By Loretta Fulton Delegates from three United Methodist Church conferences will convene in Abilene Sept. 27-28 to vote on melding into one new conference. Delegates to the Unifying Conference are expected to approve forming the Horizon Texas Conference from the former Northwest Texas Conference, Central Texas Conference, and North Texas Conference. If delegates vote in the affirmative, the new conference
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By Loretta Fulton If all goes as planned, United Methodists in the Northwest Texas Annual Conference, which includes Abilene, will become part of a new unified conference that will reflect changes in membership following the departure of many conservative congregations for the new Global Methodist Church. The majority of former United Methodist Churches in Northwest Texas have left for the
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Links to related Spirit of Abilene articles:Aldersgate Leaves UMC; Conference Forms Online Missional Churchhttps://spiritofabilene.com/2022/11/12/aldersgate-leaves-umc-conference-forms-online-missional-church/Methodists Must Decide: Will We Stay or Will We Go?https://spiritofabilene.com/2022/05/27/local-methodists-informed-about-decisions-on-whether-to-stay-or-leave/St. Paul to Remain United Methodisthttps://spiritofabilene.com/2022/10/17/st-paul-to-remain-united-methodist/Local Methodists Not United on Futurehttps://spiritofabilene.com/2022/10/10/local-methodists-not-united-on-future/Q&A With Dr. Sandra Harper, McMurry University Presidenthttps://spiritofabilene.com/2022/06/03/qa-with-dr-sandra-harper-mcmurry-university-president/ By LORETTA FULTON “We’re finally past the fighting,” a relieved Jeff Fisher said following the departure of 145 United Methodist
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By Loretta Fulton Aldersgate is the latest United Methodist Church congregation in Abilene to leave that denomination and join the new Global Methodist Church. With that decision by Aldersgate members, Abilene is down to two United Methodist Church congregations. Only St. Paul and St. James remain in the United Methodist Church fold as other local congregations are moving to the
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By LORETTA FULTON St. Paul United Methodist Church is remaining united. The congregation voted Sunday, Oct. 16, by a margin of 80 percent to 20 percent to remain affiliated with the United Methodist Church, rather than disaffiliate and either align with a conservative denomination or go independent. The new pastor of St. Paul, Benji Van Fleet, saw the vote as
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The Northwest Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church has created a section on its website with information to guide local churches as they decide whether to remain under the United Methodist umbrella or disaffiliate. https://www.nwtxconf.org/transition By LORETTA FULTON “Help us to see the way you would have us go.” Those words from the opening prayer from Steve Patterson
Read moreBy LORETTA FULTON A new pastor will be serving St. Paul United Methodist Church effective July 1. Bobby Wilson, current pastor of St. Paul’s UMC in El Paso, was announced Sunday morning, March 13, as the new minister, replacing Steve Patterson, who has been at St. Paul since July 2019. Patterson was appointed as pastor of St. John’s UMC in
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By LORETTA FULTON Methodists are used to change, but no one could have predicted the big change that is coming in July. And, it will be welcomed news to all who were touched by the ministry of Felicia Hopkins when she served as senior pastor of St. Paul United Methodist Church from 2013 to 2019. Hopkins will be returning to
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By LORETTA FULTON United Methodists voted Feb. 26 in St. Louis to maintain the current wording in the church’s Book of Discipline concerning human sexuality issues. The denomination’s Council of Bishops, including Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe of the Northwest Texas Annual Conference, voted in May 2018 to support a plan that would have been more inclusive. That plan, and one
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