News

The Central Texas Conference joins the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry in celebrating that the Office of Loans and Scholarships will be awarding over 2,800 students a total of $6 million in financial assistance for 2019! We are very thankful to all of our local churches that supported this effort in recognizing United Methodist Student Day, World Communion Sunday, and Native American Sunday which help fund a portion of our scholarships. The remaining funds for these awards come ...

General Conference 2020 is expected to consider a proposal put forth by United Methodist Centrists, Progressives, Traditionalists & Bishops aimed at ending the long-standing argument over issues of human sexuality. Read the full legislation here. A diverse, 16-member group, which included eight United Methodist bishops and eight representatives from centrist, progressive and traditionalist United Methodist advocacy groups, has announced a plan to move the denomination beyond its decades-long ...

The United Methodist Central Conference College of Bishops stated that they will promote and solidly support the Connectional Table's (CT’s) legislation to General Conference 2020 that will create a new structure for churches in the United States. This structure will be called the United States Regional Conference and will comprise the current U.S. jurisdictional conferences and the geographical boundaries congruent with the territory of U.S. annual conferences. Naming this new structure for ...

During its fall meeting, the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church, affirmed both of Bishop Lowry’s Rulings of Law that were referred to the council for judicial review following the 2019 Central Texas Annual Conference.  Members of the 2019 Central Texas Annual Conference requested that Bishop Lowry rule on the legality of the “What’s Next” Resolution and the adoption of the “Transparency of Usage of Funds Used for Clergy Trials” Resolution. Requests on rulings of law are ...

Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey, the area bishop of the Louisiana Conference, has been elected president of the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church. Bishop Harvey succeeds Bishop Ken Carter will officially take office at the conclusion of the May 2020 General Conference. To see more, including the list of other officers elected, visit the Council of Bishop's news page here.

The United Methodist Church’s Connectional Table approved sending legislation to General Conference 2020 that will create a new structure for churches in the United States, called a regional conference, during an online meeting July 18, 2019.    “The legislation, as currently written, will not address our impasse over human sexuality. However, it will help unburden the General Conference and facilitate U.S. adaptable work of other kinds." - Rev. Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai, chief connectional ...

We are excited to welcome Dustin Kaps to our Central Texas Conference Staff as a part of the Communication/IT Team. Dustin will be joining our team as our CTC Videographer/Digital Media Specialist. Dustin is passionate about and experienced in employing video and other digital media in ministry settings. This experience and drive will be a energizing (and equipping) asset in the conference's mission (and WIG) of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. He also brings...

The Project Transformation Central Texas Board of Directors and staff have announced Lynne Rhodes as their new Executive Director. Lynne currently serves Project Transformation North Texas as their Volunteer and Church Engagement Director and will join the Central Texas Project Transformation team on Sept. 1. Lynne brings a wealth of Project Transformation experience, expertise, creativity and a passion for helping connect youth and young adults to vital local ministries in transformative ways....

During the 2019 annual meeting of the Central Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church, two resolutions were presented and discussed by the members of the Annual Conference on Wednesday, June 12. Both resolutions –  "What's Next in the Central Texas Annual Conference" and "Transparency of Usage of Funds Used for Clergy Trials" -  were passed by the Annual Conference. To download the resolutions, click on the appropriate links below: A Resolution on What's Next in the Central Texas Annual...

Bishop Mike Lowry, episcopal leader of the Central Texas Conference UMC, celebrated two Central Texas Conference team members, for their more than 5 years of service - Susan Craig (pictured on the left), Area Administrator for the Assistant to Bishop Office, and Claire Condrey (pictured on the right), Coordinator of Youth Ministry. "We are so thankful for all the ministry and work that Susan and Claire have done and continue to do in Energizing and Equipping the Local Church in Making Disciples ...

We are excited to welcome Bradley Alexander to our Central Texas Conference Staff as a part of the Communication/IT Team. Bradley will be joining our team as our Web Designer and Social Media Strategist. Bradley is passionate about and experienced in employing web-based mediums in ministry settings. This experience and drive will be a energizing (and equipping) asset in the conference's mission (and WIG) of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. He also brings some...

United Theological Seminary celebrated 92 women and men who have completed their theological education and are going out to serve as faithful, fruitful leaders of the Church during its Spring Commencement on May 18. Bishop Lowry delivered the commencement address to a packed house at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Dayton, OH, encouraging graduates to keep Jesus at the center of their lives and ministries.   Among the graduating class were 48 receiving master’s degrees, 31 receiving the ...

In a statement released Wednesday, April 24 by Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS), the largest health insurance provider in Texas stated that as of April 15, the emergency room (ER) doctors at many Texas Health Resources (THR) facilities are no longer in-network providers. THR hospitals remain as in-network facilities; however, many of the ER doctors are employed by a third-party company – in this instance Texas Medicine Resources. BCBS failed to reach an agreement with Texas Medicine Resources, ...

Bishop Mike Lowry, episcopal leader of the Central Texas Conference UMC, has announced that Rev. Louis Carr will be appointed as the District Superintendent of the North District of the Central Texas Conference effective March 1 ,2019. Louis succeeds Rev. Travis Franklin who is leaving the cabinet to take over as the senior pastor of First United Methodist Church of Grapevine. Rev. Carr currently serves as the senior pastor of Harvest UMC.   “Rev. Louis Carr brings to the District and the ...

Bishop Lowry has announced that Dr. Randy Wild will remove the interim tag and permanently assume the role of East District Superintendent effective July 1. Dr. Wild has been serving as the East District’s interim DS since Jan. 1.   “Thank God for Dr. Randy Wild’s faithfulness!” exclaimed Bishop Lowry upon making the announcement of his return to the CTC Cabinet. “Randy’s administrative leadership is welded to a record of pastoral excellence at a number of settings and he has already provided ...

Wespath Benefits and Investments recently issued some clarifying information about the pension impacts of the Called 2019 General Conference. The following is an email sent to the Council of Bishops from General Secretary and CEO of Wespath Barbara Boigegrain in response to inaccurate information and rumors being floated around the internet regarding the potential impact that General Conference 2019 could have on clergy benefits.   As we draw closer to the special called General Conference,...

Mrs. Mary Jean Russell, wife of Bishop John Russel (retired), passed on to the church triumphant on Thursday, Dec. 27. The Russell family has announced that Mary Jean's celebration of life service will be at 11 a.m. at First United Methodist Church Fort Worth. Mrs. Russell will be interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Fort Worth at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 2. Mary Jean served the DFW area and the Central Texas Conference in myriad ways - including as the Bishop's wife from 1980 to 1992. Bishop...

Bishop Ben Chamness passed on to the Church Triumphant through the resurrection of our Lord at 3:01 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 22. Bishop Lowry, who was immediately preceded as the episcopal leader of the Central Texas Conference by Bishop Chamness, is asking all members of the Central Texas Conference, and people of faith everywhere to join him in prayers of peace and healing for his wife Joye and the entire Chamness family and of gratitude for the lifetime of service shared by Bishop Chamness.    “...

UMC Bishops Call on Methodists Worldwide to Pray for Detained Missionaries; Launch Worldwide #LetThemLeave Campaign Against  the Treatment of Three Missionaries in the Philippines Being Denied Permission to Leave the Country. The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church (COB) has issued a statement calling for the immediate release of three young UMC missionaries who are being prevented from leaving the Republic of the Philippines by the country’s government. The missionaries are ...

Bishop Lowry voices his ardent support of AC18 Resolution, which calls policy of separating children from parents “inhumane” and denounces the establishment of “tent cities” in Texas. Central Texas Conference congregations and members tare urged o contact their U.S. representatives in Congress and the White House and call for an immediate reversal of these actions.  For Immediate Release Monday, June 18, 2018 Access PDF Version Here On June 13, responding to the U.S. Department of Homeland ...