158th Diocesan Convention
“The Table is Set”
September 10-12, 2026
Christ the King Center

From the Diocesan website.  
Italicized lines entered by Fr. Miller.

 

Come join your diocesan family at this year’s annual Diocesan Convention! Clergy, lay deputies, general interest guests and youth are invited to participate. Along with the business meeting for the diocese the convention weekend will include vibrant worship featuring musicians from around the diocese, engaging workshops, recreation opportunities, scrumptious meals, live entertainment, and opportunities to connect with others from around the diocese.

The business meeting usually takes place on Friday night and Saturday. 
Workshops and other opportunities for Christian Formation will be available
on Thursday and Friday during the day.  There may be workshops offered 
on Saturday for those not engaged in the business of Convention.

This convention will consider a complete set of revised Canons (Church Laws)
for the Diocese, and will take the required second vote to finalize the revised Constitution enacted last year.

Gloria Dei is entitled to two Lay Deputies to Diocesan Convention,
who will serve until the call is issued for the 2027 Convention. 
That means that they will be our Deputies for any special Conventions called for any reason in the intervening year. 
This has occasionally happened in the past.
If we do not elect Deputies to this Convention,
we will not be represented if a special Convention is called.

 

This year we are pleased to welcome Bishop Robert Schnase as our guest speaker. Robert Schnase, originally from south Texas, is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and Perkins School of Theology. As the pastor of United Methodist congregations for 21 years along the Texas border with Mexico, he focused on reaching younger generations in bicultural settings. He was elected bishop in 2004 and assigned to the Missouri Conference, and later the Rio Texas Conference and the New Mexico Conferences of the UMC, before his retirement in 2024. Schnase is a frequent guest speaker and teacher and is the author of several books, including Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Five Practices of Fruitful Living, Practicing Extravagant Generosity, and Just Say Yes: Unleashing People for Ministry. He and his wife, Esther, live in San Antonio where he enjoys birding, traveling, writing, and long daily walks