Why We Need To Raise $1 Million Dollars for Hurricane Katrina Relief and Recovery "Be not weary in well-doing . . ." Galatians 6:9 KJVPraise God that United Methodists in the Texas Annual Conference have responded with such radical hospitality to our neighbors from Louisiana who are our guests as a result of Hurricane Katrina. Praise God also for your extragavant generosity as we are seeking to provide relief andrecovery for all these displaced persons.

What is happening in our local churches and in our institutions is a blessing both to the displaced citizens of Louisiana and the people called United Methodist in the Texas Annual Conference. I am proud of you.

Because so many of our churches are involved in direct services, pastors and key lay leaders are struggling with how much of their offerings to forward to the Annaul Conference and how much to retain in the local church for the people walking in their doors with multiple needs. I want to affirm what every church is doing locally. In fact, the Conference would like to celebrate what you are doing. The Treasurer's Office has prepared a report form so that you can tell us what you have done directly through your church in both cash and in kind services.

As the Reliant Center Shelters and George R. Brown Convention Shelter close down, many of you are wondering whether we still need $1,000,000. The answer is a resounding "yes." As those original needs have diminished, vital new needs have emerged. Here are the short-term and long-term necessities we are facing.Our first priority is to fund our share of the feeding ministry at George R. Brown Convention Cnter. Please know that despite the decrease in the number of persons living in the shelter, we are still feeding
approximately 10,000 people at lunch at nearly 8,000 at night. These are folks who may have a place to live, but have little cash for food. We are currently expecting to underwrite about $200,000 for meals provided in the shelters.

One of the concerns of our volunteers is where these folks will need to turn for meals when the shelters close. We are anticipating that feeding needs will increase in other places. Some of these smaller congregations with large displaced citizen populations will need conference assistance to provide the hospitality they want to offer.

Our second priority will be the special needs persons, staff and
families at Lakeview Conference Center. Dr. Stansell and I visited there yesterday. There are now 201 persons residing there. They are sponsored by Volunteers of America, a small not-for-profit organization serving some of the most physically and mentally challenged persons anywhere.

VOA leadership is currently indicating that they expect to continue to reside there for about six weeks. While VOA will pay what they can, we are expecting care for these persons will require about $200,000 or more. We can all be grateful to Dr. Von Dawson and his staff for receiving these friends of Jesus when there was literally "no room at the inn."

As of this time, approximately 69-80 United Methodist pastors of the New Orleans District have no remaining church building, congregation or parsonage. These pastors will be our third priority. In a series of emergency meetings, Bishop William Hutchinson, bishop of Louisiana Conference, has called on neighboring Episcopal areas to provide housing,
furnishings, travel and a place of ministry for many of these pastors through June 1, 2006. Louisiana will underwrite their salary and benefits.

Because so many displaced citizens of Louisiana are currently residing in our conference bounds, Bishop Hutchinson would like for us to receive quite a large number of pastors - probably 20-30. The number could be higher. A number of these pastors need to be placed in churches who serve neighborhoods with less expensive housing - where many Louisiana
laity are finding housing. These congregations and others will need the entire Annual Conference to help them underwrite these costs. We are estimating that providing shelter and enough new furnishings to help them start a new life will cost in excess of $300,000. Your gifts will help underwrite those pastors.

Finally, our fourth priority will be funding long-term and
reconstruction efforts in Louisiana. We are already working with UMCOR toward that future. I want you to know that UMCOR has been terrific in helping Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. They even sent The Texas Annual Conference a check. Please know that I respectfully de4lcined those funds because our sisters and brothers in Louisiana and Mississippi need it so
much more than we do. As New Orleans dries out, Vidor and other points in East Texas will become a major staging area for UMCOR efforts in Louisiana. All of this effort will require funding.

In my first letter to you, I suggested that this relief and recovery
effort is not a sprint but a marathon. I want to urge you today, "Let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at
harvest-time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith." (Galatians 6:0-10, NRSV)

Thank you in advance for your extragavant generosity.

God bless yo.
Bishop Janice Riggle Huie

FROM NANCY HINSHAW, Area Provost's Office

The Called Session of Annual Conference is scheduled for November 19 at
Lakeview Conference Center. Registration will be at 9:00 am and the
session will begin at 10:00 am. At that time, the Strategic Planning Team
will present its proposal for consideration. Box lunches will be
provided following the close of the session.
All members and guests who will attend are asked to register by
NOVEMBER 7 in order to guarantee appropriate arrangements.
Register on-line through our website at www.txcumc.org or contact
Rebecca Garcia at 713-533-3719.

Risograph for Sale

The BayVue UMC has a color risograph for sale. They are asking for the best offer but could not take less than $300. For more information about the risograph and its capabilities, you may call Rev. Mark Pedersen at (409) 684-6678.

Kathie Mann - Director Partners In Mission

Dear Friends,

The City is making huge strides in placing our guests from the George R. Brown Convention Center and the Reliant Complex into homes and apartments. The goal is to move them out quickly and help them resettle.

This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us, as we welcome them into our communities and churches.

Because we had originally scheduled the week of September 14-20 at George R. Brown for Methodist volunteers, we now are having to be extremely flexible. With the possibility of the last evacuees leaving this Saturday or Sunday, I have been in direct conversation with the Second Baptists on redesigning our schedules. Operation Compassion is an Ecumenical project and Second Baptist is trying very hard to fit all of our trained volunteers into the schedule along with other denominations that have trained but not yet served. After long discussions yesterday a plan was agreed upon that will utilize the wonderful gifts of our Interfaith community.

Please disregard the earlier memo that you were not to respond to nemails from Second Baptist as they are now responsible for the scheduling of all volunteers. Using their data base, Second Baptist will send out an email today to the Methodists who have completed their training. The email will give specific dates for our volunteers to serve on a " first come, first served " basis. You must sign up on this email or you will not be able to serve at the Convention Center. If a shift is full, you will automatically be sent to the next available time. If no times are available, then Methodists have filled all allotted spaces.

Please consider giving your time to : Reliant Complex - Go to the lot assigned as "Volunteer Parking", carry only your picture I.D. and proceed to the check-in tables. You will receive a 10 minute orientation before you wait for your assignment. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes as lots of walking is involved.

There are plenty of volunteer opportunities in the Texas Conference. Please find a shelter near you and lend a hand. Many evacuees are still in our churches and in need of Christ's love.

Houston Food Bank is needing volunteers during week day hours.

Call Red Cross and ask for volunteer opportunities.

May God Bless you as You Bless others!

Kathie Mann

The Wesley Foundation Campus Ministry at Lamar University is celebrating over fifty years of service

The Wesley Foundation Campus Ministry at Lamar University is celebrating over fifty years of service to Lamar Students, Staff, and Faculty.

The Wesley Foundation on the campus of Lamar University is holding a celebration called “Experience the Wesley” to recognize a great past and a great future. It begins with an “open house” event on Sunday afternoon, September 25^th, from 3 p.m. until 5 p.m. to give everyone an interactive experience of the campus ministry. “Experience The Wesley” will continue through the week with the Wesley Campus Ministry offering refreshments, special activities, and a cookie giveaway to students. A faculty and staff reception will be on Wednesday, September 28^th from 2:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. The Wesley Foundation has been meeting spiritual needs in the heart of the educational community of Lamar University-Beaumont for over 50 years. They have a great past and a great future in the heart of Lamar. Everyone is invited to come and “Experience the Wesley”!

1. Beaumont, TX, September 25, 2005: The Wesley Foundation, a Campus Ministry provided by the United Methodist Church, has been meeting the spiritual needs of students, staff, and faculty for over fifty years on the campus of Lamar University. The Reverend David Porterfield, current Director of the Wesley Foundation, notes that, “The current Wesley Center facility was built a little over twenty years ago. The leadership of Dr. Kemble and the Board of Regents conceived its current location on the Plaza, which is now surrounded by the new Cardinal dorms and the new Cafeteria. The current site was offered by the University as a strategic location for religious life centers.” In its previous location by the Cherry Building, the Center was known as the Rothwell Methodist Center.

2. The Wesley Foundation has been active at the heart and in the life of Lamar since 1953. Director Rev. Porterfield, with the Wesley Foundation Board, is thrilled to be a crucial part of the educational life of the University as it continues to thrive and grow under the visionary leadership of Dr. Simmons. “It’s past time to celebrate,” says Rev. Porterfield, “that the University cares enough for its students to recognize the need for access to places of religious growth along with intellectual and vocational development.” Over her fifty-plus years of presence on the campus, the Wesley Foundation has been a positive influence for spiritual life to all who want to participate. The Center has been a place to develop lifelong friendships, habits of service to others, a haven of hospitality, and an open place to explore questions of faith and life. While offering a view of life that is Christ-centered and grace oriented, the Wesley Center has always been open to people of all beliefs and religions – the entire spectrum of the Lamar University population.

3. The Wesley Center, open from 7:30 in the morning until 10 at night, provides a “home away from home” for quiet study, reflective prayer, renewing recreation, social interaction, and developing an understanding and experience of God’s presence and an authentic spiritual life. The Wesley Center’s Tuesday free lunch, served come and go style each week from 11 to 1, has been a vital expression of her care for the Campus. The motto for the Center is “Open minds, Open Hearts, Open Doors.” Rev. Porterfield says, “We are not only celebrating our great past, but looking forward to a great future in and to the heart of the Lamar campus.”

4. All the faculty, staff, and students of Lamar are encouraged to share in this fifty year celebration by coming into the facility during “Experience the Wesley” Celebration Week (the last week of September) and discovering how their own place in University life can be enhanced by the Center’s facility and programs. “Then,” says Porterfield, “after celebrating with us, let’s make our future at Lamar a continuing asset to your life and goals we all share in common.”

The New Plan!!!!!

The New Plan!!!!!
Public officials and private officials have met and developed a new plan to care for the overflow from the Astrodome.

Displaced citizens will be referred now to the George R. Brown Convention Center and The HP Center. Our feeding ministry will remain basically as I outlined in yesterday’s letter. We still need a million dollars. We still need food service volunteers beginning September 14 and concluding September 20. We believe the number of volunteers will remain constant. Only the location will change.

Bottom line: Please use yesterday’s letter to ask folks for money and people. However, let them know that the location will be different.

Thanks so much for your patience in this matter. No one is prepared for these numbers of people in Houston, and public and private officials are developing the plans as they go.
I’ll see those of you coming to the Monday training event at Second Baptist when Bob and I get trained ourselves.

Blessings,
Janice Riggle Huie