I am pleased to announce that both Faith Church’s Council and the Heart of Texas Association’s Committee on Ministry have approved Philip Graves as a Member in Discernment as he pursues Licensure as a Minister of the United Church of Christ.
Philip will be taking classes, writing papers, and practicing in various ways for ministry in the coming months. We have some obligations to him as his sponsoring congregation, the first of which is to encourage and pray for him, so please keep him in your prayers as we seek to guide and encourage him in this journey!
If you have any inkling of interest in what it means to become authorized as a minister (commissioned, licensed, or ordained) in the UCC, consider the brief documents on this UCC webpage dedicated to discernment of one’s call!
With the final candidate for the Conference Minister position being brought forward by the by the CM Search Committee, and the SCC Board of Directors voting to affirm the Search Committee’s recommendation, we are pleased to invite you to the following:
Presentation of Rev. Phil Hodson to the Conference for a vote at a special meeting of the Conference on Saturday, April 17, 2021 at 10 am via Zoom. This communication serves as official notice to the Conference as outlined in the SCC Constitution (Article V Section 1) and Bylaws (Article 11 Sections 1 and 2). The only agenda item will be for Conference members to vote on the Conference Minister candidate, Rev. Phil Hodson.
**Please be sure to share with Conference members (authorized ministers and lay leaders from your churches) so that we can ensure that a quorum is present on April 17th for the Conference vote**
Rev. Hodson has provided an introduction statementfor the Conference so you can begin to learn more about him. Additionally, four meet-and-greets have been scheduled to allow the Conference to get to know Rev. Hodson before the vote on April 17th. The first meeting was held last night.
We encourage you to be present on one of the meetings (or all) listed below. The Zoom link is the same for all of the meet-and-greets and you can contact the Conference office if you need more information. They will also be recorded if you are unable to attend any session.
Sunday, March 28th at 2 – 3 pm
Wednesday, April 7th at 7 – 8 pm
Saturday, April 10th at 10 – 11 am
The purpose of the meet-and-greets is for Rev. Hodson to introduce himself, say a bit about his faith journey and share why he’s excited to serve as the SCC Conference Minister. If present, members of the Search Committee can also share why they felt called to name Rev. Hodson as the final candidate.
Speaking of the Conference Minister Search Committee, please be sure to thank members of this committee:
Rev. Vanessa Monroe (chair) Debra Joseph (VP of the BOD) Rev. Joshua Lawrence Rev. Neil Thomas Marilyn Reyes Cesar Baptista Arlene Turner Rev. Jacqueline Lamensky Bessie Griffin
They went above and beyond in their duties as part of this committee including conducting a mock interview to prepare, interviewing lots of candidates in first round interviews, and going on to more in depth interviews with four candidates before reaching a unanimous consensus. I have heard nothing but praises from Rev. Lee Albertson, who helped guide this team and from Rev. Hodson himself. They were organized, prepared and dedicated — asking hard questions and listening for God’s call. I look forward to celebrating them with the entire Conference soon.
If Rev. Hodson is affirmed as the SCC Conference Minister at the April 17th meeting, he will begin in this role around July 15th. This means that we will be transitioning to saying good-bye to our Interim Conference Minister, Rev. Campbell Lovett. Rev. Lovett will be around to help with this transition. We continue to be extremely grateful for Rev. Lovett and his leadership over the past year.
That is all that I have for now, but I look forward to seeing you all at the meet-and-greets and the called special meeting of the Conference on April 17th. I am really excited about the future of the South Central Conference and a little sad to be rolling off as President in June.
Peace and blessings, Rev. Nikki Stahl
From SCC Weekly e-News Submitted by Rev. Nikki Stahl
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