President's Corner

Texico Centennial Celebration
1916 - 2016

This year the Texico Conference will be celebrating 100 years in existence.  Centennial celebrations will start at the Glorieta Conference Center, June 1-4, 2016.  On August 12-13, we will be in Clovis, New Mexico, November 18-19 in Amarillo, Texas and December 2-3 in El Paso, Texas. 

As we reflect back over this lengthy span of time, we realize how the Lord has lead our Church (and Conferences) and enabled us to touch thousands of lives through our teaching, health and preaching ministry with the purpose of bringing many souls into God’s kingdom.  For this we praise the Lord and are extremely grateful that we can build on the sacrifices of our pioneers.
 
I love these wonderful words, “In reviewing our past history, having traveled over every step of advance to our present standing, I can say, Praise God! As I see what the Lord has wrought, I am filled with astonishment, and with confidence in Christ as leader. We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history” (Life Sketches of Ellen G. White, page 196).
 
The years 1914–1916 was a time of turmoil and hope for a better future.  World War I had started. The re-election of Woodrow Wilson to the presidency in 1916 brought renewed enthusiasm to the United States.
 
Pope Benedict XV was elected as the new pope on September 3, 1914, only four months after being selected as a cardinal, due to his diplomatic experience.  A new euphoria started circulating the world when the pope was in the limelight as the world’s peacemaker.
 
Because of the events happening with the pope, Seventh-day Adventists were talking that this was the fulfillment of prophecy. Adventists where constantly reading the newspapers to see what was happening with the pope and see how the end was almost near.
 
Rumors started spreading that the West Texas Conference was going to be either shut down or moved. At the Southwestern Union Conference meeting in 1916, it was decided that the West Texas Conference should remain as a conference.  Elder Buhalts of the West Texas Conference writes these words of relief, “I am sure glad of this.  The membership at this time in the West Texas Conference was small and our laborers are few to do the work, but God is not dependent of numbers.  With a full consecration and a strong faith in this movement, a love for souls, God will add His blessings to our feeble efforts.”[1]
 
In 1916, Elder I. H. Evans, J. W. Christian and A. F. Harrison went from Amarillo, Texas to Clovis, New Mexico to talk about uniting the West Texas Conference and the New Mexico Conference.
 
At the constituency session of the Southwestern Union Conference held in Oklahoma City on April 1916, consideration was given to the advisability of uniting West Texas and New Mexico into one conference.  The matter was referred to the Union Conference Committee for further consideration. In the latter part of May at a meeting of the Committee, favorable action was taken and the matter was referred to the constituency of the respective conferences for further consideration.

During the West Texas Conference camp meeting held in early August, the question was given careful consideration.  The constituency of the conference voted favorably to invite the New Mexico Conference to join them in a united conference for a larger and stronger work in this part of the field.
 
The New Mexico Conference followed West Texas and the vote of West Texas was carried to the brethren of the New Mexico Conference.  The whole question was carefully explained and the believers, “without one dissenting voice, voted to join the proposed union.”[2]
 
The action of the two Conferences was then conveyed to the Council of the North American Division held in October of 1916.  The Council took favorable action and arrangements were made for a joint meeting of the executive committees of the two local conferences, with representatives from the Division and Union on December 19 and 20, at Clovis, New Mexico.
 
On Tuesday morning, December 19, 1916, at 9:30 a.m. in the church at Clovis, New Mexico, the representatives from the various conferences assembled with Elder Evans from the North American Division. Following a brief statement as to the object of the meeting, it was unanimously voted, in harmony with steps already taken, to unite both conferences.  The various committees for the perfecting of the organization was appointed, a new constitution was drafted and adopted, and the name Texico Conference was given to the newly formed conference.
 
After careful deliberation, study and prayer, the following officers were unanimously elected to their respective offices:  Elder R. B. Coberly was elected as president.  J. S. McMullen was elected as secretary and treasurer.  T. J. Hooper was elected as the Field Secretary and other departments were referred to the conference committee. 

J. W. Christian, writing for the Southwestern Union Record said, “We were very much pleased by the spirit of frankness and unity in all our deliberations and actions.  There is a bright future for the Texico Conference... Our workers stand united for a stronger and better work, and we believe with all sincerity that God has directed in the uniting of these two conferences.”[3]
 
The future of the Texico Conference was and is still bright. With God’s help we can see greater things happening in New Mexico and West Texas.  When we work together, unite in prayer, cooperate with God, ask for the Holy Spirit to guide our lives and preach the gospel by God’s grace and help, we have nothing to fear, for God is in control.
 
We are celebrating 100 years in existence, but we could not have made it this far on our own. God has been directing the Texico Conference. Let us pray that He will continue to lead us all.
 

2016 Texico Winter Ministers' Retreat

The Texico pastoral family meeting together in El Paso for the Winter Ministers' Retreat.

The 2016 Texico Winter Ministers’ Retreat was held on January 4-7 at the Radisson Hotel, in El Paso, TX.  This was a very special time for the Texico pastors, wives, children and departmental staff.  Something was planned for everyone.  The pastors were inspired, encouraged and educated by special guest speakers.

Pastors Phil Robertson, Texico Executive Secretary/Treasurer and Lee-Roy Chacon, President
 

Dr. Angel Rodriguez, part-time Associate Director of the General Conference Biblical Research Institute, presented very insightful and powerful theological messages on the topics of Feast Days, Festivals, and the Cosmic Work of Christ. 
 

 Dr. Angel Rodriguez presenting powerful theological topics for the pastors.

Jose Cortes, Jr., Associate Ministerial Director of the North American Division (NAD) introduced new initiatives of the NAD in which every church is encouraged to be involved.  These transformational evangelism programs include: Compassion 10 Million and an initiative to plant 1000 new churches in our division within the next several years. 
 
Attorney’s Karnik Doukmetzian, Director of the Office of General Counsel of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and Jim Kizziar, Partner with Bracewell & Giuliani in San Antonio, TX, discussed many important legal issues pertaining to pastors, churches and schools.
 
Childcare was provided for those with little ones, giving a break to the moms and dads.
 
The ladies enjoyed meetings and speakers that focused on topics relating to their unique situations and needs.  Nelva Chacon lined up several of the pastors’ wives to be speakers for their different sessions, which was a real blessing.  One of the women mentioned at the conclusion of one of the meetings that they had so many good speakers within the Texico pastors’ wives group that they didn’t need to request a guest speaker.
 

 
Wednesday afternoon was left open for free time, which included opportunities for golfing, shopping or spa treatment pampering.  This was an important time for the group.  It helped create an opportunity for bonding, as well as, relaxation, which many times for pastors’ families, is hard to come by. 
 

1st place winners of the pastoral golf team display their trophies.

The Texico Conference appreciates all the pastors and their families who work diligently and sacrifice their time for the cause of Christ in their districts. We encourage you to pray for your pastor and family daily.  Encourage them in their ministry and walk beside them to accomplish the mission we have set out to do – finish the work of Christ.

By Sue Hinkle,
Communication Director/Assistant to the President

Time is Running Out
Jesus is Coming Again
 

Grants Church members who participated in the parade and helped to create the float (left to right: Isabel, Ruth, Lilliam, Pastor Jerry Pinzon and Elder Terry Knighton).




 

As it was reported during a previous article, our little church in Grants, NM has been participating for the last couple years in the town’s Christmas parade. It has been a wonderful experience that brings together the young and the more mature generations of our little church. I have witness the beautiful sight of unity around one goal, to give out a message of hope to the small town of Grants by building our Christmas float and passing out literature to the hundreds of people that witness the parade each year.

In December 2014, our church was blessed as we impacted the community with our message, “Jesus light of the world.” Our float actually took first place among 18 other floats that paraded and we were able to distribute around 400 tracts to the attendees. It was both extremely unexpected and satisfactory to see our float on the pages of the local newspaper.
 
Since we won this prize, it was important for us as a church to work hard on our float the following year, not because we expected to win again, but because we believe the town is watching and we must keep preaching.
 
We decided to build a float with a message of hope, as well as, a warning to awaken the senses to the times we are currently facing. So, after sharing a few thoughts and some planning we agreed upon the theme, “Time is Running Out. Jesus is coming again.”  
 
The building began and the float was ready by the time of the event. It was great to see once more the brothers and sisters of the Grants Bilingual Church come together to build a message in a Christmas float!
 

 
Dale Knighton working hard on the float.

In spite of the challenges such as an original cancellation of the parade due to the weather, and other issues, the church was ready to witness for Christ. We order 600 GLOW tracts, plus several other materials and marched through the cold streets of Grants, NM this past December 2015. 
 
This year there was no financial prize won, neither did the church appear in the local newspaper, but we rejoiced in serving Christ as we witnessed and reached over a thousand people with our message. We distributed about 1000 literature tracts and ran out before the parade was over. Many voices of encouragement were heard from the crowd as they received the witness of our float. I am certain many hearts were also silently touched and seeds were planted. Will we ever know how far we are reaching into the community? Only God knows. 
 
I firmly believe the Lord is coming soon and He is waiting for His church to stand and do something, to do anything, that He may be glorified. The Grants Church is preparing to hold evangelistic meetings this year during the month of March. I pray the Lord will bring many souls that are in need of salvation, including anyone who may have been touched during our Christmas parade.

Please join our church in prayer as we plead for the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit upon our town, but also upon our country and the entire world. May the whole world realize that “Time is Running Out. Jesus is coming again.”

 

By Jerry Pinzon,
Pastor of the Gallup/Grants/Pie Town/Reserve District

100 Years and Counting!
 

Callamay Kindred, going strong at 100 years of age.


 

A very special birthday celebration took place last October as Callamay Kindred, member of the Albuquerque Central Church, turned 100 years old.  A great milestone indeed! 

Three separate events were held at different churches in the Albuquerque, NM area.  She was surrounded by loved ones who came to show their support and congratulations. Special musical guests included Michael Harris, Pastor Andre Arrais and others.  During the programs, Callamay shared highlights from her life story. 
 

100 year birthday celebration

 
She was born of Cherokee Indian and French Canadian descent (her maternal grandmother, a nurse and teacher, was full Cherokee Indian and her father was French Canadian) on October 6, 1915 in Cincinnati, Ohio to parents, Frank and Alma Shelton, the third of five children.  She and her younger sister, Alma, are current survivors of the family.
 
Growing up, she enjoyed a variety of activities including dance, ballet, piano and organ, swimming, roller skating, running track, volleyball, tennis, baseball, basketball, climbing rope and walking on stilts. Her brothers, Frank and Jean, always involved her in the boy’s activities.
 
Tragedy struck their family when her beloved father passed away at the age of 51.  This was a terrible shock and a great loss for 16 year old Callamay. She immersed herself in school activities at Hughes High School, where she accompanied the music class on the piano, and became pianist of the French Club and Men’s Glee Club.
 
From an early age she was interested in becoming a nurse.  As it turned out, her mother and she pursued this course together and both graduated as practical nurses at the same time.
 
In 1938, Callamay married her first husband and moved to Brooklyn, NY, then on to St. Albans on Long Island.
 
While in New York, she was blessed with good jobs, first with the State Health Department, then the Motor Vehicle Department, then on to being the administrator of the Personnel Office for the City of New York.
 
One of the most important years of her life was in 1967, when she first learned about the Sabbath and wanted to keep it.  A Bible instructor from a local Seventh-day Adventist Church studied God’s Word with her which resulted in her baptism. Later, she took a Bible instructors course and began giving Bible studies to her neighbors and friends. Since joining the church, she has played the piano and organ for seven or eight different congregations.  
 
It was in 1980 that she moved to Rio Rancho, a suburb of Albuquerque, and began her nursing career working in the Westside Hospital and making home visits.
 
In 1998, she married John Kindred and they enjoyed many wonderful years together before he passed away in 2010.
 
Now into her 100^th year, Callamay still lives in the home they had built together, drives and enjoys helping others.  She feels so blessed by God, who has been her constant Friend, Comforter and Father.  Her prayer is that all will be saved in God’s eternal kingdom and live together forever in the earth made new!

 
 

By Sue Hinkle,
Communication Director/Assistant to the President

Master Guide 10th Annual Winter Camp Out
 

Winter campers at Jemez Mountains





 

This was the 10th anniversary of our first winter camp out in the Jemez Mountains of Northern New Mexico.  This year, the conditions were the best since we have been having this event.  There had been more than 30 inches of snow at the camp site, which made the building of snow shelters much easier than in past years.

Pastor Derral Reeve headed up the weekend activities as the participants arrived to practice their survival skills.  For many it the first time they had participated in winter camping.  For these it was a great surprise at how much time it took just to get the necessities of shelter, fuel, water and sanitary disposal completed.  Most of the shelters that were built were for two people, as that keeps the inhabitants the warmest.

 

After shoveling out trenches in the snow, shelters were made for sleeping.

The Friday night vespers was a sharing time where each person present shared their experience of baptism relating the when, where and spiritual growth that led to it. On Sabbath, Pastor Reeve presented a message about the time of trouble and how spiritual survival is going to be more troubling than any physical survival will be.  The Sabbath evening vespers involved everyone presenting a time that Jesus illustrated His love to them.
 
The camp out  proved to be a positive learning experience and a spiritually uplifting time, which the participants are looking forward to repeating next year.

 

By Derral Reeve,
Education Superintendent and Club Ministry Director

Everyday Miracles
 

Great is Thy Faithfulness
2015 Texico Conference Financial Recap


Pastor Phil Robertson, Texico Executive Secretary/Treasurer
 

As we have come to the close of another year, we pause to celebrate the blessings of our faithful God! We are indeed grateful as we consider how He has opened the windows of Heaven and poured out His blessings into the lives and homes and churches of the Texico Conference family.

Each week our members bring their tithes and offerings as an act of worship, with gratitude for the great blessings that God has provided. These funds provide resources for ministry and mission both in our local communities and also around the world field. As we reflect on the blessings of this past year, we are thrilled that the Conference continues to grow in membership and in the resources that are brought into the storehouse.
 
For the first time in the history of our conference we have surpassed the $7 million mark with total tithe income received in 2015 of $7,156,667 – Praise the Lord! This represents an increase compared to the 2015 total tithe of $181,125 or 2.6%. This increase is really quite remarkable when we consider that this represents a continual increase year over year for a number of years now. In fact, there has been about a $1 million increase in just the past four years. This is indeed wonderful evidence of God’s faithful provision for the needs of His people and for His work.
 
Our members also contributed more than a $100,000 to Texico Ministries to assist in funding youth ministries, Pathfinder programs, church and school building subsidies and worthy student scholarships. In addition to these gifts, the offerings that are given to support the operations and ministries of our local churches continue to grow as well. We are grateful for the faithfulness and commitment of our people as evidenced by the broad support for funding the mission of our Conference.
 
Our heartfelt appreciation is extended to all the local treasurers who often work behind the scenes faithfully caring for their responsibilities in support of the members and the ministries they serve. Without their careful attention to detail and duty it would be very difficult to provide timely resources and reports to you and to the other levels of our church operation. We are especially indebted to these special leaders for their work in completing the contribution records for the year-end reports, even spending many hours during the holiday season. May God bless each of you as you continue to serve Him and your church family.
 
I am moved by the faith of our Texico family and I am amazed by the faithfulness of our loving God. I can’t help but find the words of the hymn writer spilling out of my own heart as he shares words borrowed from Lamentations 3:22 & 23.
 
“Great Is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father! 

There is no shadow of turning with Thee; 

Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not

As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.


Great Is Thy faithfulness, Great Is Thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see; 

All I have needed Thy hand hath provided

Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me!”
 
May we join our hearts and voices in praising God for His great faithfulness, mercy and love. And may the year that lies ahead find each of us totally committed to proving Him each day as we live in the blessings that He faithfully pours out of the windows of Heaven.

By:  Phil Robertson,
Executive Secretary/Treasurer

Treasure Trove

Jeff Metherell,
Association Secretary, Planned Giving and Stewardship Director

 

 

Another New Year------and yet another list of well intentioned and easily discarded resolutions.  Have you ever wondered just what the origins of this tradition are?  Well, most historians trace it back over 4,000 years ago to the Babylonians. 
 

Every year, in this ancient pagan culture, a huge feast was celebrated for 12 days.  During this time, the people crowned a new monarch or reaffirmed the existing one.  They also made promises, to their various capricious and demanding gods, to pay off all debts and to return anything they had been borrowed throughout the year.  It was believed that keeping these promises would have a profound impact on whether or not those gods chose to look on the Babylonians with any kind of favor in the upcoming months.  About 2,000 years later, the Roman Emperor, Julius Caesar, officially declared January 1 as the beginning of each new calendar year.  Dutifully, the Roman citizens not only offered sacrifices to their chosen deities, but also freely offered up to them promises of good conduct and behavior.
 
Centuries have passed and here we are at the year 2016.  Long ago, New Years’ celebrations have become decidedly and emphatically secular. No longer are promises made to man-made gods-----much less to the one true God.  As if to highlight our global epidemic of selfishness, modern New Years’ resolutions are now aimed at self-appeasement.  In fact, the top 10 most common resolutions are all about self:  “I will stop drinking”; “I will stop smoking”; “ I will lose weight and exercise”; “I will get more organized”; “I will not work so hard”;  “I will spend more time doing things I enjoy” . . . well . . . you get the idea! Research tells us that about 45% of Americans make these primarily self-absorbed resolutions every year.  Sadly (or perhaps predictably), only about 8% of these promises culminate with any kind of successful achievement.
 
I have a better idea!  Let’s make a commitment at the beginning of 2016, to live in a more intimately connected relationship with God-----to be moved and shaped by His Holy Spirit, preoccupied with His kingdom and filled with the sweet, healing and unselfish love of Jesus.   Oh . . . and by the way . . . good, healthy stewardship will be a wonderful byproduct of this God-centered resolution (I had to mention stewardship at least once in this article!).   
                                        

Jeff Metherell,
Association Secretary, Planned Giving and Stewardship Director