Bishop Minerva Carcaño became the first Hispanic woman to be elected to the episcopacy of The United Methodist Church. A native of Edinburg, Texas, Bishop Carcaño spent her early years of life aspiring to make a difference in the lives of people who faced poverty and discrimination. She has served congregations in Texas, New Mexico, and California; and in 1986, she became the first Hispanic woman to be appointed a United Methodist district superintendent, serving in that capacity in West Texas and New Mexico and later in Portland, Oregon. Carcaño also was the director of the Mexican American Program at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. Not forgetting her roots and early hopes, her ministry has always involved work with the poor, with farm workers, immigrants, and refugees, even as she encourages congregations to work ecumenically and to be active in community organizing. Carcaño's latest work is I Believe in Jesus, a Spiritual growth study for the United Methodist Women's School of Christian Mission. In the past two years, Bishop Carcaño has led a Confirmation Retreat at each of the camp and retreat sites in the Desert Southwest Conference.

Bob Ditter is known to many of us through his work with the American Camp Association. Bob is a senior level clinical social worker who specializes in the evaluation and treatment of children, adolescents and their families. He maintains a clinical psychotherapy practice in Boston, Massachusetts, and consults nationally with agencies that work with young people, including the Salvation Army, the Girls Scouts of America, the YMCA, the American Camping Association, and Jewish Community Centers, Sea World (Busch Entertainment), the Disney Channel, private and public schools and others. He has appeared on NBC's Today Show, the ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings, and Good Morning America. He has been quoted in The New York Times, Parent Magazine, the Ladies Home Journal, Money Magazine and USA Today. Sports Illustrated called him "camping's most articulate spokesman" because of his work with children's summer camps since 1982. He has authored three books for camp professionals, produced five training videos and has recently released a Pocket Guide for Counselors. He is best known in camp circles as the author of the popular column, "In the Trenches," which appears regularly in Camping Magazine.

Bob brings his clinical training together with his knowledge of young people and organizational development for a powerful combination of programs, including staff interviewing, training and development; mentoring programs; child abuse prevention; team development; group process; and crisis intervention. He has worked with more than 400 summer camps throughout the United States, has designed and delivered training for Sea World's Adventure Camp program for junior high and high school students and is chief psychological consultant to the Disney Channel in many of its child-focused reality TV productions, including Bug Juice and Totally Sports.

Dr. Lovett H. Weems, Jr., is Distinguished Professor of Church Leadership and Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. He came to this position in 2003 after eighteen years as president of Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. Previously he was a local church pastor in Mississippi for many years.

A native of Mississippi, Dr. Weems is a graduate of Millsaps College; Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University; and Wesley Theological Seminary. He holds honorary degrees from Baker University and Central Methodist University.

His years in local church ministry in Mississippi were marked by an emphasis on both evangelism and social concerns. His work in Mississippi led the distinguished Mississippi writer Willie Morris to describe him as "one of the persons who added much to the growing civility of Mississippi."

A clergy member of the Missouri Annual Conference, he has been a delegate to several General and Jurisdictional Conferences.

The author of several books published by Abingdon Press, his latest is Take the Next Step: Leading Lasting Change in the Church. His earlier book Church Leadership: Vision, Team, Culture, and Integrity is described by Professor Rosabeth Moss Kanter of Harvard Business School as "an invaluable guide to leadership in the church." His books Leadership in the Wesleyan Spirit and John Wesley's Message Today are used widely by United Methodist laity and clergy. He is editor of the online newsletter, Leading Ideas, available free at www.churchleadership.com.

He and his wife, Emily, a public school teacher, are the parents of four grown children.

Tommy Woodard and Eddie James are The Skit Guys. They have been best friends since high school. Think of them as the wise guys in class who had everyone laughing and managed to make a career out of it. They've been teaching God's word using comedy, drama, and whatever category talking action figures fit into for over twenty years.

When he's not traveling with Eddie, Tommy Woodard works at NEWCHURCH in Oklahoma City as the associate pastor of teaching and creativity.

Eddie and Tommy recently released two new books through Zondervan called Instant Skits and Skits That Teach. They have also produced other plays, skits, and videos covering a wide variety of topics that are available to download through their website.

They will be joining us on Wednesday evening.