Arborlawn is honored to host Central Texas Conference Bishop Mike Lowry who will be preaching at both Traditional services (8:45 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary) on Sunday, July 13.
Bishop Mike Lowry is the resident bishop of the Central Texas Conference of The United Methodist Church/Fort Worth Episcopal Area, where he is the spiritual lead for about 164,000 United Methodists in 320 congregations and developing faith communities.
At the time of his election and consecration as bishop in July 2008, he was serving as executive director of New Church Development and Transformation in the Southwest Texas Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Prior to that, he was senior pastor at University United Methodist Church, a 5,800 member congregation in San Antonio that grew from 4,800 to 5,700 members during his tenure. His previous appointments include United Methodist Churches in Austin, Corpus Christi, Harlingen, and Kerrville and, while a student, serving Plymouth Park in Irving, Texas. Churches under his leadership have received a number of awards and recognitions including Habitat for Humanity, the President's Award from Hutson-Tillotson College, the Churchmanship Award from San Antonio Community of Churches, and the Arthur Moore Evangelism Award three times. Bishop Lowry is a regular blogger at his post, "The Focused Center" and his "Generous Living" sermon was published in Best Stewardship Sermons of 2005. He was awarded the B'nai B'rith Award in Social Ethics by Perkins School of Theology. A 1972 graduate of Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, Bishop Lowry earned his Master of Theology from Perkins (at SMU) and his Doctor of Ministry from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He and his wife Jolynn have a son Nathan and daughter-in-law Abigail; daughter Sarah, son-in-law Steven and granddaughter Grace. Family time over the years has included trekking in the national parks, an adventure they still enjoy as time and schedules permit.
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