 Greetings, members of the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church. May the grace and peace of Jesus Christ be with your spirit today. I'm Bishop Rubin Sines Jr., and as of January 1st, I'm honored to serve as your Bishop. Going into the South Central Jewish Dictionary Conference in November, the idea of serving the Central and North Texas conferences together was frankly not on my radar. However, during those days in Houston, we saw the spirit at work. These new relationships were formed and hurdles were removed from our paths. I was delighted to receive an assignment to serve both the Dallas and Fort Worth Episcopal Ares, and I'm looking forward to all the good for Christ that we will be able to do together in our unique ministry contexts. DFW and the surrounding counties comprise one of the fastest growing regions in the nation. And not only is the population growing here, but it's becoming more diverse, more multiracial, and multicultural. It's also drawing young professionals. Well just last month, the Dallas Morning News reported that Dallas is outpacing Los Angeles and New York in attracting millennial populations. In a recent article from Rice University's Kinder Institute noted that the last decade has seen a growing exodus of black and Hispanic people from northern and western cities and a large influx into sun-built metros like Dallas, Fort Worth. Although this is, I believe, a huge mission opportunity we will rise to meet. This is a moment to embrace fresh and creative ways to reach new communities for Christ. It's an opportunity that I'm really excited about and one that gives me a lot of energy as I begin envisioning what's possible for the Church in North Texas. The background I bring to my role is varied. I was born and raised in South Texas. In fact, I'm an 11th generation Texan. In Texas, before Texas was Texas, I played college football and graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University. I taught public school coach football, owned a business with my wife, Maya, and earned a master's in doctoral degrees from Perkins School of Theology at SMU. I served United Methodist congregations all across Texas, from Oakleaf to El Paso to Edinburgh, including the largest Hispanic American United Methodist Church in the country at that time, which I served for 10 years while in Edinburgh. I also served in the conference offices of the former Rio Grande and Southwest Texas conferences, establishing new faith communities and helping congregations live into a larger vision. I was also instrumental in uniting the Rio Grande and Southwest Texas conferences to form the new Rio Texas Conference. In 2016, I was elected to the Episcopacy and for the last six years, I've had the honor of serving as a bishop for the Great Plains Annual Conference, a conference that was formed by uniting the former Kansas East, Kansas West, and Nebraska conferences just prior to my election. In January 2022, I also began covering the Central Texas Conference as a resident bishop. Well, in addition to all these work experiences, I'm honored to be the husband to Maya, who is the Dallas Cowboys' biggest fan. I'm a dad to four adult children, Aaron, Christina, Ruben III, and Isaac, and Jackpaw, to our nine grandchildren, with number 10 on the way. I often think about the church we will hand off to our grandchildren. Will they see it as a rich inheritance? Will they see us as worthy spiritual ancestors? It's all too easy to get caught up in the present, our current denominational strife and the things that divide us as a country, feeling stuck, navigating the challenges of this present moment can be exhausting. But we know that the church has not called to focus only on the present. We should be concerned with questions and challenges of eternal importance, of how the church can offer grace and hope and salvation to our grandchildren, and their grandchildren, and to generations to come. As I step into this role in North Texas, I'm looking forward to meeting you and getting to better know you. On January 26th, I will be with all of our North Texas and Central Texas clergy for a joint gathering at First United Methodist Church in Arlington. We'll use a day to get acquainted and aligned around our shared vision as we work toward the mission of making disciples for the transformation of the world. Details about the joint gathering can be found on the North Texas Conference website. I'd also like to personally invite you to the installation service and celebration taking place February 19th at University Park United Methodist Church in Dallas. The service will begin at 4 p.m. and my and I would be so pleased to see you there. Please watch your inbox in the North Texas Conference website for additional details in the coming weeks. In my first hundred days, I'll be visiting churches across the North Texas Conference, worshiping with congregations in the Northwest District and the East District in the heart of Dallas and everywhere in between. I'm excited to see our church's first hand. To better listen and learn about your unique challenges, gifts and opportunities and to discern where the Spirit is leading us. I so look forward to working with you at such a time as this. I'll be in prayer for our ministry together as we seek to make you disciples, more disciples and more diverse disciples by leading people to love God, proclaim Christ, serve others, especially the poor, and do justice across North Texas. Peace to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.