Thursday, June 28, 2007

Vader


Here's one quick shot of one of my Jack Russell's, Vader!

Choir Tour Pictures!
I hope this works!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The Evan Jones Invitational Golf Tournament

Today the seond annual Evan Jones Invitational Golf Tournament was held, and what a tournament it was! This year's event was held at The Quarry Golf Club in San Antonio, Texas. Perhaps the most hyped course in San Antonio (the course has its own billboards around town and in the airport) the Quarry lived up to the hype! The course was beautiful and was in excellent condition. The Quarry is tough but fair. The front nine is a links layout while the back nine is set within an abanondend rock quarry.
Mr. Jones was an outstanding host: all of the arrangements taken care of (carts with names on them, range balls, free gifts and prizes) in style! What a gentleman!
I look forward to next year's tournament.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

The National Urban Academy

TPUMC is gearing up to host The National Urban Academy of The United Methodist Church. The Academy is a two year program desinged to help urban churches revitalize themselves through a seven-point plan known as The Holy Boldness Project. I am excited about the possibilities the Academy can offer to TPUMC and the urban churches of The Southwest Texas Conference.

Welcome to the Rev. Fred Kandeler

Travis Park UMC is blessed to welcome our interim pastor, the Rev. Fred Kandeler! Fred has served in the Texas, Southwest Texas, North Texas and Centeral Texas Conferences of The United Methodist Church. He spent the majority of his time in ministry in the North Texas Conference where he served on the staff at Highland Park UMC, served as the senior pastor of University Park UMC, and founded Christ UMC in Plano. My wife, Sarah, grew up at Christ Church and that is where we were married! Fred is on the advisory board of the group The Methodist Federation for Social Action. He was also one of the leading opponents of the drive to put the Bush Library at SMU.
Fred's first day was today and was amazing! I am very excited about learning from him and I know the church will be blessed by his excellent leadership.

Monday, June 25, 2007

It's hard to get ready to say goodbye...

My friend and colleauge, Evan Jones, announced to the church yesterday that he has accepted a position at another church. Evan serves as our minister to youth, program director, and media guru. The youth naturally took it very hard. I am working through the grieving process myself. Evan and his wife Jana, and I and my wife Sarah have become very good friends. While we are excited for their new opportunity, we are sad to see them go. The opportunity that he has is really exceptional, however. He is headed to Suncreek UMC, where the pastor is the amazing Rev. Kathleen Baskin-Ball. You can check out the church at www.suncreekumc.org
Godspeed, bruh!

Choir Tour 2007

Well, it's all over! Choir Tour 2007 is in the books. We had our final home shows this Sunday in worship and were wonderfully well recieved by the congregation! The youth did an awesome job: they were simply incredible! Soon, we'll be gearing up for the fall!

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

What a Wednesday!

Whew...todays' the tough day during the tour, the "hump" day, if you will! The morning started off nicely with an excellent breakfast at the hotel: waffles, cereal, fruit, bagels, eggs, etc.! We then loaded the bus and headed to Conyers, GA, where we performed for 36 people!!!! My bruh Ryan came through in a big way! We had all the pizza, salad, and watermelon we could handle for lunch and then hit the road to Savannah!
When we arrived at Richmond Hills (a bedroom community of Savannah that was started by Henry Ford) it naturally started to rain....:) The good folks at Richmond Hills fed us a great dinner of hotdogs and hamburgers with fresh fruit, coleslaw and ice cream! Hotdogs have become a ubiquitous meal for us on this tour. Nearly every stop has featured hotdogs in some capacity!
After dinner we performed for the church and had over 80 people in the congregation! The kids sounded great but you could tell that they were tired. Tonight we are going to get at least eight hours of sleep, which is great! The TPUMC group is currently mixing with the youth of Richmond Hills, who are quite boisterous! :)

All in all, we are tired but doing well.

Tomorrow, we load at 8:00 and drive north to Savannah, where we will have an excellent breakfast, have a devotional in Wesley's square (where the Wesley's actually preached and where the first Sunday School class in America was held). Following the devotional we will briefly check out Savannah, grab some lunch and head to St. Simmon's Island, where we will tour the Wesley museum, chill at the beach on the Atlantic and then we've got a gig that night. It's going to be a great day!

Take care and keep us in prayer!
Joe

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

A Monster Choir Tour Post!!!!

Hey Everybody!
Well, the wireless has been hit and miss so I've been writing posts and saving them till we get to a place where we can connect! Below you will find several postings from the trip! All is well! Keep praying for us!

Musings from the Bus…
We are on day two of tour and have just entered the state of Mississippi. (Still have to sing it to spell it, what a sad story…) This morning we had beniegts at CafĂ© du Monde in the Quarter, walked through Jackson Square to St. Louis Cathedral. We went inside the Cathedral, which is incredibly beautiful and then some of us went to the gift shops and I took the youth who weren’t interested in taking that route to see the Mississippi River. (Dang it, I had to sing again!)
Following that, we met up with Cruz, our excellent driver and then drove through the Upper Ninth Ward. Seeing the “X’s” on the doors of the homes where they had posted body counts is pretty incredible. We were hoping to meet up with a former TPUMC Youth, Jacob Steubing, who now works in NOLA but he had to go to a conference for work in Baltimore, MD. Long story short, we couldn’t find the Lower Ninth Ward. Several of the kids were disappointed, even though I told them that the Lower Ninth at this moment is basically a big, grassy field. To see how tightly packed the Upper Ninth is with houses and then to see the Lower Ninth in all of it’s desolation is overwhelming. As we headed east out of the city the youth saw all of the abandoned apartment buildings, just miles and miles and miles of abandoned apartments. It’s incredible.
As we are headed out of the city I find myself thinking (even after my second trip to NOLA post-Katrina) “is this possible?” THIS IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!!!!!! (I haven’t shared this with the youth.) But, really, it is just unbelievable. Perhaps the best course of action for the rest of the country to take is to write hand-written letters to their representatives demanding action in the gulf coast region, continue to send money to the people working here for good, like Catholic Charities, keep coming to the city and take lots of mission trips there.
Right now we are headed up I-59 towards Selma, Alabama so we are off I-10. We will be coming back on our way home on I-10 pretty much the whole way so it will be interesting to see the rest of the gulf coast.
I’m hopeful that we’ll have time to find the Lower Ninth Ward on our way back through New Orleans.
Man, I love that city! All of the culture, the great food, the incredible music, and the people are just great. What’s happening to NOLA right now is truly a sin.
Later today we are going to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, which should be a pretty amazing experience. The kid’s tour book has an article about the bridge and “Bloody Sunday” and it’s importance in American history. I hope they find it meaningful.
Well, I’m going to shut this thing down and try to get some sleep before our next big turn off, only 161 miles to go to I-20!!!!


A Morning in Montgomery…
Last night was an excellent example of the importance of faith! When we arrived at our host church in Montgomery, AL, we were informed that we would not be giving our performance that night: huge bummer! But, our church was very friendly and cooked some excellent hotdogs for dinner. We used our newfound night off to play Frisbee, soccer, and basketball (where I once again was reminded of the fact that I’m not 18 anymore). Some of the ladies created awesome art on the sidewalk with chalk. (I especially remember a very lovely bird from Emily Curry!) Following our free time and dinner, we tweaked the show up a bit and made some decisions about what we were going to do as a choir: more on that later!
Right now we are all waking up, brushing teeth, looking for coffee, etc. Our host church is bringing us donuts in a few minutes and then we’ll load the bus up at 8:00 and hit the road! This morning we are headed to the MLK National Park in Atlanta, then to lunch at The Varsity, the World of Coca-Cola, check in at our hotel (thank you Mike Bandor!!!!!) and then to the Braves v. Red Sox game!!!!!!

Yet One More Example of How Good God Is…
So, we roll into Montgomery and we find out our gig is cancelled. Everyone is more than a little disappointed…. (Several hours later) All right! We are on the bus headed to Atlanta and things just keep getting better! We are going to see MLK’s National Park this morning, then have lunch at the ATL establishment “The Varsity” and then we’re going to World of Coca-Cola, then the hotel and then the Braves game (we’ll trudge on, even though there’s a 60% chance of storms, figures…) So, back to the many examples of how amazing God is! Our gig last night was cancelled and there was a surprising amount of weeping and nashing of teeth (not literally, of course). This is where my (essentially) brother Ryan Baer comes in. Ryan and I met in middle school in the band and we also went to church together. We have developed an incredible friendship that has spanned four degrees, three states and different family situations and careers. Ryan is now a Presbyterian pastor in Conyers, GA. When we were in the initial stages of planning the tour, Ryan and I tried to figure out how the choir could sing at his church. We just could never find a way to make it work with all that we wanted to do in the ATL. Once our gig was cancelled I called Ryan to tell him what was up. As it turns out, he teaches a Wednesday morning Bible study class in Conyers (which is a suburb of the ATL.) He graciously invited us to come and play for his Bible study and then he even offered to feed us lunch! (Pizza and salad!!!) We put it up for a vote and the kids unanimously voted to do the gig!!! Their vote was a big deal because it meant we had to give up doing one of our fun activities. The choir voted to check out the MLK stuff instead of CNN and to do the gig. What an amazing thing! This choir is truly a special group of youth. We might not be big but our spirit certainly is! So, we’ve added a gig and a free lunch (singing for our supper, I suppose?) at one of the churches we originally wanted to sing at! Then, to make it all even cooler, our gig on Thursday got changed from 1:00 in the afternoon to 7:30 at night in the chapel at the retreat center, which will probably give us a much bigger crowd! The esprit de corp is doing very well right now!

Post-Braves Game…Let the rain continue!

We’re all back at the hotel in Buckhead (thanks, Mike)! As it turns out, the meteorologists in Atlanta are quite good. It rained all afternoon until about 7. We got about six innings of the game in (of which we saw three, the traffic in the ATL is terrible!) and then the rain came again! Fortunately, the youth got to witness one of the great miracles of sport at the moment: a homerun by the phenomenal David Ortiz!
Bottom line: Sox 4, Braves 0. We finally made it back to the bus in the rain, and barring one minor incident, we got back to the hotel, where we are all now headed to sleep. Be sure to ask your youth about Cruz and the traffic cone…
We are going to have a great day tomorrow but now it’s time to go to sleep!
God bless you and I hope to have more tomorrow!
In Christ,
Joe

Monday, June 18, 2007

Day Number 1

Well, it's technically day number two (in the morning) but we've made it through day number one just fine! We got stuck in Houston traffic (which was very, very lame) for nearly an hour and a half so that through us off our game plan pretty badly. We ended up having to continue driving through our scheduled dinner break (because the driver was nearly over his legal time to drive) bu we pulled in to NOLA at just the right time, rehearsed for a bit and then had dinner. The youth were real troopers, I am very proud of their ability to be flexible and to roll with the changes that Houston traffic caused us!

Today we are getting ready to head out to Cafe du Monde for breakfast, a little bit of time in the quarter, driving through the upper and lower ninth wards, Selma, AL, and Montgomery, AL.

It's going to be a great day today!!!!!

No pictures to upload yet but they will be on the way.

Minot Pratt says hi!

Saturday, June 16, 2007

Choir Tour is nearly here!

Man, I love this time of year! Tomorrow morning I leave with the Emmaus Youth Choir on tour! We meet at 9:30 tomorrow and the bus rolls out at 10:00 on the way to New Orleans, LA! Sweet! Monday, we'll be eating beniegts, checking out the quarter as well as the upper and lower ninth wards. Then, we'll head out to Selma, AL, and then Montgomry AL, to do a show. On Tuesday we head to the ATL for a little CNN, World of Coke, and a Braves game against my beloved Red Sox. On Wednesday we head to Savannah, GA, to check out some Wesley stuff and a gig in Savannah. Thursday we are on the Georgia coast at St. Simon's Island and then we begin to head back, stoping in Mobile for a show and then headed to Baton Rouge. All in all, we'll be back on Saturday night for two shows SUnday morning. I would love to figure out how many miles we'll be rolling this week.
The kids are great, the sound is good, the look is good, and we are ready to hit the road!

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

6/17/07 11:00 Liturgy

Travis Park UMC-Sunday Morning Worship
Sunday, June 17th, 2007
Third Sunday after Pentecost
9:00 a.m.

ENTRANCE

PRELUDE: Ken Freudigman, cello

*CALL TO WORSHIP Harlan Mohler
O Lord, we find ourselves experiencing change and looking for direction;
We come to worship knowing you will lead us with unfailing love and faithfulness;
O Lord, in whom should we place our trust?
In you, Lord, we will place our trust.
We come to you seeking the path we should follow,
You know that all too often we strike out on a path without you,
Come Lord during this time of worship,
Lead us into the Promised Land and give us faith to follow.
--Taylor Boone

*OPENING HYMN No. 529 How Firm a Foundation ALL

PRAYER OF CONFESSION:
All: Merciful God,
we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.
We have failed to be an obedient church.
We have not done your will,
we have broken your law
we have rebelled against your love,
we have not loved our neighbors,
and we have not heard the cry of the needy.
Forgive us, we pray.
Free us for joyful obedience,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

SILENT PRAYERS

WORDS OF ASSURANCE:
Leader: Hear the good news:
Christ died for us while we were yet sinners;
that proves God’s love toward us.
In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
People: In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven!
All: Glory to God. Amen.

PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE

READING OF SCRIPTURE:

MESSAGE “Promised Land” Rev. Taylor Boone

TITHES AND OFFERINGS: And the Father Will Dance
Text and Music: Mark Hayes
Conducting: Caroline Bonner
(Please register your attendance in the red registration books.)
*DOXOLOGY (can be found printed on the back page of The Faith We Sing)

THANKSGIVING AND COMMUNION

INVITATION

THE GREAT THANKSGIVING
Leader: The Spirit of God be with you.
People: And also with you.
Leader: Lift up your hearts to heaven
People: We lift them up to God.
Leader: Let us give thanks to God.
People: It is right to give our thanks and praise.
Leader: It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you,
Almighty God, Creator of heaven and earth.

……………………………………………..

And, so with all the saints who have gone before, all the creatures of the earth, and all the faithful, we praise your name and join the unending hymn of praise:

SANCTUS #2257-b in The Faith We Sing ALL

WORDS OF INSTITUTION AND CONSECRATION

THE LORD’S PRAYER
All: Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial,
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are your
now and for ever. Amen.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE ELEMENTS

COMMUNION MUSIC: Lana Cartlidge Potts

PRAYER AFTER RECEVING
All: We thank you, O God, for this holy meal which you have prepared for us. We pray that it will nourish us as we go out, led by the Holy Spirit, to do your work in the world. Amen.
--Alison Boone


SENDING FORTH

PRAYER FOR THE YOUTH CHOIR
All: Loving and generous God, we pray your blessings on the Emmaus Singers and their sponsors as they give the gift of music and singing and joy. We pray your blessings as they receive the gifts of adventure and new places and time together. We pray for traveling mercies in the giving and receiving of gifts of the journey that they—and we—remain always in your care. Amen.
--Alison Boone

PRAYER FOR MEMBERS LEAVING THE CONGREGATION

HYMN OF INVITATION* No. 617 I Come with Joy ALL

BENEDICTION

POSTLUDE: Ken Freudigman, cello

Sunday, June 10, 2007

"The Basics" Sermon for June 10th, 2007

Greetings Everybody!

I hope this finds you well! I preached this morning for both of our morning worship services. Today was our first service without our co-pastors, as they have taken another appoitment in another conference. So today I was rolling with the idea that, during times of transistion, we must revert to the basics of what it is to be the church. I utilzed Micah 6:6-8, Luke 4:18-19, and Matthew 28:19.

“The Basics”

Good morning friends! My name is Joe Stobaugh and I’m one of the pastors here at Travis Park and I’ve got some good news for you! Let us pray: pray extemporaneously…
There is a spirit in the air around here, isn’t there? It’s that time again. Time for something new! Can you feel it? I sense that something is coming, do you? There are memories of greatness mixed with an appreciation for the present moment and a foretaste of all the good things to come. I feel it, do you? You know what I’m talking about, right? It’s Spurs playoff basketball and the Spurs are in the finals!!!!
This a fun time of year, isn’t it? I love to watch Tony and Manu and Tim and the crew doing their thing! The Spurs are really something else: they are a great team on the court and fun to watch. I’ve got to tell you, even as a former ball boy for the Dallas Mavericks insert your boo and hiss here, the Spurs have been surprisingly easy to pull for!
I tell you, there is one Spur I really admire however, and it’s their coach, Greg Popovich. Clearly, Pop is a great coach. And one of the many things that set’s him apart from some of his colleagues is his commitment to executing the plan he has set and sticking with the basics.
I don’t know if you saw the game on Thursday night or not but in the second quarter, Pop called a timeout when things were getting a bit out-of-control. During the timeout ABC had one of those “sounds of the game” moments featuring Pop. As the team was huddled around him, Popovich reminded the Spurs of who they were. He reminded them of the basics that had gotten them to the Finals. Take it slow, he said, take it slow!
You know what happened, of course: it worked! The Spurs were trailing by a few points prior to the time out and after the timeout, with the team refocused; they changed their direction of play, got back to the basics and ended up with a decisive victory! (A few fourth quarter three pointers from Lebron excluded. Man, that guy is something else, huh!)
I remember thinking that that moment, that timeout, was an example of a master coach at work. He sensed the importance of the moment and brought his team back to the basics.
I was also struck by what a great metaphor that moment was for those of us worshipping here this morning!
You know, often in life we can shape situations to a degree, with the sheer force of our outlook and attitude. For those of you who are visiting with us for the first time, our co-pastors for twelve years took another appointment in The United Methodist Church and last Sunday was their last Sunday here. Depending upon how you look at it, it might seem that our church is in trouble: with our co-pastors having been given another appointment and without another to take their position of leadership, it might seem that our church is adrift and that we’ve been abandoned. That’s one way of looking at our current situation. But I would suggest to you that it’s not the only way and in fact, it’s not the best or most accurate way to describe what’s happening at this church.
As I said, friends, I am here to share with you good news! Sisters and brothers, Travis Park has not been abandoned and we are not adrift because Jesus has promised to never, ever to abandon us! Jesus is with us, right here and right now.
And all of you are here and you, my friends are what make this church! And, just so you know an interim pastor is on the way. We don’t know who it will be yet but the Bishop and his cabinet are working on it and through them God will send us a pastor to take us to the next level! And that’s because God is good, God is faithful, and God keeps God’s promises!
So let’s take a moment, friends, during this time of transition, and borrow a page out of Pop’s playbook. Let’s remember what our basics are as a church.
And I do mean we. I want to invite you to think about the basics of being Church, why are we here? Why are we doing what we are doing? What are the basics of being the church?
While you are thinking about it, let me share with you what some friends and I think the church is about and then I want to hear from you.
When I think of what the basics of being the church are I am reminded of a few pieces of Scripture. First, I think of the words of Micah that we’ve just heard. I think of the words of Jesus from the Gospel of Luke, found in chapter 4:18-19 where Jesus says: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me for He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
And I think of Matthew 28:19, again, the words of Christ, “Go therefore into all the world and make disciples of all nations.”
All of this together tells me that the church exists for three reasons:
1. The church exists to announce and proclaim the (Reign) Kingdom of God.
2. The church exists to worship God
3. The church exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation for the world.
To me, the church is the place, as pastor Doug Pagitt would say, “it is the home base for those committed to living in rhythm with God. It is a means by which we extend God’s hopes, dreams and agenda in the world.”
The church, friends, is a place where we strive to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. It is a place where we seek together to deepen our relationship with God through authentic spiritual practices and where we connect the needs of the world with God’s dreams for the world. These are the basics, at least as it seems to me.
Keep thinking, I am coming to you!
This week I had the blessing of attending not one but two Annual Conferences of The United Methodist Church. Early in the week I attended the North Texas Conference where I was ordained on Tuesday and secondly the Southwest Texas Conference, where the great Travis Park Sanctuary Choir sang in the ordination service, where our very own Paul Harper and I led to jazz communion services, and where our very own Byrd Bonner was elected as a General Conference Delegate! Being elected to serve as a delegate to General Conference is a really big deal. It is an honor and a sign of respect and trust. Travis Park: we are blessed to be represented by Byrd Bonner!
Since I was in essence, locked in a room full of preachers and laity for a week, I thought I’d ask them what they considered to be the basics of the church. While I tell you what they said I want you to be thinking about what the basics of the church are for you.
My good friend, the Rev. Terry Heislen, says that the church is called to be a blessing!
My old youth minister, the Rev. John Baldwin told me that the church exists to love.
Another pastor told me that he thought the church was meant to be a placed that nourished the communion of saints, helped them to grow and keep them accountable to living a God-filled life.
Linda Lowman said that the main reason the church exists is to help its members become more like Christ and help them minister to others. She also said that we must expand our circle of those to whom we minister.
Rev. Taylor Boone says we are to come to church to be filled with the Word, filled with the Spirit, filled with Grace and filled with Agape love. In turn we are to go and share that with everyone we meet, seeing the face of Christ in everyone and everywhere. The church is not the building: the church is the people who empty themselves of their own egos and replace the emptiness with Christ.
Rev. Dave Collett says that the church is to help you learn to love yourself so that you can love God and love those around you. “Salvation comes to you on the way to someone else.”
Rev. Willie Glaster says that the church exists in order to help people have a loving relationship with God and to help people learn how to hear from God.
Byrd Bonner says that the local church exists to bring people to Christ the way that Christ would have brought them to himself and to be an instrument of love.
Alison Boone says that the main reason for being the church is to provide authentic worship, because out of that comes the desire to be closer to God, the desire to learn more about God and the desire to serve God. Worshiping in the community is the most important thing we do.
So there are a few ideas for you to ponder on. But now it’s time to hear from you. What do you think the basics of the church are? What do we need to focus on so that we can be the church God wants us to be? I’m looking forward to hearing from you because we all can learn from each other. Please raise your hand and then I’ll call on you and you can stand and tell us a bit of what you think about the basics of the church.
Ask people what they think the basics are
TIE IT ALL TOGETETHER
So we see some common themes, don’t we? The church exists to make disciples of Jesus, to connect one another to each other and to God and to worship God.
Friends, during this new chapter in the history of this church, let us focus on the basics so that we can truly become a church of unconditional love and justice in action that makes disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
The church has been around for thousands of years with these understandings of who, what and whose we are and it will continue to do the work that God has called her to do.
As I said earlier, I have been at annual conferences all week and I was ordained on Tuesday. When you are ordained you place your hand on a Bible as you take your vows for life and then that Bible is given to you. As I looked in my new Bible on Tuesday night (really, it as Wednesday morning) I looked at some of the signatures in it. As my eyes poured down the list I came to the name of Rev. Tyrone Gordon and he left a Scripture passage for me to read, it’s Jeremiah 29:11. Many of you know what it is. Jeremiah tells us, about the future of our church, and about the future of our individual lives, the following: Read Scripture. “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.”
Friends, I know this is true for not only Travis Park but for each of us in our own lives as well.
Sisters and brothers in Christ, as I look at this stole that is hanging around my neck, signifying the yoking of the one wearing it to Christ, I see the hands of the children of this church, who very graciously made it for me. I treasure this stole for all that it represents and I know that God has big plans for these children who are being raised in the faith at this church. God has big plans not only for them but also for this church. The future for us is bright! Travis Park has a venerable and strong history, and God is not done with us yet, friends, God is not done with us yet. Christ is calling us to continue to be about proclaiming the Reign of God in our midst and to create a community that works for God’s Reign to come on earth! God is calling us to make disciples of Jesus and God is calling us to work for peace and justice for all of God’s Creation. Most of all, God is calling us not to be afraid! God is calling us to walk in confidence as the children of God out into the world to be in ministry with God. Let us continue to become the people of God, claiming our full humanity and becoming disciples of Jesus for the sake of transforming the world. “For I know the plans God has for you, and they are amazing!”
Let all the people say: Amen

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Annual Conference No.2

Well, here we go, my second annual conference since Sunday. Good times! I'm here at the Southwest Texas Annual Conference at the American Bank Building in Corpus Christi. We're having some great times right now! I was fortunate to be able to lead a jazz eucharist this morning with the guitarist Paul Harper and it went very well!
Well, we've been adjounred for lunch!
I'm out!

Monday, June 4, 2007

Jo is elected!!!!

Allright! For the first time in North Texas Annual Conference history, our delegation to General Conference has a deacon delegate!!!!!

Yeah for Jo Biggerstaff! This is a very, very exciting moment for the order of deacons.

So far the delegates who have been elected are:
1. Kathleen Baskin-Ball (who is awesome)
2. Jim Dorff (who is great)
3. Jo Biggerstaff

What a blessed conference we are!

Monday Afternoon at Annual Conference

Date: 6/4/07
Time: 4:11 p.m.
Location: The Plano Center, Plano, Texas
Event: The NorthTexas Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church

Today, I'm sitting in the Monday session of Annual Conference. This year we are voting for General Conference Delegates and the mood here at conference is quite good! Everyone is excited, treating each other in a Christ-like way, and behaving nicely! I am very hopeful for our deacon candidate, the Rev. Jo Biggerstaff. She is incredible and truly embodies the divine spark! We have been through five ballots and she is getting closer and closer to success. Our annual conference has the most deacons of any conference in our jurisdiction and yet we have never had a deacon delegate to General Conference. I am hoping that this year will be different.

The 2007 Annual Conference is extraordinarily important to me this year as I will be ordained a deacon in full connection tomorrow night, at my home church, Custer Road UMC. Tomorrow I will also have the opportunity to address the annual conference. I will post my remarks after I've said them. Perhaps it goes without saying but I am extremely humbled by this week and by the connection of pastors in The United Methodist Church.

Remarks and Prayer for the Texas House of Representativesh

Remarks and Prayer from Rev. Joseph Phillip Stobaugh
Pastor of the Day for the Texas House of Representatives
May 23rd, 2007

Greetings! It is truly a blessing and an honor for me to be with you all this morning, serving as the Pastor of the Day.
I am especially struck at this moment by what an incredible honor, privilege and responsibility that you all have in serving in this House. What a tremendous trust you hold! Because regardless of your party affiliation, or from which part of this state you come from, you all share together in a great calling.
Members of this House, your understanding of your calling is vital to the success of your work. Your calling is not a selfish one. You are called to truly be the House of the Representatives, the House of the people and this calling involves many things. So in the midst of all you must accomplish in these full days please always remember that you are called to be a voice for all people but that you are especially to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. You are called to restore hope to those who have lost hope and to help restore dignity and respect to those who have none. Your calling is a sacred covenant between you, God, and the people.
As a representative of the church it is a privilege for me to report to you that our calling as a church and your calling as representatives of the people have at times merged successfully in the past few years. I serve as one of the pastors at Travis Park United Methodist Church in San Antonio, where we have received funding from the state and federal government that has allowed us to develop a phenomenal ministry to those on the margins of society. Our ministry program will soon be merged with the new Haven for Hope Project in San Antonio. With the funding that you have recently authorized for the Haven for Hope Project the marginalized of San Antonio have been given a chance: a chance to reclaim their dignity, to gain respect, and have been granted new opportunities to become what God desires them to be. They now have a fresh opportunity to become fully human, engaged in good honest work, and a chance to be valued by their fellow children of God.
Truly there are times where the church and the state can work together for the common good without trampling over the very important wall that divides them.
Representatives of the people of Texas you have been called! You are called to work for the common good. You are called to help make the great state of Texas a blessing of a state that seeks to bless all of its inhabitants. This blessing looks like healthcare that is available to all, regardless of their economic background. This blessing looks like a healthy and sustainable environment where humanity works in partnership with the earth and not as its adversary. This blessing looks like quality education for every child in this state, regardless of where they live. This blessing looks like affordable higher education for all of those who desire it, not just for the wealthy and middle class. This blessing looks like the eradication of extreme poverty and of the HIV/AIDS virus. These things, brothers and sisters are for the first time in human history actual possibilities within not only my very young lifetime but yours as well! You have the possibility to change the world in ways the rest of human history has never known! Imagine the world that you can leave for our children, for my sixteen month old daughter Eleanor Grace, imagine what that world could look like. May she never know the trials and struggles that so many in this generation have known. So much of this is up to you.
Please remember this day and always the words of the prophet Micah: “God has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
As you go about your important work today, know that these words can serve to guide you. Know that as you finish this busy season that the people of Texas have great hope for you, we are praying for you to be wise, to do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly.




Let us pray:
Eternally gracious and loving God, we come before you this morning seeking your presence in this place and striving to do the work that you have called us to do. Lord, as this body struggles with issues that affect all of us, we ask that you send your Spirit to be run amongst this House so that it’s inhabitants would be ever seeking to work for justice for all, towards dignity and respect for all of your Creation, from the smallest insects to the beasts of the fields, from the shallowest ponds to the deepest seas, from the plains to the mountaintops, guide these servants in taking care of your Creation. Yahweh, bring the concerns of your littlest ones to this body. Bring the dreams and hopes and visions of all who reside in this great state to the attention of these women and men. Inspire the hearts of all who legislate in this place to realize that we indeed are responsible for one another: we are our brothers keeper. Open our eyes to the greatness of this responsibility. As we search for security in this world, teach us the important truth that the fastest way to security is to have justice for all peoples. God, you called these your children to a great work: grant them your wisdom as they deliberate so that your Spirit of unconditional love and justice for all of your people might be made a greater reality, for it is we who are your hands and feet in this world. Be with these people today, God, give them an extra dose of your grace, your love, and your unrelenting passion for justice.
Let all of God’s children say: amen.