pray, pray

The first ballot of the South Central Jurisdiction is now taking place. One of University’s own members, Mark Nerio is a delegate at the conference as is one of my young padawan’s, Walt Lengel (a great guy I have known since he was in 6th grade and who is now a sophomore at Texas and the youth intern at Pflugerville UMC!) This conference in Dallas will elect the new Bishops who will serve in the Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Nebraska Episcopal areas of the United Methodist Church. My good friend and former boss, Rev. Dr. Mike Lowry is a candidate for Bishop this year. I sincerely believe that God has called him to this work and am praying for the wisdom of the holy conference. Beyond Mike’s election, I am watching the happenings with interest as the only Bishop I have ever served under, Bishop Joel Martinez will be retiring in August. We will be assigned a new Bishop by the Jurisdictional Conference later this week. Obviously, when you work in an appointive system who your Bishop is makes a big difference in your life! So, I invite you to join me in praying for this conference – for Mike, for Mark, for Walt, and for a Bishop to be named later!

If you want to follow the elections, a good site for watching ballot summaries is at: http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.4340133/k.97F/Episcopal_Elections_Ballot_Results_Summary.htm

We are in the SCJ (South Central Jurisdiction).