The North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church

2009 Annual Conference

Let Every Soul Be Jesus’ Guest

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.(Isaiah 25:6-8)

He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:12-14)

Charles Wesley’s hymn, Come, Sinners to the Gospel Feast, sets the theme for Annual Conference 2009: Let Every Soul Be Jesus’ Guest. Wesley’s hymn declares the truth of the gospel that extends an invitation for “all the world,” to come to the gospel feast and be fed at the table of God’s grace through Christ. As we complete the first year of this new quadrennium, our Annual Conference theme inspires us to focus on hospitality as it invites every soul to be Jesus’ guest, even those who are on the margins of society: “the poor, the lame, and the blind.” Our hospitality is grounded in the prophet Isaiah’s emphasis on salvation for “all peoples” and the assurance that God will one day “wipe away the tears from all faces.” Finally, it is a theme that reminds us that our faith in Christ provides “a feast of rich food,” an abundance of grace and love that is beyond our imagining.

Our logo was designed by Donna Aldridge, member of Greenland Hills UMC and designer with David Carter Design Associates. Her iconic presentation of the theme captures the symbols of our faith: the waters of baptism, the wheat and grape of communion, the cross of our Savior, the few fish that fed many when blessed by our Lord.

Rev. Marti Soper
Chair, Annual Conference Worship Committee

Constitutional Amendments Voting Results

2009 Annual Conference Theme and Logo

2009 Annual Conference Agenda

2009 NTC Communications Luncheon

Robertson Awards Form

Bishop W. Earl Bledsoe

Featured Speakers

Worship

Meals/Name Badge Colors

Hotels and Child Care

Directions and Locations

Map Plano

Map Plano/Richardson