Friday, June 8, 2012 – Noon

American Bank Convention Center
Corpus Christi, Texas

A Luncheon Sponsored by the

Southwest Texas Conference Board of Church & Society

Methodist Federation for Social Action, SWTX Chapter

Reconciling Ministries Network, SWTX Team

Featuring Jim Winkler

General Secretary, United Methodist General Board of Church & Society (GBCS)

Is the Methodist Church dying? What can be done to turn the tide? Don’t miss this stimulating session as Secretary Winkler shares how creating a more just society can fuel a growing and vibrant church. Registration flyer is attached.  

LuncheonFlyer2012

From David Mauzy:  “As we approach General Conference 2012 in Tampa—now just five weeks away!—I thought you might be interested in the following essays about General Conference 2000.  (At that General Conference, more than 200 members of Soulforce – (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soulforce) – were arrested for demonstrating outside the convention center.  The following day, more than two dozen reconciling United Methodists were arrested for refusing to leave the floor of General Conference in an act of civil disobedience.)  Sue Laurie, former longtime RMN staff member, wrote these two essays in 2010, on the 10th anniversary of the events she details. ”

Essays by Sue Laurie

It’s not too late to get involved with the 7th largest CROP Hunger Walk in the country and the largest interfaith event in Austin! You can start a team with your spiritual community, your co-workers, or a group of your friends. With online fundraising it’s easy to get sponsors so that you can support local and global hunger agencies.
Walk materials can be picked up at the Church World Service office (call first – 512-451-2062, 6633 Highway 290 East, Suite 108, Austin, TX 78723), or at the Capital Area Food Bank (M-F, 9am-4pm, 8201 S. Congress Avenue, Austin, TX 78745).

The Austin CROP Hunger Walk will be at Walter E Long Park (6614 Blue Bluff Rd., Austin, TX 78724) on Saturday, March 3rd (registration at 9:30am) and Sunday, March 4th (registration at 1:45pm). You can walk on either day you choose. For more detailed event information, please click here.  About $85,000 was raised in 2011 to alleviate hunger in our community and around the world.

If you have any questions or need some support to make your CROP Hunger Walk experience successful, you can contact Trevor Maloney (415-774-6644, tsjmaloney@gmail.com).

Saturday March 3, 2012 9am to 4pm @ Gruene UMC

Part of being good stewards is taking care of God’s creation, the earth. This fun, informative event will not only inspire, but will give participants real, practical things they can do at their local church and in their daily life. The event starts with a morning worship and plenary session for everyone, followed by six breakout sessions. Have kids, bring them! Child care will be provided for the young ones, and a special program for elementary age kids will be offered that ties into the main event.

Keynote Speaker:  John Hill, Director for Economic and Environmental Justice for the
UMC General Board of Church and Society

Cost: $20 at the door.  Childcare will be provided.

For more information, go to http://www.umcswtx.org/rethink-green-event.

Austin District Superintendent Bobbi Kaye Jones has been appointed to be the Senior Pastor at Tarrytown UMC (Austin), effective July 1, 2012.  No replacement has been announced as yet.  This move is among two dozen retirements and transfers that have been announced by Bishop Dorff.  For the Conference announcement, click here.

Notes from the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty:

Thanks to everyone who has sent letters to, faxed, or called the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and Governor Rick Perry to request a reprieve for Anthony Bartee.  Bartee has received a reprieve so that DNA testing can be conducted on two strands of hair found in the hands of the victim, David Cook.  According to the Associated Press and reported in the Houston Chronicle, State District Judge Mary Roman withdrew the execution warrant earlier this week.  Bartee had been scheduled for execution on February 28, 2012.

According to Rico Valdez, an assistant Bexar County district attorney who handles capital case appeals, “What we’re doing now is looking into which labs are capable of doing the testing in the shortest amount of time.”

Read the full article in the Houston Chronicle.

Read background information about the case.

George Rivas is scheduled to be executed by the State of Texas on Wednesday, February 29, 2012. Please consider attending a vigil in your area to express your opposition to the death penalty and to reflect on all those impacted by this punishment and violence in our society.

The Austin District has raised over $700,000 for Imagine No Malaria. That money represents thousands upon thousands of lives saved. As we continue to reach out to our neighbors across the world we are also looking to reach out to our neighbors in our own back yard. And we are going to make it happen with a good Austin-style event.

WHEN
– during SXSW
– on Tuesday, March 13
– from 5pm to midnight
– in the parking lot of Faith UMC at 2701 S Lamar

WITH

-great local live music for all tastes

– food trailer favorite East Side King (famously associated with Top Chef contestant Paul Qui)
– stories from those intimately connected to this cause
– ways to connect to new and old friends of the cause from across the city
– resources to mobilize you and your community to be a part of providing life where malaria once was.

Follow us on the District web page and on Facebook for more information.

Occupy Austin is planning a full week of events during the South by Southwest festival that comes to Austin every Spring.  Highlights will include:

March 11th – 16th Teach Ins and Performances.  Venue TBD.  Monday the 12th will be themed around spirituality and faith traditions.  There will be Christians, Buddhists and Native American Traditions represented.

March 16th – The Occupy Party of SXSW.  Venue and Artist TBA!  Just wait – you won’t want to miss this one….

March 17^th – 12 noon, State Capitol – Occupy Austin is partnering with Million Musicians March for Peace for a program and parade.  The following musicians have been confirmed:  Guy Forsyth, Carolyn Wonderland, Shelley King, Michael Fracasso, Leeann Atherton, Andy Corwin, Bill Oliver….

Look for updates at http://occupyaustin.org/southby/.

You want to be a part of this Occupation.  We want you to be a part, too!

1. Manifest God’s hospitality to all persons
2. Follow the example of Christ’s non-violent love
3. Promote racial and interfaith justice and reconciliation
4. Demand justice for those who are most vulnerable
5. Work for a fully participatory church where all voices are heard
6. Support Peace in the Middle East
7. Support for sexuality education and the moral agency of women in reproductive health matters
8. Protect human rights and civil liberties
9. Protect planet earth
10. Affirm the openness of our Wesleyan tradition

Read more and sign the Love of God and Neighbor Statement, A Common Witness to General Conference 2012:  http://gc12.org/sign/love-of-god-and-neighbor-statement/

A conference and workshop featuring Gary Dorrien and Joerg Rieger – April 27 & 28, 2012

Friday, April 27, 7:00 p.m.

University United Methodist Church

2409 Guadalupe St., Austin TX 78705

Free parking available

Childcare available. Email nulack@uumc.org

Social critic and theologian Gary Dorrien kicks off this weekend gathering on economic justice and faith.  He will speak on “Breaking the Oligarchy.”  Dorrien is an Episcopal priest, and professor at Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary.  He is also a frequent contributor to PBS programs such as Bill Moyers’ Journal and the author of fourteen books including Social Ethics in the Making: Interpreting an American Tradition; and The Making of American Liberal Theology.

Saturday, April 28, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Third Coast Activist Resource Center

5604 Manor Road, Austin TX 78723

Lunch: $10

What are the most effective ways to build a more equitable world?  Today’s sessions will outline the contributions theology can make to our understanding of social justice.  Several speakers will describe organizing efforts in the community that are putting principles into action.

The featured speaker this morning is Southern Methodist University professor Joerg Rieger, speaking on “Empire and Economics: The Difference Christianity Makes.”  He is author of No Rising Tide: Theology, Economics, and the Future. We will also hear from representatives from the Workers Defense Project and Cooperation Texas.  Lunch at noon will feature a conversation on faith and justice between Gary Dorrien and Joerg Rieger, our main speakers for the weekend.

Sponsors:

University United Methodist Church (uumc.org)

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church (staopen.com

Third Coast Activist Center (5604manor.org)