Keynote speaker Rev Elizabeth Duffin receives thanks and a pin from President Theresa Graham.
2025 Annual Luncheon Gallery
UWFaith Luncheon Planned for Annual Conference
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4:2-3 (NIV)
The 2025 United Women in Faith luncheon will be held Monday, May 26, at the Hilton Americas Hotel in downtown Houston from noon to 1:30 p.m. The hotel is located at 1600 Lamar St. All women from across the Texas Conference (and friends from further away) are invited to attend.
The theme of this year’s event is Together We Rise: Faith, Love, and Unity, Celebrating at the Table. The keynote speaker will be Rev. Elizabeth Duffin, the Southwest District Superintendent. This year’s Hazel Decker Award will also be announced.
Elizabeth Duffin has served as the District Superintendent of the Southwest District since 2023. She previously served as the senior pastor of First UMC Missouri City. Other appointments include the Associate Director in the Center for Clergy Excellence, and pastoral positions in northwest Houston and Beaumont. She is a graduate of Duke Divinity School and Davidson College. She serves on the Board of Ordained Ministry and was a General Conference delegate. Elizabeth is married to Seann, the senior pastor of Memorial Drive UMC, and they have two children.
2024 Annual Luncheon Brings Sisters Together from Across the Conference
On June 10, 2024, women from across the Texas Conference met to break bread–cheese bread to be exact–and fellowship with their sisters during the Texas Annual Conference. The Annual Luncheon was held in the Rose Garden Room of the Westchase Marriott, and more than 60 women attended.
President Theresa Graham welcomed all to the table, and Deb Wroblewski, Program Resource Officer, delivered the devotional.
Carla Cardoza, President of the Lydia Patterson Institute (LPI) in El Paso, stepped to the podium next to share the story of their school. LPI has a rich history of nurturing academic excellence and spiritual growth, and they are looking to partner with women from the Texas Conference. You can learn more about the great work being done by the Institute in this video. If you would like to contact Ms. Cardoza to discuss ways to collaborate, her email is c.cardoza@lpi-elpaso.org.
Following that Theresa introduced the very-deserving recipient of the 2024 Hazel Decker Award, Stacie Hawkins. Stacie currently serves as the Vice-President of the Texas Conference and she recently served as a delegate to the General Conference of the United Methodist Church. In addition, she has been nominated as President of the South Central Jurisdiction of United Women in Faith, with the election coming up at the end of June.
In her acceptance speech, Stacie spoke of her long association with United Women in Faith and how she was nurtured by the women at Windsor Village UMC.
Keynote speaker, Rev. Romonica Malone-Wardley, who currently serves as Assistant to the Bishop, based her talk on Acts 10. She asked us to consider how Peter and Cornelius might have wanted to “other” each other, but instead, by working with people with whom they might not normally work, they became witnesses to the miraculous power of the Holy Spirit.
Theresa closed the meeting by presenting Romonica with a Special Recognition Pin, and Romonica closed us all in prayer.
Tickets now available for 2024 United Women in Faith luncheon
The Texas Annual Conference will be here before you know it and that means that the United Women in Faith Annual Luncheon is right around the corner. The luncheon will take place on Monday, June 10, at noon at the Marriott Westchase. The cost of a ticket is $50. Click here to purchase tickets..
This year’s speaker is Rev. Romonica Malone-Wardley. Ordained as an Elder in the Texas Annual Conference in 2010, she has served as an associate pastor, senior pastor and district superintendent. Currently, Malone-Wardley is working as Assistant to Bishop.
Photo courtesy Texas Annual Conference
Malone-Wardley has also held posts as General Conference Delegate, member of the Strategic Mapping Team and the Board of Ordained Ministry in the TAC. In addition, she served on the nominations committee of the South Central Jurisdiction of the Black Methodist for Church Renewal and on the South Central Jurisdiction Mission Council.
United Women in Faith members are encouraged to invite their clergy to join us for the event.
Annual Luncheon Returns in Force
Hugs and handshakes filled the ballroom at the 2023 Annual Luncheon in Houston on May 29. After several years of not being able to meet in person, nearly 80 UWF members from across the Texas Conference greeted each other warmly as they met to share a meal during the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
UWF members and their guests were treated to an address by Rev Hannah Terry, Community Pastor of Westbury UMC and Founding Executive Director of FAM Houston – a 501c3 nonprofit organization with the mission to work for justice by building empowered community with resettled refugees, immigrants, and local Houstonians.
Rev Terry encouraged us to explore the goodness of mutuality–being with someone and listening to them without trying to “fix them.” True mutuality with another person, she said, is something that can “spring you from the prison of myself.”
During her talk Rev Terry showed videos from FAM Houston, including one that highlighted the Pamoja initiative, a program that pairs refugee and immigrant families to Houstonian families to learn from each other and create mutual aid groups. Interested volunteers are encouraged to check out Pamoja.
A highlight of the luncheon was when President Theresa Graham presented the 2023 Hazel Decker Award to Wilodyne Hooper. Hooper, a long-time member who has served in several levels of UWF, expressed surprise at honor. “I never believed I did anything special enough to deserve this. Thank you so much,” she told the group.
When the luncheon was over, the room was filled with hugs again as everyone expressed the hope that they would see each other again at the next Annual Conference Luncheon.
Texas Conference 