Bishops and other leaders from annual conferences across the South Central Jurisdiction will gather January 19-21, 2026 in El Paso to explore opportunities for shared ministries and to strengthen both new and existing relationships.

The New Mexico Conference will be sending a contingent to the gathering. Members of the Conference have been active in the planning phase and will be assisting with hospitality in El Paso once the gathering begins.

The event aligns with the SCJ’s Committee on Episcopacy’s mid-quadrennial meeting and will include face-to-face gatherings for the College of Bishops, the jurisdiction’s Futuring Taskforce, directors of connectional ministry, conference treasurers, and communications directors.

“We said, ‘Let’s get all these folks together, in kind of a shared space and a shared time, that we can work and collaborate, together and with one another,” said Eddie Erwin, executive director of the South Central Jurisdiction.

The SCJ includes 10 annual conferences — Arkansas, Great Plains, Horizon Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Indian Missionary, Rio Texas, and Texas.

Erwin said developments in recent years across the denomination and in the SCJ, as well as recent news about the numbers of delegates assigned to each annual conference, made early 2026 a good time to bring leaders together. The ratification of constitutional amendments creating regional conferences mean the future of jurisdictions is somewhat unknown, but shared ministries such as the Lydia Patterson Institute on the U.S.-Mexico border will be important regardless.

One major point of interest is the work of the SCJ’s Futuring Taskforce, which is examining the number of bishops needed to fulfill the unified mission in the region and to help churches throughout the jurisdiction live into this new era for The United Methodist Church. The meetings in El Paso will mark the first time the taskforce will meet face-to-face.

Erwin said the most important part of the gathering may be the rekindling or building of working relationships for leaders in the 10 annual conferences of the SCJ.

“I think it’s a time to do some business, but also some time to either create or deepen new relationships within the jurisdiction,” Erwin said. “Sometimes we get so focused and siloed in our ministries that now is not the time to be hoarding and collecting, but to share resources. The South Central Jurisdiction has some incredible ministries and opportunities that we can learn from and grow from one another, but we all often don’t hear about it, or don’t know about it until that opportunity is passed.” Those gathered will have the opportunity to learn more about Lydia Patterson Institute (LPI) and experience walking across the US/Mexico border as LPI students do daily.

Bishop Carlo is a member of the Futuring Taskforce and will be the host bishop. He said, “My excitement about this event is threefold. As a disciple of Jesus, I look forward to discerning together with fellow disciples what it is that God is already up to in our jurisdiction and how is God calling us to take part in that. As a denominational leader who leads in a circle through relationships, I look forward to the time of fellowship, of breaking bread and of strengthening ministry connections. As a relative newcomer to the jurisdiction because of my assignment across jurisdictional lines, I look forward to my first gathering of leaders from all across the SCJ.”

By: Todd Seifert, Communications Director, Great Plains Conference (with some edits)