Our hearts are heavy this week following the unexpected death of our colleague and friend, Pastor Alan McGuire, of our Snyder church.  Alan and his wife, Catania, have served in Snyder for over fourteen years. They have been very much loved and appreciated throughout their community, where she works for the school district and he has been a hospice chaplain, in addition to leading our church there. It was beautiful to see many of our pastors at the funeral in Snyder last Tuesday. I know that Catania and her children were appreciative of your presence and the many expressions of love and concern. To view the obituary, which highlights Alan's outstanding ministry, you can CLICK HERE.

Congratulations to Pastor Jeff Marcoe of Amarillo First Church. On October 10th, I had the privilege of being with his church board for his two-year review.  As expected, there was a unanimous and enthusiastic support and appreciation for Jeff and Amy.  We are so pleased to have them as a part of the WT District family!

 

It was great to see many of you at the "Awakening" two weeks ago.  Pastor Corey and the Crossroads Tab congregation did an awesome job of hosting this annual event...which grows every year!  I think there were over 1,300 participants (see the newsletter header above). I know Corey is considering moving to one of the municipal convention centers to find a venue large enough to accommodate next year's anticipated crowd. I thank God for the encouragement and inspiration I received at this year's event.  As always, I was especially moved by Beth Ann Jones' Saturday morning presentation.    

What a great service we had in Crowley for the launch of our newest congregation, El Remanente Iglesia del Nazareno.  This Parent-Affiliated Congregation is hosted by Pastor C.B. Glidden and Ft. Worth First Church. Pastors Jose and Blanca Perez are the church-planting couple. I think they are off to a great start.  Members of several of our Hispanic congregations were there of the opening service. Our Hispanic Ministries Coordinator, Pastor Moises Marquez was the preacher. We are all joining in prayer for their success! 

Last weekend was the annual Discovery Weekend for newly licensed ministers and their spouses. I want to thank Pastor Earl Robertson for organizing this outstanding event. It was a big success.  Pictured here are the participants.  I was so impressed by this highly motivated and passionate group of new Nazarene ministers.  Also, I am so very thankful for the diversity of this great group! Being with them made me feel very good about the future of our district, the Church of the Nazarene, and the Body of Christ. 

This past Sunday Susan and I visited Stephenville Ebenezer Iglesia del Nazareno. We want to particularly thank our office manager, Ana Carrier, who accompanied us and served as my interpreter. Pastor Carlos Diaz and his wife, Janeth, are doing an awesome job of leading this great congregation.  The flock was filled with young families, the praise team was phenomenal, and Pastor Diaz was doing an obviously great job leading them. I want to thank Pastor Curt Plaxco and Stephenville First Church for their help in establishing this new church.  We are hoping Ebenezer will be fully organized at this years' District Assembly.

I know it's not really district business, but I did have a great four-day getaway earlier last month as five of our pastors rode our motorcycles over into the mountains of Arkansas. I thank the Lord for the great ride and wonderful fellowship!