We are United Methodists related to the Río Texas Annual Conference,
and we all have different stories.

We are members of Río Texas congregations; we are clergy members of the Conference; we are United Methodists but no longer worship at a UM congregation because there is not an open and affirming church in the community in which we live.

Our common hope is that one day the United Methodist Church, the Río Texas Annual Conference and United Methodist Congregations will be open and affirming of all people, particularly members of the LGBTQI community. We hope and advocate for the removal of all harmful language from the Book of Discipline related to sexual orientation.

More about us

  • We celebrate God’s gift of diversity and value the wholeness made possible in community equally shared and shepherded by all. We welcome and affirm people of every gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, who are also of every age, race, ethnicity, physical and mental ability, level of education, and family structure, and of every economic, immigration, marital, and social status, and so much more. We acknowledge that we live in a world of profound social, economic, and political inequities.

  • As followers of Jesus, we commit ourselves to the pursuit of justice and pledge to stand in solidarity with all who are marginalized and oppressed.

    As United Methodists of the Río Texas Annual Conference, we also commit ourselves to engaging with other members of the Río Texas AC in pursuit of these values. And, as people of faith we commit to welcome people of all faiths and from all geographic areas who share these values and pledge to work together toward justice.

  • With the devastating results of the 2019 Special Called General Conference, billed as A Way Forward, the United Methodists who favored full inclusion in the Rio Texas Conference felt lost. They were able to nominate and elect a strong, progressive group of delegates to General Conference at the 2019 Annual Conference meeting. However, the leadership for an organized group advocating for LGBTQI inclusion in the annual conference was greatly diminished. Many voices who had led the fight in the previous years and decades were simply tired and burnt out. Some moved away. Some left the church.

    In the fall of 2020, the organizers of Reconciling Ministries Network, Laura Young, Izzy Alvaran and Helen Ryde, brought together members of RMN who wanted community and leadership. They encouraged us, gave us resources and a mission.

    Originally, four people participated in the team. Since the spring of 2121, the team has grown to 15 active members. They are:

    Rev. Richard Bates, Austin
    Mike Coughlan, Austin
    Deaconess Sonia Cruz, San Antonio
    Henry Dietz, Austin
    Bill Elliott, San Benito
    Paul Harper, Austin
    Rachel Jennings, San Antonio
    Deaconess Cindy Andrade Johnson, Brownsville
    Rev. Jo Kretzler, Austin
    Rev. Nancy Mossman, Austin
    Velma Pavlasek, Austin
    Lance Pyburn, Austin
    Gloria Shinkawa, Pflugerville
    Paul Shinkawa, Pflugerville
    Shelley Walters, Austin