As we get closer to the school year starting our churches are planning ways to encourage and champion our children and youth. Rev. Daniel Hawkins sits down with Rev. Melissa McDuffee, from FUMC Cleburne, who has partnered with Matt Ford, the Principal at an elementary school in Cleburne, to learn how they have come together to better serve the students and teachers throughout the school year. 

This week were back on the road at the 2024 South Central Jurisdictional Conference. Rev. Daniel Hawkins gets Rev. Edlen Cowley and Rev. Philip Rhodes reactions about the ratification of the Horizon Texas Conference and how were building something great for the future. Rev. Ramon Smith gives us a recap of his LED Talk he gave Thursday, and Rev. Todd Salzwedel tells us about his experiences from the Northwest Texas Conference and what he’s looking forward to for the new unified conference. Also it's a Methodist Conference so we found Rev. Marcus Jones enjoying the LED talks!

We're back in the POD Strangely Warmed studio this week and since Annual Conference many pastors have been on the move to their next appointments. Rev. Daniel Hawkins interrupts Rev. Ramiro Rodriguez while working on his first sermon for his new church and steals Rev. Johnny Brower from unpacking boxes to sit down and visit about what it means to be itinerant, and how to transition successfully to a new church.

Welcome back for Part 2! Last week Rev. Michael Gienger, our Conference teacher from AC24, joined Rev. Daniel Hawkins to dive deeper into what all is happening at Galveston Central Church. This week Daniel finds out he could be an occupational therapist while Michael tells us about the work his wife is doing and how it could relate to the way we communicate with the people in and around our churches. 

Another episode from our Central Texas Annual Conference, Rev. Daniel Hawkins caught up with Rev. Michael Gienger, our Conference Teacher, after his presentation to learn more about the good work happening at Galveston Central Church. To see both presentations from Rev. Gienger you can visit ctcumc.org/ac24-meeting-videos Join us next week where Daniel and Michael dive deeper into what all is going into and coming out of Galveston Central Church, and how you can incorporate some of these ideas into your church. 

We’re Back in our Central Texas Conference! All the way down in Round Rock for our 2024 Annual Conference! Rev. Daniel Hawkins visits with some pastors that are originally from our soon to be unified conferences about what they’re looking forward to in the new Horizon Texas Conference. Rev. David Johnson tells us how he started his ministry in the Northwest Texas Conference, Rev. DeDe Jones, who led worship at the Central and North Texas Conferences, speaks into the new thing God is doing in our conferences, and of course it wouldn’t be a podcast on the road without running into the award-winning Rev. Marcus Jones! Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. wraps up the episode with his excitement for the work that God is doing in our spirits and what’s next for unification!

With the 2024 Central Texas Annual Conference just around the corner, we at POD Strangely Warmed thought we would drop our next episode early. Rev. Daniel Hawkins visits the North Texas 2024 Annual Conference and Catches up with some old friends of the POD and makes some NEW friends from North Texas. Since the Horizon Texas Conference is just on the horizon... we hear from Rev. Jarrod Johnston, Rev. Marianne Brown-Trigg, Rev. Marcus Jones, and Rev. Sarah Roberts about their hopes for the new unified conference. Rev. Gracie Millard, one of this year’s ordinands from North Texas, shares her dreams as she beings her lifelong journey into ministry, and Dr. Sheron Patterson steals the show giving us all some encouraging advice!

Coming up on July 1st is the Freedom Meal! Nestled between Juneteenth and July 4th, the Inaugural Freedom Meal sets in motion a powerful annual observance that both honors and contemplates the full expanse of American history. Two of the Freedom Meal Committee members Rev. Dr. Alfie Wines and Rev. Kristin Warthen join Rev. Daniel Hawkins to talk about the event and why it’s important to Reaffirm our Commitment to Liberty and Justice for all people!

To contact Dr. Alfie you can send an email to: [email protected]

For Dr. Alfie's books on amazon you can visit: amazon.com/stores/author/B07DVPDXD3

For more information about the Freedom Meal go to: freedommeal.com/

Back in 2014 Rev. Daniel Hawkins and Rev. Lance Marshall were working hard to try and have successful satellite campuses for the churches they were working at. In this episode of POD Strangely Warmed they talk about their shared experiences in failure with those church start-ups and how they grew in their ministry since then to be the church leaders they are today. 

Summer is coming and with that comes our favorite place to spend the summer, Glen Lake Camp! This week Rev. Daniel Hawkins sits down with Glen Lake's Program Assistant, Cassidy Barrett and camp intern Bradley Luna to hear all about why camp is their favorite place to be and how its helped shaped their faith. If you're looking for a way to champion our children and youth this summer, then check out all the opportunities available at glenlake.org/camps