By LORETTA FULTON

Felicia Hopkins, former pastor of St. Paul United Methodist Church, was named Conference Superintendent during the June 1-2 meeting of the Northwest Texas Annual Conference in Lubbock.

Most recently, Hopkins was Abilene District Superintendent. In her expanded role, Hopkins will oversee all the remaining United Methodist congregations in the NWTX Conference, stretching from Dalhart in the Panhandle to Lubbock to Abilene to Midland. The conference will be divided into four districts, and Hopkins will oversee all them.

“My duties will be the same,” Hopkins said, “with an emphasis on developing new communities and purpose.”

According to the conference website, Hopkins also will work with new groups at the conference level.

“Felicia has been instrumental this year in pioneering the Wesley Community Groups, Online church, and the newly created Multi-site churches,” according to a statement on the website.

Felicia Hopkins

Hopkins’ appointment is in addition to two other changes that were recenlty announced concerning United Methodist Churches in Abilene. St. Paul and St. James are the only two remaining United Methodist Church congregations in Abilene following a rift in the historic denomination.

The rift is primarly over the ordination of lesbians and gays and same-sex marriages. Many former UMC churches in Northwest Texas and across the South disaffiliated from the UMC, with most joining the new Global Methodist Church, which launched May 1, 2022. First Methodist, Aldersgate, and Wylie congregations all joined the Global Methodist Church, as did other smaller congregations in Abilene.

The Northwest Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church recently announced that St. James will be getting a new pastor this summer, while St. Paul UMC will be getting an associate pastor. The appointments are effective July 1. Stephania Gilkey will be the new pastor of St. James UMC, replacing Dot Lea, who is taking a medical retirement. Gilkey formerly served as pastor of Grace United Methodist Church in Abilene, beginning in 2013. Most recently, she was associate pastor of Polk Street UMC in Amarillo.

Ruby Moultrie, currently pastor of First UMC in Levelland, will be the Multi-site pastor at St. Paul. She will assist senior pastor Benji Van Fleet, who was appointed to that position on July 1, 2022. In her new role, Moultrie will have several duties, Van Fleet said.

“Starting July 01, Ruby will be the Associate Pastor of Community Groups and Congregational Care,” he said. “Her primary role will be to work with our two current Wesley Community Groups, which gather in Clyde and Abilene. She will also coordinate ministry teams for engagement in ministry with church members in need of care.”

According to the website of the Northwest Texas Annual Conference, seven Wesley Community groups have formed around the conference. Those groups connect to a Covenant or Hub Church.

“These groups can decide how and when they want to meet,” according to the website. “They can choose to stay at a small group meeting in a home or local coffee shop or work towards becoming a new church start.” 

Gilkey, the new pastor at St. James, earned a Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary and was ordained in 2022. After retiring from the Air Force, she started serving in pastoral ministry in 2006 and has served at various congregations in the Panhandle and Abilene area. She and her husband, Gerald, who also is retired from the Air Force, have four sons and one grandson. 

Loretta Fulton is editor of Spirit of Abilene