News

UMR Reporter to Cease Operations

UMR Communications, which prints and mails Western Pennsylvania's Interlink edition of the UM Reporter, will cease operations on May 31. Finding no viable plan for reversing financial losses of recent months, the board or the Dallas-based nonprofit voted at a May 16 meeting to close.  UMR Communications (UMRC) publishes the United Methodist Reporter in print and digital formats and online, and provides printing and communication services to churches and other nonprofits. The final...

Young Adult Mission Team Forming

United Methodist Church Union, a ministry agency based on the Northside of Pittsburgh, is forming a young adult volunteer team to work in Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts in Crisfield, MD from August 18-23. It’s part of the denomination’s Restoration Generation initiative. There are 20 openings on the team. Participants must be at least 16 years of age. With lodging in a local UM church, the cost is estimated to be about $300. "This trip is geared toward young adults and...

Bishops to Oversee UMAdvocacy PA

Beginning July 1, United Methodist Advocacy in Pennsylvania will enter into a new relationship with Pennsylvania’s three conferences and begin a new era of seeking justice in the halls of power in Harrisburg.   On that date, UMAdvocacyPA will move from being an organization affiliated with the annual conferences to becoming a ministry under the direct guidance and oversight of Pennsylvania’s three bishops. It will move from being an affiliated ministry to becoming a part of...

Bishop Joins Colleagues at U.S.-Mexico Border

Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton was one of several active United Methodist bishops who journed to the U.S. – Mexico border on May 7 to learn more about the people who live and work there and the issues they face.   “Consider what it means to live in poverty amidst great wealth,” said Bishop Minerva Carcaño of the Los Angeles Episcopal area. “Consider the impact on families on all sides of the border.  Consider the great mission opportunity that exists for...

Volunteers Aid Colombia Church in Trafficking Area

The Rev. David Stains, pastor of OakView UMC in Waynesburg, and his team of 10 Volunteers in Mission have returned from a 10-day trip to Colombia, where they worked on an addition to El Camino Church in Sincelejo, an area hard-hit by power struggles over drug trafficking. The work in Sincelejo is part of a Northeastern Jurisdiction Volunteers in Mission Project proposed by the Rev. Clinton Rabb, who died in the Haiti earthquake. Teams are needed to continue the project in Colombia. In...

Homeless Pastor to Visit Pittsburgh, Greensburg

The Rev. Lorenza Andrade Smith, who lives on the streets of San Antonio, Texas, in solidarity with the homeless, will arrive in Western PA  on April 19 to tell the story of her ministry. Invited to speak at the Greensburg District Conference on Sunday, April 21, at New Stanton UMC, she also will be the keynote speaker at New Hope UMC on Pittsburgh’s North Side during a meeting on poverty sponsored by the Pittsburgh District United Methodist Women.  She will remain in the area...

Bishops Meet with PA Governor--Updated

Pennsylvania’s three United Methodist bishops met with Governor Tom Corbett and legislative leaders last month to offer prayer support and discuss issues of concern to our denomination, among them the expansion of Medicaid coverage for vulnerable people, privatization of liquor sales, expansion of gambling and payday loans. “I went with a spiritual platform,” said Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton, who was joined by Bishops Peggy Johnson of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference and...

Forrester To Lead UMCOR U.S. Disaster Response

Gregory A. Forrester, who has conducted several Volunteers in Mission training sessions in Western PA,  has been hired to lead the United Methodist Church’s disaster response efforts in the United States, Central America and the Caribbean through the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). He’ll begin May 1. Noting Forrester's experience as Volunteer in Mission (VIM) coordinator for the Northeastern Jurisdiction (NEJ), Thomas Kemper, chief executive of the General...

WPA-East German Roma Trip Set for October

The Western PA - East German Partnership Committee has rescheduled its 2013 Roma mission work trip to Bulgaria to October 7-18, 2013.  The work team will include up to 10 people, Pennsylvanian and German, to work among the Roma people (European gypsies) at a Methodist mission project based in the Sofia region. The mission will have two emphases: interior renovation for the people’s use (plasterboard, electrical work) and relationship/witness evangelism work, including VBS-like...

Indiana Trinity Sents Instruments to Haiti

Members of Trinity United Methodist Church in Indiana, PA recently collected and shipped 17 brass and woodwind instruments, along with instrument supplies and lesson books, to the Vine Church in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The church will use them to start an ensemble to play for worship.   Dr. Kevin Eisensmith, church member and trumpet professor at Indiana University of PA and Trinity Music Director Jeff Wacker organized  the drive to receive and repair instruments and also received...

Church Will Rock on Holy Thursday

Many congregations present passion plays, cantatas or communion services with traditional hymns to commemorate Christ’s Last Supper.  But the sounds of rock, gospel —and a little Johnny Cash-- will reverberate at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church in Northern Clarion County when the congregation hosts “Scripture, Table & Rock” on Holy Thursday evening. The music, which is interspersed among readings from the Gospels, was carefully chosen for both the...

Pond to Serve as New Indiana District Superintendent

Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton has named the Rev. Jim Pond, a “third-career” clergyman currently serving as pastor of First United Methodist Church in Punxsutawney, as the next Indiana District Superintendent. “Jim has a proven track record of serving and growing vital congregations,” the Bishop said. “He brings a real depth of call and genuine sense of humility to the office.  He had successful careers as a Navy officer and a manager before answering the call to...

Bailey Selected to Lead UM Foundation of WPA

The Rev. D. Edward Bailey, pastor of Christ UMC in Youngwood and vice-chair of the Conference Board of Pensions and Health Benefits, has been selected to succeed the Rev. Frederick Leasure as executive director of the United Methodist Foundation of Western PA. The executive committee of the Foundation’s board of directors announced Bailey’s selection on February 15 after a three-month nationwide search conducted with the Orion Delta Group. “We are extremely pleased that the...

Garrett to Serve as Butler District Superintendent

Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton has appointment the Rev. Joel S. Garrett to serve as superintendent of the Butler District, effective July 1. He’ll step into the post currently held by the Rev. Dean Ziegler, who has served a maximum eight years. “I’ve known and worked with Joel Garrett since before I was elected a bishop,” said Bishop Bickerton, who, like Garrett, served on denominational boards and was a delegate to General and Jurisdictional Conferences.  “For...

Mparutsa Retires as Missionary in Cambodia

Irene Mparutsa, a General Board of Global Ministries community-health worker with the Cambodia Mission Initiative who had covenant relationships with Western PA churches, has retired as an active missionary. A native of Zimbabwe, she visited Western PA last September and said she planned to return to her home village of Mparutsa, north of Mutare, when she retired at the end of 2012.  She’ll share her story there and continue serving God there. In Cambodia, Mparutsa combined health...

Central American Missionary to Visit Western PA

Alina Saucedo, a General Board of Global Ministries missionary based in Costa Rica, will visit churches in southwestern Pennsylvania from February 13-24.  Ms. Saucedo serves as the mission finance auditor for Central America, parts of South America and the Caribbean, working with church leaders, mission partners and institutions to ensure that mission funds are appropriately used and timely reports made. Her schedule includes: Wednesday, Feb. 13  at Cooks Mill UM...

UMC Connectional Giving Increased in 2012

Western PA is one of 20 United Methodist conferences that paid 100% of their General Church apportionments in 2012, according to the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA). It was the second year in a row that Western PA has met its obligations at 100 percent.   Overall, payouts to the denomination’s apportioned funds reached 90%, the highest payout level the General Church has reached since 2001.   Other conferences that paid 100% are Alaska,...

Kindle Named Discipleship Director

The Rev. Chris Kindle, an ordained elder, has been named director of discipleship and spiritual formation for the Western PA Conference. He will begin his work in the spring. "Discipleship is the cat's meow," Kindle says, chuckling. "That's where the REAL excitement is: opening up God's word and having people realize who they are in Christ and what they are called to do." "Chris is uniquely gifted and positioned for his new role as director of discipleship and...

Western PA Sends Teams, Funds for Sandy Recovery

As relief efforts shift from early response to recovery mode in New Jersey, New York and others areas hard-hit by Superstorm Sandy, Western Pennsylvania United Methodists continue to support the effort with volunteer teams and financial gifts. As of January 15, Western Pennsylvanians had donated a grand total of $348,363 to Sandy relief!  That included $171,485 in gifts to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) Hurricane 2012 General Advance #3021787; along with $145,579.47 to...

Grow in Faith, Reach Out at Mission u

Mission u, the annual training event formerly known as the Cooperative School of Christian Mission, offers the opportunity for believers to learn about mission and grow spiritually along with others from across Western Pennsylvania. Mission u will include programs for all ages – a unique opportunity for all generations to learn together. Parents and grandparents are urged to attend with their children or grandchildren. There will be two sessions held at Grove City College:A four-day...