Telling Our Story
Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. has announced the appointment of Rev. Dr. HiRho Park as the director of belonging, inclusion and cultural engagement, effective July 1, 2026.
On May 25, 2024, an EF3 tornado tore through Valley View, Texas, leaving destruction and uncertainty in its wake. In the months that followed, the Horizon Texas Conference, in partnership with United Methodist Committee on Relief, began walking alongside residents to rebuild and to imagine a stronger future. What does recovery look like when it goes beyond rebuilding homes? In Valley View, it looks like neighbors finding peace of mind again, communities coming together, and new storm shelters offering safety when the next storm comes.
At Blum UMC in Texas, Pastor Jessica Roberts and her congregation turned an unexpected donation into The Community Table — a creative, recipe-based food pantry where every family receives a complete “meal in a pan.” Each kit includes nonperishable ingredients and an easy recipe Jessica has tested in her own kitchen. Jessica shares how a Father’s Day surprise, a city-owned storage room, and a generous community came together to address hunger with dignity, compassion and prayer. No paperwork. No strings attached. Just neighbors helping neighbors and a church showing the love of Jesus one meal at a time. From ground meat and hamburger buns to fully assembled recipe kits, The Community Table is feeding both body and spirit in rural Texas.
It was a beautiful, powerful and uplifting weekend as 120 women gathered from across the Horizon Texas Conference for the Altogether Worthy Women’s Retreat at Prothro Center. Centered around the story of the woman at the well, the retreat offered a sacred space for women to be reminded that Jesus meets us in our weariness and offers living water—restoration, identity and deep spiritual renewal. Through worship, teaching, laughter, tears and connection, participants affirmed a powerful truth: In Christ, we are Altogether Worthy. Held over International Women’s Day, the retreat featured transformative teaching and preaching by Rev. Dr. Jaime Clark-Soles. It was also a time for meaningful community—past and present spiritual leaders reunited, shared stories and opened hearts in vulnerability and celebration. As one participant reflected, “We discovered that celebration isn’t just for the big moments—it’s found in shared vulnerability, quiet revelations and the holy space between hearts opening to one another.” Throughout the weekend, the Spirit moved in countless ways: in tearful conversations, in laughter that healed and in silence that spoke volumes. As this Lenten journey continues, these women return to their communities, reflecting and celebrating what God is doing within and among them. May we all remember: when we gather in authenticity, God’s spirit fills the spaces between us.
The Lovers Lane UMC youth ministry recently spent a weekend of their Spring Break serving at Cultiv8 Community. Cultiv8 Community is a nonprofit organization in northeast Texas focused on habitat restoration, environmental education, affordable housing and connecting people with nature. Cultiv8 accomplishes this through five focus areas: Cultiv8Camp (connecting children primarily in rural areas with safe and free experiences in nature), Cultiv8Connections (seeking to connect with rural community leaders across North Texas to help them uncover their communities' hidden strengths), Cultiv8Housing (building high-efficiency, affordable homes to help families experiencing poverty become first-time homeowners), Cultiv8Respite (providing peaceful locations in nature for teachers and community leaders to help them reconnect with the natural world and themselves, free of charge) and Cultiv8Habitat (partnering with local landowners to help reclaim their land as native pollinator habitats and/or adopt regenerative farming practices). Students from Lovers Lane spent the weekend working in the greenhouse, planting native wildflowers and painting two new storage containers. Their work helps Cultiv8 prepare for the spring and summer day camps they will host for thousands of students in rural school districts across North Texas. https://www.cultiv8community.org/
Gather. Grow. Go. This simple discipleship pathway at FUMC Cleburne fostered an idea for a place where anyone in the church and community could come together on a Wednesday night to share a meal, meet new friends, and learn. That place in known as The Gathering, and it's changing how FUMC Cleburne does church. https://www.fumccleburne.com/
For the last 15years, Highland Park UMC has invested in and supported this space as a satellite campus. Having secured a healthy foundation and experienced remarkable growth, Munger Place Church has relaunched as an autonomous United Methodist church with HPUMC's blessing. Watch Munger Place Church's "Day One" story.
In 2009, Highland Park UMC sought to expand its contemporary worship service options. As HPUMC prepared to lease a new space, they had a thought - why not invest in a United Methodist property that needs to be revitalized instead, and why not do it in a Dallas neighborhood that is being underserved? Those questions led them to Munger Place Church in East Dallas. For the last 15years, Highland Park UMC has invested in and supported this space as a satellite campus. Having secured a healthy foundation and experienced remarkable growth, Munger Place Church has relaunched as an autonomous United Methodist church with HPUMC's blessing. Watch Munger Place Church's "Day One" story.
City Point Church has always had a strong heart for mission and outreach." Every year before Thanksgiving, City Point UMC becomes the center of the North Richland Hills community, bringing church members, schools and public servants together to share one big community meal.
In Matthew 25, Jesus said, "What you've done to the least of these, you've done to me." What does that mean for our neighborhoods today?
Rev. Billy Lane and Dr. India Stewart of the Innercity Community Development Corporation (ICDC) join Rev. Daniel Hawkins to share how their work in sunny South Dallas is helping families put down roots, build stability, and create stronger neighborhoods. Through stories from their work, they explore how homeownership creates opportunity, why communities are strongest when everyone has a voice, and what it looks like to walk alongside neighbors as they shape the future of their own communities. This episode is about seeing Christ in our neighbors and discovering that building stronger communities is not separate from the Gospel. Billy and India describe a ministry that walks with people, helps them find their voice, and creates pathways toward lasting change. It's a conversation about faith, dignity, and what can happen when Christians take seriously the call to love their neighbors.
To learn more about Innercity Community Development Corporation: https://www.icdc.biz/ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?... / southdallasfairparkicdc
The Parables of Jesus are some of the most well-known in the world. But what if we’ve been moving through them too quickly to really hear what they’re saying? In this episode of POD Strangely Warmed, Rev. Daniel Hawkins sits down with Rev. Andy Nixon to explore The 45 Parables and the deeper meaning behind the stories Jesus told. Together, they reflect on how parables invite us to slow down, ask better questions, and encounter Jesus in ways that go beyond surface-level understanding. This conversation is for anyone curious about faith, whether you’ve spent years in the church or you’re still figuring out what you believe. Through storytelling, humor, and honest reflection, Andy shares why parables create space for both believers and skeptics to engage with Scripture in a meaningful way. Explore The 45 Parables by Andy Nixon: https://45parables.com/
