I love Christmas—especially Christmas Eve.

At the Council of Bishops meeting this week, the bishops heard a report from the Vital Congregations Initiative. Vital Congregations is an initiative of the bishops to identify the most vital congregations in Methodism, to publically share data on the indicators of vitality. When Bishop Schol announced the initial results of this program, I was very pleased to find that the Texas Annual Conference ranked in the top 10 with a vitality percentage of 19.77% (national average is 14.76%).

Bishop Benjamin Boni has asked for prayers for the people of Cote d’Ivoire, for The United Methodist Church in Cote d’Ivoire, and for its leaders and people. As you may be hearing from the media, Cote d’Ivoire is on the verge of a civil war over the disputed election of its president.

Some seasons of the year are like ladders by which we climb to a purer air and a higher, broader view of life. Christmas is such a time. 

Shortly after I arrived as your bishop, I visited each charge in the conference to meet you and listen to your hope and fears, your dreams and worries. I invited you to imagine the future that God desires for your congregation. Over these last six years, we have worked hard together to live into a “future with hope.”

This Sunday our nation will celebrate its 234^th anniversary of independence. We will remember stories from our past, some on a grand scale but some more personal. Each of us has a heritage that unfolds within a broader context of history. Thanks to my sister Patty, we have learned more about our own family history in recent years. The Orts family came to America in the 1850s as German immigrants. Economic conditions in Germany were extremely difficult. There were more people than jobs. Military service was compulsory. Opportunities were scarce. Thousands of people—mostly young men—braved the trip across the Atlantic to come to America.

On March 23, 2010 Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi gave public thanks to a number of groups for their support of health care reform legislation. Two of the groups were the Catholic Health Association and “The United Methodist Church.” Since then district superintendents and I have received several calls and emails regarding her statement.