|
Northwest Texas Annual Conference
June7-10, Midland, Texas
The Northwest Texas Conference met
at First United Methodist Church and Bishop D. Max Whitfield presided. Bishop
Janice Huie was the conference preacher. The theme, Courageous Past Bold Future,
celebrated the 50th anniversary of full clergy rights for women. The Rev. Dixie
Robertson, formerly from the Northwest Texas Conference, spoke to a combined
audience of members of United Methodist Women, Board of Church and Society and
the Commission on the Status and Role of Women.
The conference:
- Voted to adopt a goal of
$1.00 per member for the Global Aids Fund;
- Approved a resolution that
calls for the Northwest Texas Conference, its churches and pastors to make
every congregation a community of hospitality for all persons;
- Approved a resolution
concerning a new Episcopal residence;
- Called for a study
committee looking at financial and legal issues related to the conference’s
camping program.
The conference adopted a goal
of $10 a month for all clergy and lay members of conference for the church
recovery efforts related to the Gulf Coast hurricanes.
The conference heard reports
and celebrated the work of the Bold New Directions Team commissioned by Bishop
Whitfield last year to establish a new direction for the conference. This team,
along with three regional teams, used the L3 Incubator model of loving, learning
and leading from the United Methodist Board of Discipleship.
The conference closed two
churches and started a new church in Abilene. Three people retired. Three people
were commissioned probationary members, one was elected an associate member,
four were licensed as local pastors and one was ordained as an elder. As a
courtesy to the New Mexico Conference one elder and one deacon were ordained.
Membership stands at 65,184,
down 2,832 from the previous year. Worship attendance stands at 22,663, down 748
from the previous year. Church school attendance stands at 13,267, down 848 from
the previous year.
--
Eddie Allsup |
