At a crucial turning point in Jesus’ teaching ministry, our Lord and Master directs his followers, “a new commandment I give you, love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34) Following the teachings of...
In light of the jury verdict in the Derek Chauvin murder case, we are collectively feeling our way forward to a new future much like someone with impaired sight might grapple into a new building. Here in the Central Texas Conference, we are ...
The words are emblazoned on the founding document of the nascent American independence movement. They form the aspirational template for what we as a nation seek to be when at our best. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [and ...
Imagine the following true story and place yourself in it. You are kidnapped sometime in your teenage years. Hauled in chains to a different country, you are sent to work in hard and dangerous labor – slave labor. Much of your time is spent alone,...
In the turmoil surrounding us and the uncertainty of the church’s future (both coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic and a possible General Conference vote on the Protocol), I do not want us to lose sight of our need and commitment to work on ending ...
The response to COVID-19 varies throughout the conference – from district to district, county to county, family unit to family unit. The Be the Bridge Racial Reconciliation Training Seminar is an important and excellent opportunity for us to come ...
The Association of Annual Conference Lay Leaders has published the following letter to the Laity of the United Methodist Church (please see below). Mike Ford, the current Lay Leader of the Central Texas Conference, supports the release of this ...
As I write this blog today, I am, along with so many of you, in anguish. The shooting of Jacob Blake by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, followed by the gunning down of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber pierces the heart. Stunned incredulity at ...
While “sheltering in place,” Jolynn and I have enjoyed a return to “Sunday night at the Movies.” A few weeks ago, we watched the great old action flick “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” Early this week, I came across an arresting reflection on ...
As Jolynn and I watched the evening news, a report came on about the Tulsa massacre. By now you may know the story. At the end of May 1921 mobs of white residents attacked black residents and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma....
Moderator's Note: A video in which Bishop Lowry directly and fervently addresses the recent events surrounding the tragic and senseless death of George Floyd and the blight of racism and shares some ideas for concrete, specific action to fight racism...
Racism is a sickness in our soul. It is a scourge which haunts the best of us. Like most of you, Jolynn and I have watched with horror the death of George Floyd and the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery. Many of us are at loss for how to appropriately ...
While the COVID-19 crisis clamors for our attention and the struggle on how best to re-open swamps our perceptions, the sin of racism still blights our society and nation. We have witnessed one person, a white woman, being celebrated, encouraged and...
The headline in Tuesday morning’s Fort Worth Star Telegram read, “A Day of Outrage in Response to Shootings.” Such a headline calls to mind our need for confession, conviction and response. It is morally bankrupt to simply receive the news of the ...
Periodically I am asked, "Should our work in missions (love, justice, and mercy) be focused at home in the communities in which our churches are located or should they be in extended mission work across America and the world?" My answer is always ...
While I have been in Europe attending the Council of Bishops meeting in Berlin, we as the world-wide Council have lived with the ongoing news of racial strife across the globe. One regular aspect of the nightly news here in Europe has been the ...
Once a quadrennium, the United Methodist Council of Bishops meets intentionally outside the United States, which reminds us that we are truly a worldwide church. As we gather in Berlin, I ask for your prayers, especially for those Christians ...
In preparation for Thanksgiving my wife has decorated our house beautifully. If you step into the living room and look at the mantle over the fireplace, four elegant figurines peer out from the fall foliage. On the left are the classic looking ...