I have once again, with the help of my friend Sally Cook, jumped into a vortex of learning Methodism 101! I have been a United Methodist for almost four years now, and there is always something new to learn. This week I learned about the Council of Bishops, Jurisdictions, and where Travis Park United Methodist Church fits into the existing structure. More importantly, I learned about how all the Conferences relate to one another and how often meetings occur. Hopefully I can explain what I learned in a way that is easy to understand for UMC “newbies” like me.
– Juliette Clark, Director of Communications
7/12/2024
A New Bishop for Rio Texas Annual Conference
Last week, Bishop Robert Schnase, who leads the New Mexico and Rio Texas conferences in the South Central Jurisdiction, announced his retirement effective September 1, 2024. That opened the way for elections at the South Central Jurisdictional Conference this week. The South Central Jurisdictional Conference went from a total of 8 bishops, down to 6. Every Jurisdictional Conference maintained or reduced the number of Bishops as a result of the May 3 General Conference vote to cut the number of active U.S. bishops from 39 to 32.
Cynthia Fierro Harvey was assigned to the Rio Texas Annual Conference on Wednesday. Harvey will also continue to serve as episcopal leader of the Texas Annual Conference—where she has served for the past two years. She previously served the Louisiana Annual Conference for ten years beginning in 2012. She was consecrated as bishop after leading UMCOR as Deputy General Secretary from 2010-2012.
Bishop Harvey has also served as the President of the Council of Bishops 2020-2022, President-designate 2018-2020 and as the Secretary of the Council of Bishops 2014-2018. She serves on the board of directors at various organizations, including the Board of Trustees for Southwestern University and the Lydia Patterson Institute. She currently serves as President of The General Commission of Archives and History of The United Methodist Church.
Where does Travis Park Church fit in within the UMC Structure?
It may be helpful to understand our place within the overall structure and connectionalism of the United Methodist Church.
Travis Park United Methodist Church is part of
Las Missiones District, which is part of the
Rio Texas Conference, which is part of the
South Central Jurisdiction, which is part of the
General Conference of the United Methodist Church, with almost 12 million people over 4 continents.
The United Methodist Church does not have a central headquarters or a single executive leader. Duties are divided among bodies that include the General Conference, the Council of Bishops and the Judicial Council. These entities are required by our Constitution to be part of our structure.
Conferences: Meeting on a Schedule
Travis Park United Methodist Church has a yearly Charge Conference, and the District Superintendent of the Las Missiones District presides. Our District Superintendent is Rev. Dr. Robert Ortiz.
Rio Texas Conference has an Annual Conference every year. This year, our Annual Conference was held in Corpus Christi over the span of four days.
South Central Jurisdiction meets every 2 years. The 2024 South Central Jurisdictional Conference was hosted in Arkansas at Central UMC.
General Conference of the United Methodist Church meets every 4 years. The most recent General Conference was in April/May 2024 held in Charlotte, North Carolina. This General Conference was 8 years in the making, as the 2020 General Conference was postponed due to COVID.
Retiring Bishop Robert Schnase reminds us that Elders are ordained for lifetime service and promises his ministry will continue as he explores new ways of living his discipleship to Christ through service to the United Methodist Church.
What about Regionalization?
At the last General Conference, a vote passed that would enable Worldwide Regionalization. The aim of regionalization is to give different geographic regions of the denomination equal footing, de-centering the U.S. and centering theology and mission. Under the proposed plan, there will be eight regions — the existing seven central conferences in Africa, Europe and the Philippines plus the U.S. — all possessing the same duties and powers to pass legislation for greater missional impact in their respective regions.
Sources: resourceumc.org, dscumc.org, unitedmethodistbishops.org, scjumc.org, riotexas.org