_PRAYER CONCERNS__________________________

FROM Rev. Mary Tennison:
The Patton and Tucker Family of Cedar Grove UMC (near Ore City) had a
house fire at their home near the church. Two people were hospitalized
at Good Shepherd Hospital and others suffered minor injuries. Please
pray for this family and I will supply more information as it is
received.

This is an excerpt from an email received from David Williamson,
retired Elder:

The facts are even worse than Mary must have known. Four children and
one adult died in the tragic fire that started from a defective "oxygen
machine" used by the elderly grandmother. At least three (and maybe
all) of the children were students at Ore City Schools....I talked and
grieved with five very young cousins of the family. Later, I counseled
with some older children and learned that one of the children who died in
the fire was one of the most popular girls in the middle school. He
name was Destiny, and a wall of the middle school was dedicated to
drawings and messages from the students in her memory.
A fund has been established at the Security State Bank in Ore City
to help this family who had very limited resources of their own even
before the fire which destroyed almost everything they had.

FROM Donna Alexander, Houston North District
Lisa White, Church Secretary of Montgomery UMC, is having serious
vision problems. She is currently undergoing testing and is hospitalized.
At this point, the doctors have been unable to determine the exact cause
of the problem. Surgery is planned in the immediate future due to the
extreme pressure in her eyes. An additional complication is Lisa's
severe diabetes.
Please join with us in prayer for God's healing, guidance and
comfort for Lisa, her family and her physicians.

FROM Bill Servis, Matagorda UMC
Prayers are requested for Johnnie Servis' brother Wayne Nichols who
will be taken off of life support on Friday afternoon at the hospital in
Odessa, Texas. Wayne has only 20% capacity of the use of his
lungs.Johnnie has been in Odessa for the last two weeks.

FROM Danny Barrett, FUMC Normangee/ Flynn
Would you, as brothers and sisters in Christ, lift up my 2-year-old
granddaughter Hanna. She is being admitted to Children's Hospital in
Dallas with a severe staph infection. She is a very sick little girl and I
and Vera would covet your prayers.

Anna Rohde in Longview received this email from a friend of
hers in
Pueblo, CO. Please pray for this young
soldier:
FROM: Vicky Field, Granbury, TX
Sunday, I got a call from the Army that my son, Chad, had been shot in
the head.
He was in a Humvee going through Falujah fighting and a gang of militia
fighters fired on the Humvee. The driver got him out of the city and
took him to Baghdad. He was in fatal condition, but now has been upgraded
to stable critical.
Please pray that my son will not have brain damage and that he will
be restored and healed ! by the blood of Jesus, and the grace of God. I
ask for you to pass this prayer request on so there will be many prayer
warriors praying for him. God Bless.

______________________________BIRTHS_______________________________

_________________________DEATHS/FUNERALS_________________________

FROM Michael D. Dent, Senior Pastor, Marvin UMC
Rev. Cecil McKee died Jan. 11 at his home in Huntsville after a long
battle with cancer.


_____________________CONFERENCE INFORMATION______________________

______________________NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS_________________________

FROM Sarah Smith, Memorial Drive UMC
They bring a new definition to the word "a capella." The Zambian
Vocal Group will perform at Memorial Drive UMC’s Accent on Music series
concert, Sunday, January 15th, 7 p.m., in the sanctuary. Seven young men
from Zambia will sing traditional hymns, original verse, and will
provide a combination of African rhythms, vocal percussion, and some complex
vocal harmonies. Admission is $5...tickets may be purchased at the
music office prior to the concert or at the door.
Memorial Drive UMC is located at 12955 Memorial Drive, Houston, a
block west of the Sam Houston Tollroad.

FROM Cindy Masterson
Celebration Women’s Ministry presents a Leadership Connection Event,
"Equipped to Pray," Saturday, February 18, 2006, at FUMC, Gilmer, TX.
Time is 9:00- 3:30. Cost is $20.00 and includes breakfast and lunch.
Barbara Byerly will be our guest speaker. Barbara has traveled extensively
both nationally and internationally in her teaching ministry.
There will be worship, teaching, prayer time, and training for local
chapter Celebration leadership. Workshops on Prayer, Worship, Officer
Training, and Ministry Teams will be offered
For information about registration, call email
clmasterson@cableone.net or go to www.celebrationministries.org to
download a registration form.

FROM Richard Heyduck [rheyduck@txcumc.org]
A new site for the Commission on Archives and History is now up at:
http://txmethhistory.blogspot.com/. It will feature timely pieces on
Methodist history and will be a source for help on keeping and developing
your own histories.

________________________THIS WEEK'S EVENTS_________________________

FROM Thebe Worden, Chair -
The Board of Managers, the governing board for the Cooperative
School of Christian Mission, will have its Winter meeting Friday, January
l3, 2006, at 10:00 a.m. It will be at Friendship UMC located at 252 Ford
Road, Porter, Texas. Lunch will be provided.

FROM Donna V. Adair, Director of Communications, St. Paul's UMC,
Houston
CHRISTOPHER HERRICK, an English concert organist devoted to
international performances, recording, and broadcasting, will play at St.
Paul's United Methodist Church on Friday, January 13, at 8 p.m.
Herrick performs regularly, both as a soloist and with orchestras,
throughout the world. His more than 30 recordings for Hyperion have
become a benchmark and include the complete works of Bach and the Organ
Fireworks series.
For more about Herrick and his repertoire, see www.herrick.musician.
org.uk. To reach Donna Adair, e-mail: dadair@stpaulshouston.org.
Church: 713-528-0527; Cell: 713-705-6542
NEW STEPHEN MINISTRY TRAINING
A new three-month-long Stephen Ministry training class will begin at
St. Paul's UMC on Sunday, January 15. The sessions will be from 3 to 5
p.m. For more information, contact Rev. Thompson at 713-528-0527 or
terryt@stpaulshouston.org.

_____________________MARK YOUR CALENDAR________________________

FROM Rev. Marlin Fenn
First United Methodist Church, Katy, will host Dr.Tim Bruster as
speaker of the tenth annual Coen Conference preaching series January 22 and
23. Dr. Bruster is Sr. Pastor of First United Methodist Church in Fort
Worth and a former member of the Texas Annual Conference. Services are
Sunday, January 22 at 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00am, and 7:00pm. Monday
service is at 7:00pm. Theme of the conference is "A Disciple’s Journey."
Church phone is 281-391-2121. Address is 5601 Fifth Street in Katy, 77493

FROM: Billy Watson, St. Peter’s UMC, Katy, -
Digital Storytellers Seminar, February 25, 2006
You and your media ministry team are invited to Midnight Oil
Production’s Digital Storytellers Seminar on Saturday, February 25, 2006, 8 a.m.
- 4 p.m. at St. Peter’s UMC in Katy. Len Wilson and Jason Moore (both
formerly of Ginghamsburg UMC, and co-founders of Lumicon) established
Midnight Oil Productions in 2002 "to further the vision of worship for
the digital age through ideas, resources and seminars that work for local
churches." The cost for the event is $109 for individuals and $89 per
person if 2 or more come from your church. This includes 4 sessions with
Len and Jason, a digital film festival, seminar related materials, a
meal, refreshments, and more. For more information about Midnight Oil or
the Digital Storytellers Seminar, visit:
www.midnightoilproductions.com. For more information about the event in Katy, contact Billy Watson at
bwatson@stpeterskaty.org or 281-492-8031, ext. 304.

FROM Terry Dougherty
This may be a resource for some of our local churches in East TX:
FASTEN has little grants for Faith-based organizations to help with
emergency response and with community recovery & rebuilding. The deadline
is March 1, 2006. See the attached link for details:

http://www.fastennetwork.org/display.asp?Page=2006_INFO


_____________________RESTORATIVE JUSTICE NOTICES__________________


_______________________JOB OPENINGS/JOBS WANTED__________________

Below are the most current openings and job information. Previous job
postings can be located on the conference website: www.txcumc.org. Thank
you

FROM Rev. Denise Jones
F/T Children's Ministries Director - Westbury UMC
A multi-cultural church in Southwest Houston. Experience working in
children's ministry is desired.
Contact: Rev. Denise Jones; 5200 Willowbend; Houston, Texas 77096;
713-723-0175 - denise1@westburyumc.org

______________________WANT ADS (Items Needed/Wanted)________________

FROM Kitty S. Key pastor, Sabine Pass UMC
Sabine Pass UMC is in need of a set of house plans which meet
Conference requirments, church budget, can be constructed by volunteer teams and
satisfy Codes for costal building. No small order for sure! If you have
an answer for our situation, please contact me at kfkey@hotmail.com
Visit our website for updates: www.sabinepassumc.org