News Briefs

Registration fee going up for lay speaking session
UM Men’s Adventure 2008 to focus on disciple making
Special Sunday offering supports relief committee
Lakehills UMs to begin selling tickets for fish fry
Investment director joins healthcare ministries staff
UMs helping communities recovery from Feb. 5 storms
Task force recommends unified health coverage
Bishop asks peace session: Where is church voice?
Black UM pastor wins spot in Alabama state legislature
Publisher elected to head general secretaries group
Longtime UM lay leader, justice advocate dies at 76
Higher education agency unveils reworked Web site
Abingdon Press expands Bible publishing program

Registration fee going up for lay speaking session
Early registration deadline is today for next month’s advanced lay speaker training session in Kerrville.
After today the registration fee for the March 7-9 session at Mount Wesley Conference Center is $140 per person for those staying on campus and $95 for those staying elsewhere.
The Rev. Diana Hynson, director of learning and teaching ministries at the General Board of Discipleship, Nashville, Tenn., is leading the session. The topic is “Lay Speakers Teach Adults.”
Southwest Texas Conference Lay Speaking Ministries, a unit of the Board of Laity, is sponsoring the class. For information contact Sam Dubberly, conference director of lay speaking, at (830) 741-3416 or sdubb27@aol.com.


UM Men’s Adventure 2008 to focus on disciple making
Southwest Texas UM Men can learn next weekend in Kerrville how to make disciples of Christ more effectively.
The Rev. Mike Lowry, executive director of new church development and transformation, is leading Men’s Adventure 2008 Feb. 29-March 2 at Mount Wesley Conference Center. His topic is “Transforming Ministries.”
“Our men are a relatively untapped resource for offering Christ to all,” said Paul Diehl, UM Men president. “This weekend will be an adventure involving all in the process of transforming the church by reaching men for Christ.”
Joining Lowry on the leadership team are the Revs. Robert Allen, Kerrville District superintendent; Jim Austin, associate pastor of Westlake UMC, Austin; Terrence Hayes, Victoria District superintendent; and Virgilio Vazquez-Garza, San Antonio District superintendent.
For information check www.swtxumm.org.


Special Sunday offering supports relief committee
Southwest Texas church members can join UMs around the globe next month in supporting outreach to victims of natural and manmade disasters.
The One Great Hour of Sharing offering, scheduled March 2, funds work of the UM Committee on Relief. That agency receives no money from apportionments.
The offering, one of six denominationwide appeals on the UMC calendar each year, helps the relief committee assist people around the world affected by floods, storms, earthquakes and wars.
Money from the offering underwrites the committee’s administrative costs and provides funds for undesignated grants. As a result, 100 percent of all designated gifts can go to specific relief projects.


Lakehills UMs to begin selling tickets for fish fry
Lakehills UMC plans to offer discount tickets for its 8th annual fish fry and auction during March.
The event is planned for March 29 at the Lakehills Civic Center.
Tickets purchased at the church before the fish fry cost $6 for adults and $2.50 for children. Tickets at the gate cost $6.50 for adults and $3 for children.
Funds raised by the yearly fish fry help the 347-member congregation support various community outreach efforts. Those include a feeding program for those in need, an after-school care program and a 12-step program.


Investment director joins healthcare ministries staff
Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas added an investment director last month.
Bryan C. Jaax is responsible for managing the organization’s investment portfolio. He has 17 years of experience and worked for JP Morgan Chase Bank.
Methodist Healthcare Ministries is affiliated with the Southwest Texas Conference.

UMs helping communities recovery from Feb. 5 storms
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—UMs are helping communities in four states recover from a series of Feb. 5 tornadoes that killed nearly 60 people.
Alabama, Arkansas and Kentucky all suffered fatalities. Tennessee experienced the highest death toll at 32.
The UM Committee on Relief is working with UMs in areas affected by the storm and has sent some emergency grants, said the Rev. Tom Hazelwood, the agency’s domestic disaster coordinator.
Donation checks for relief can be dropped into church collection plates. Write “UMCOR Advance No. 901670, Super Tuesday Tornadoes” on the check memo line.


Task force recommends unified health coverage
FORT WORTH––An interagency denominational health task force is recommending a unified effort to General Conference in April to improve the health of UM clergy and laity employees.
The task force, formed after the 2004 General Conference, directed the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits to examine the feasibility of a mandatory denominational health insurance plan. Currently, HealthFlex, the denomination’s voluntary health insurance plan, covers slightly more than half of U.S. annual conferences.
After an in-depth study, task force members concluded that they couldn’t recommend a mandatory plan. Instead, they made four recommendations to confront health issues by changing The Book of Discipline.


Bishop asks peace session: Where is church voice?
LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C.––Seasoned peacemakers, social justice advocates and seminary students spent Jan. 31-Feb. 2 at a peace conference grappling with the question: “How can The United Methodist Church find its voice in a world of violence?”
The Rev. Peter Storey, a peace advocate and the former Methodist bishop of South Africa, set the tone for the three-day gathering as he welcomed 400 participants to “the conference of impossible things.”
Storey opened the 2008 Lake Junaluska Peace Conference by asking participants where the church’s voice was on peace issues.


Black UM pastor wins spot in Alabama state legislature
MONTGOMERY, Ala.––A UM pastor has become the first black to win election from his district to the Alabama House.
Pastor James C. Fields Jr., 54, of St. James UMC, Irondale, won a Jan. 29 special election for the District 12 seat. He was sworn in to the legislature as it began a 30-day session Feb. 5.


Publisher elected to head general secretaries group
NASHVILLE, Tenn.––The president of UM Publishing House has been elected chair of the UM General Secretaries Table.
Neil Alexander is first leader of the new group, composed of the top executives of the 13 UM general boards and agencies.
Robert Williams, chief executive of the General Commission on Archives and History, will serve as secretary.


Longtime UM lay leader, justice advocate dies at 76
VICKSBURG, Miss.—A champion of racial justice and reconciliation in Mississippi and across the UMC died Feb. 7 at home with her family following a 20-month battle with lung cancer.
Martha Cooper “Twick” Morrison, 76, was president of the Foundation for United Methodist Communications from 2004 to 2006 and served on its board of directors for 10 years. She worked in numerous leadership and teaching capacities across the denomination for more than 50 years. Those included vice president of the Women’s Division of the General Board of Global Ministries.
She was a member of Crawford Street UMC in Vicksburg.


Higher education agency unveils reworked Web site
NASHVILLE, Tenn.––The General Board of Higher Education and Ministry has a new face in cyberspace.
A redesigned Web site tries to present news, resources, publications and other information in a more colorful, visual, easy-to-use format.
The new site at www.gbhem.org is part of the board’s efforts to recruit young clergy members, since Generation X and millennials rely on the Internet for information, communication and community.


Abingdon Press expands Bible publishing program
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—UM-owned Abingdon Press is expanding its Bible publishing program this spring with six new Bibles.
The New Revised Standard Version Gift Bibles: Birthday Bible, Caregiver’s Bible, Graduation Bible, Marriage Bible and Mother’s Bible will be released in April in time for spring celebrations. Each Bible has customized content to celebrate the special event or person.
Cokesbury, Munce Group, Logos Bookstores, Barnes & Noble, and Borders bookstores are to carry the Bibles this spring.
Abingdon, printing arm of the UM Publishing House, has also released a new paperback version of the New Interpreter’s Study Bible, one of the most popular study Bibles used in academic settings.