A new leader

Just after midnight last night, the Rev. Dr. J. Michael Lowry was assigned to serve our annual conference as our new Bishop. Bishop Lowry will be consecrated at a service at First United Methodist Church in Dallas today and will officially begin his new position here on September 1st. 
If you would like to read more [...]

Today in pictures

At 11:00 p.m., I’ve finally settled into my room at Stillwater Lodge here in Glen Rose, Texas after the last day of Annual Conference and speaking tonight to the summer staff at Glen Lake Camp who are preparing for the beginning of summer camp next week. Here’s a very long day in pictures. [Can you [...]

Day Two Pictures

Here are a few pictures from day two of Annual conference. All of these are actually from the ordination service on Tuesday night where one of my best friends finally finished the journey towards ordination. 
The last picture is of Jason and I. 

When we wrap up today here on day three, I’ll be heading to Glen [...]

Day One Pictures

Here are a few pictures from our first day of Annual Conference. As you can tell, there are really three components of serving as an Annual Conference delegate. 
1. You have to like to eat. 
2. You have to be able to stand around. 
3. You have to be able to sit still. 
Anything combination of two of the [...]

Blogging at Annual Conference

This week, I’m at Annual Conference with the rest of our clergy staff and four lay delegates from our church. Annual conference is a regional gathering of United Methodist churches that happens annually [surprise?] where we review the work of the Annual conference from the previous year and set the agenda and budget for the [...]

General Conference Initiatives

We spent a great deal of time talking about General Conference in our church prior to the event, but have probably not shared enough of the results from that gathering. For those who are not aware, I thought I would share the four initiatives that the church has set for the next four years. Each [...]

Injured at District Conference

Last night we had District Conference which is basically a meeting to prepare for another big meeting. As a United Methodist Pastor, one of the things that we have to endure is some rather long, sometimes boring meetings. I don’t sit still well so I struggle with them, but our Executive Pastor Sharon keeps herself [...]

A good day…

Today, I finally finished my long journey through Seminary. Pictured above with me here is my favorite Seminary professor, Dr. Feille. I want to say thanks to everyone who has encouraged and supported me throughout school. 
If you want to see some additional pictures, click here. 

Other thoughts on General Conference

I thought I would share with you a few links this morning of other blog sites who are posting about General Conference. These are written by delegates, alternate delegates, and volunteers who are going to be on the scene over the next 8 days. I’d encourage you to follow along with me.
Seeing Gray : [...]

General Conference Opening Worship

Last night I had the privilege of participating in the opening worship service for the 2008 United Methodist General Conference. If you don’t know, General Conference is the global gathering of United Methodists that happens every four years. It just happens to be taking place about 30 minutes from where I live in Fort Worth, [...]