The 115th Session of the NWTX Conference
The Northwest Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church gathered for their last gathering as the Northwest Texas Conference for their 115th session. They gathered at First UMC in Lubbock, Texas, on May 19 – 20, 2024. Bishop James G. Nunn presided over the 115th session. This annual conference is the anticipated final meeting as the Northwest Texas Conference. Therefore, we celebrated our history and ministry over the last 115 years along with looking forward with great anticipation of what is to come.
LIVING ABUNDANTLY
The theme was Living Abundantly. The following is the theme narrative:
We all have a story to share. That story has seasons of happiness and sadness, of love and fear. As United Methodists, we share a story based on Christ's sacrifice for us and his redeeming love. Through that love, we find grace, mercy, faith, and love more profound than we could ever imagine. A love for all, a place for all.
If we are living lives trapped in fear or anxiety, we tend to turn inward and scramble to collect all that we think is ours to protect what little we may have. We become shut down, turned off by others, and isolated in a scarcity mindset.
But God calls us to be so much more than that! When we surrender our fears, we can open our clenched hands and receive God's blessing. What's better than that? We also share those blessings with others and live the life God has called us to. A life of abundance!
2 Corinthians 9:8 says, "And God can bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." God's grace abounds to us, giving all sufficiency—not just barely enough, but super-abounding supply given to us to meet every personal need and overflowing in God's Kingdom work in the world. In all things, we realize God's power working in us to super-abound in every good work.
That is part of being made into a new creation. The molding and shaping can be challenging. Cracks can appear, but, in the end, what is made fresh is filled with abundance and cannot be forced to remain in the old.
Luke 5:36-38 says, "Then He spoke a parable to them: "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise, the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins, or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
We become a new creation when we step into this new life with Jesus, a new life of abundance. The new wine can't go back in the old wineskins!! Let us enter this next season with open arms, ready to receive and live abundantly!
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A Celebration Dinner was hosted on May 19 to mark the 115th anniversary of ministry in the Northwest Texas Conference and Bishop Nunn’s upcoming retirement. Along with the Bishop’s retirement, six other clergy retired as well. The ordination worship service followed dinner, where Rev. Shera Atkinson and Rev. Blake Durham were ordained as Elders in Full connection. Rev. Ryan Galloway was commissioned as a provisional elder and Rev. Haley Smith was commissioned as a provisional deacon.
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Monday, May 20th, was filled with worship and business, and we looked forward to the anticipated unification with the Central Texas and North Texas Conference. The three conferences developed a unification plan to be presented at the South Central Jurisdictional Conference in July, with a plan for the three conferences to come together as one. This plan was unanimously approved by the Northwest Texas Conference.
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Other major business included reducing four districts to one in order to align better with the missional needs of the anticipated new unified conference. Some resolutions for dealing with property were addressed, and two churches, Avoca UMC and Hart UMC, closed. We celebrated that four new churches were chartered since the last Annual Conference, Amarillo FUMC, Grace UMC, Dalhart, Open Door UMC, Clyde, and Grace Lubbock UMC, Lubbock.
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The body heard a report about General Conference from the head of the delegation, Rev. Josh Stueve, but no action was taken related to General Conference. It is anticipated that actions needed from General Conference will be handled by the new unified conference. The breakout sessions were centered on the five new strategic priorities of the new unified conference. They are Champion Children and Youth, Tell Our Story, Embrace and Pursue Diversity, Multiple Jesus Followers, and Maximize Care and Healing.
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Rev. Jorge Riano Jorge received the 2024 Denman Award for his continued evangelism efforts and leadership in the Northwest Texas Hispanic/Latino Movement. His work and leadership at Vida Abundante Church in Lubbock, Texas continues to grow and reach the lost for Christ.
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Mrs. Jaime Montgomery, the Chief Communications Officer for the Northwest Texas Conference, received a Communication Award for Excellence that was given on behalf of United Methodist Communications. She was presented with the Resilience in Communication Award for her unwavering commitment, skills, and spirit, which has made a profound impact in the field of communications. General Secretary Dan Krause wrote, “Serving as a one-person communications team, Jaime has shouldered immense responsibility with grace and determination. Her expertise and skills have been instrumental in crafting clear, compelling, and consistent communication strategies during some of the most challenging times The United Methodist Church has faced.”
