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Bishop's Biography

Robert Schnase serves as Bishop in Residence of the Missouri Area of The United Methodist Church. He was elected to the Episcopacy by the South Central Jurisdiction in July 2004, and assigned to the Missouri Area beginning September 2004. The Missouri Conference includes nearly 900 congregations with 175,000 members, offering ministry through local churches, colleges, campus ministries, social services and mission projects throughout the world.

Bishop Schnase was ordained Deacon in 1981 and Elder in 1986 in the Southwest Texas Conference. He is a graduate of Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas with a master's degree in theology, and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in psychology. He has also studied Spanish for several summers in Central America.

From 1989 to 2004, he served as Senior Pastor of First United Methodist Church of McAllen, Texas. First Church was recognized for congregational growth, bi-cultural ministry, young adult ministry and commitment to mission as the congregation relocated and built new facilities to serve the Rio Grande Valley. From 1984 to 1989, Rev. Schnase served as pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church in Harlingen, receiving the Circuit Rider Award for Church Growth and the Denman Evangelism Award. From 1982-1983, he served the Farnham and Alton Circuit of five churches with the British Methodist Conference.

As a writer, he’s the author of three books by Abingdon Press, including Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations (2007), Ambition in Ministry: Our Spiritual Struggle with Success, Achievement and Competition (1993), and Testing and Reclaiming Your Call to Ministry (1991). He worked as editorial consultant for the New Interpreters Bible, and has contributed chapters to Weaver and Stapleton's Reflections on Marriage and Spiritual Growth and Grand-Parenting and the Spiritual Journey.

Bishop Schnase has served as delegate to General and Jurisdictional Conferences, and worked on the Jurisdictional Episcopacy Committee, the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, the Conference Board of Ordained Ministry, the Board of Directors of Texas Methodist Foundation, the UTPA Campus Ministries Board and many other conference, district and ecumenical projects. From 1998 to 2004, he served as chair of the Order of Elders of the Southwest Texas Conference.

Bishop Schnase's wife, Esther, is a high school English teacher. Their two sons, Karl and Paul, enjoy Scouting, chess, canoeing and computer games. Bishop Schnase is an avid runner, completing several marathons, and enjoys canoeing, kayaking, birdwatching, studying Spanish and traveling in Latin America.