was funded in part by a grant from the Public Health Department and is being administered by the Tarrant Area Food Bank. For several months, First Hurst volunteers planned the garden and constructed raised planting beds on the church’s campus northeast of downtown Fort Worth. ...

From April 1 to Sept. 27, United Methodists can submit petitions for consideration by the 2012 General Conference, the denomination’s top legislative body. According to church law, “Any organization, clergy member, or lay member of The United Methodist Church may petition the General Conference … .” Detailed instructions for submitting a petition are available on the General Conference website. Petitions must be typed and may be submitted via email to petitions@umpublishing.org, through the ...

  The United Methodist Church Leadership Summit   Webinar: Wednesday, April 6 | 10:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. http://www.umcleadershipsummit.org   The Council of Bishops, in cooperation with the denomination’s Connectional Table, is sponsoring a series of conversations about adaptive challenges facing the church and how we might embrace and sustain change. The Leadership Summit calls together for prayer, discernment and holy conversation a cross-section of leaders and provides shared experience for ...

“Shine God’s light!” “Shine it bright!” were the call and response for the Central Texas Conference’s youth-led Mid-Winter 1 worship service. This became the mantra for the service as each speaker and prayer leader ended with “Shine God’s light!” and the congregation responded with “Shine it bright!” The theme for the 2011 Student Leadership Team Mid-Winter retreats was “Radiate.” Focused on leadership, each retreat encouraged the youth attending to “Radiate” God’s love through the gifts God ...

Joseph Silvas, a member of St. Paul United Methodist Church in Hurst, was certified as a men’s ministry specialist during the March 3-6 meeting of the National Association of Conference Presidents of United Methodist Men. A former captain in the Army Reserve and a company commander of a drill sergeant unit, Silvas has served as a detention shift supervisor for a juvenile center, a senior drill instructor for Harris County Juvenile Boot Camp, an adult probation officer, and a prison guard. He has...