News

UM Flood Buckets, Volunteers Help in Clean-Up

Flood buckets collected from United Methodists during the Western PA Annual Conference session June 11-14 were put to good use less than a week later when severe storms caused flooding in Pittsburgh’s eastern suburbs. In the 10 days following the flood, 32 volunteers from 12 United Methodist churches volunteered a total of 260 work hours to help residents., according to Frank Bloise, who worked with his wife the Rev. Cyndi Bloise, pastor of Center Ave. UMC, to coordinate volunteers in...

Annual Conference 09 Ignites Passion for Ministry

Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton challenged the 1,800 members of the Western PA Annual Conference meeting June 11-14 at Grove City College to “take the church out on the open road, give it the gas and see what the old baby can do.”  The old mainline denominational church of today needs to be set on fire like the First- Century church, he said. The conference theme was to ignite and sustain a passionate spiritual connection with Christ among all people. It’s also the WPAUMC...

Fire Up Engine, Bishop Tells Church

In a message entitled “Burn, Baby Burn”, Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton challenged Western PA United Methodists to “take the church out on the open road, give it the gas and see what the old baby can do.” The old mainline denominational church of today needs to be set on fire like the First Century Church, he told the 1,800 lay members and clergy representing more than 800 local churches at the opening session of the 2009 Western PA Annual Conference.  “Some of...

College Student Serves Mission Church

Rebekah Swineford, a Spanish and international communications major at Asbury College, is working as a summer intern at Rising Hope United Methodist Mission Church in Alexandria, Virginia . Ms. Swineford is a member of First United Methodist Church in Bradford, Pennsylvania. "I believe that God has called me to a life of service in the church. This internship position will allow me to fulfill this call now and empower me to continue serving in the future, as I learn to be the hands...

Western PA Leaders Endorse Zimbabwe Partnership

The Conference Connectional Network voted May 18 to support our denomination's Global Health Initiative by forming a partnership with the UMC in Zimbabwe. The vote came after the Conference Global Ministries Team and the CCN met with representatives of the General Board of Global Ministries.  The CCN earlier submitted legislation to the annual conference to establish a partnership with an African conference or country “to be named.” Annual Conference members will vote on the...

Mission School for All Ages

United Methodists and friends will find inspiration and ideas for ministry focused on easing the burdens of poverty and improving global health at the 2009 Western PA School of Christian Mission. The school, scheduled for mid-July at Grove City College, also offers opportunities for people of all ages to do hands-on mission work. Adult participants may attend the four-day weekday school from July 13-17 or the July 17-19 weekend school. Those who cannot attend a full session are welcome for one...

New wpaumc.org Launches

  To meet the Conference's mission to offer resources to Western PA's churches to make disciples for Jesus Christ, a brand new website launches June 29. Four to six “clickable” photos or videos that link to articles rotate in the feature area of the main page. Also on the front page is a United Methodist News Service feed and a menu link to more WPAUMC news and features. The calendar amd events area now offers online registration and payment. There’s a featured...

June 5, 2009 The Journey Continues...

If you've visited our website (www.wpaumc.org) in the last few weeks, you’ve noticed a picture of me in a red windbreaker talking to a Hispanic woman. Contrary to some comments, I am not posing as a Domino’s Pizza deliveryman. Sally and I were privileged to go with a group of bishops and spouses to a Day Workers’ Church/gathering place in Gaithersburg, MD. Casa de Maryland, a migrant worker’s ministry sponsored by the Baltimore-Washington Conference, provides meals,...

Counseling Important Service of Keystone Credit Union

Martin Hyland* is a smart guy. He’s a doctor in his final year of residency. As such, he spends most of his waking hours at the hospital doing rounds or studying medical journals and texts. What little free time he has is with his fiancé planning their upcoming wedding. He does not spend much time pondering his credit score. When Hyland recently contacted Keystone United Methodist Federal Credit Union to get a VISA credit card, he spoke with CEO/Treasurer Patti Columbe. Since...

United Methodists Urge Gaming Committee to Reject Video Poker

Pennsylvania United Methodists have urged the House Gaming Oversight Committee to reject Gov. Edward Rendell’s proposal to allow video poker in thousands of the state’s restaurants and taverns.   “Pennsylvania’s government – our elected leaders -- is now addicted to gambling and its false promises and false choices. The siren’s song of easy money has lured them into the trap,” said Stephen Drachler, executive director of A United Methodist...

Bishops Launch Rethink Church with Worker Outreach

On May 5, some 15 United Methodist bishops visited the ministry site, called Casa de Maryland, bearing support, fellowship and Holy Communion as part of the launch of a “Rethink Church” campaign taking United Methodist faith out into the world.   Ramirez and the bishops shared the same goal: to build a future where every person is treated with equality and dignity.   “This was a day of taking the good news out into the world. United Methodists, look...

WPA Woman Works in, Takes Dresses to Cambodia

Who is your neighbor? For Karen Vanderhoff of Bethany UMC in Johnstown, answering that question involved her second trip halfway around the globe. Karen traveled to Cambodia with a Volunteers in Mission (UMVIM) team from Virginia in January of 2005 and returned for follow-up work with the Methodist Mission in Cambodia this year. During her 3-week mission trip, Karen worked with Irene Mparutsa, a UMC General Board of Global Missions (GBGM) missionary from Zimbabwe who has worked in...

Help Cover Sierra Leone with Nets

Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton is rallying Western PA United Methodists to take the lead in an effort to save lives by blanketing the nation of Sierra Leone with insecticide-treated bed nets through the Nothing But Nets campaign.   “The Red Cross and the UN Foundation have asked us to work with them to blanket the whole country of Sierra Leone,” said the Bishop, who leads the United Methodist Nothing but Nets initiative.   “Our denomination has raised $1.5 million...

May 1, 2009 The Journey Continues...

Last weekend our son T.J. was home, so he and Nick and I took in a Pirates game Sunday afternoon.We all were filled with great anticipation of our first game of the season together. Even though the Buccos lost 11-1, we still enjoyed being together at the ballpark, eating hot dogs, filling out scorecards, singing Out to the Ballgame, and rooting on our favorite team. A man sat next to me with his two young sons. Chris, the 5-year-old, was attending a game with his dad for the first time....

Campus Corner

Mainline religions consistently have been losing membership over the past several decades. I have become increasingly afraid that the losses are even higher in our young people. Statistics confirm my fears. When I joined the United Methodist Church in 1970, we had about 10.5 million members in this country. Today we have fewer than 8 million. The greatest loss in membership has been out youth and young adults. According to a report at General Conference last year, the average United Methodist...

Africa U Changing the World

The Rev. Mande Muyombo, a self-described boy from the ‘hood in the Congo, now works for peace in his home country thanks to a calling from God and Africa University. “I understand the meaning of resurrection through Africa University,” he told Western PA United Methodists recently. Muyombo, the first-born of 16 children of a polygamist father who made the equivalent of about $30 a month, said growing up his family had one meal a day, if they could. “I could have been a...

Payback!!

Payback!   Why support Africa University? Retired Bishop Lawrence McCleskey calls Africa University “the most exciting and most significant undertaking of the United Methodist Church in my lifetime. “Students come from 34 countries. It is amazing thing!” he explained. “Graduates are serving in leadership in their own countries in significant ways.” Bishop McClesky and the Rev. Dr. William McFadden, a retired East Ohio pastor, have made major commitments...

April 3, 2009 The Journey Continues ...

The news isn’t good. The forecast seems more uncertain than many of us have experienced. No one seems to know how to turn us around to get us back on track. Our most trusted leaders seem to have the right words but not the results. The issue is not the economy, but another that evokes concern and uncertainty. It’s the state of religion in America. Researchers at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, polled over 54,000 American adults on religious affiliation. The new isn’t...

Communicate God's Love Through Online Photos

According to Walt Disney, “Of all our innovations for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.”Your church needs to share photos online as it communicates the Good News. From childhood, we learn to communicate by looking at pictures and associating words and phrases to describe what we see. As youth and adults, we store photos of family and friends in albums to record our lives. Pictures evoke emotions and inspire others without any...

In Search for Job, Ingomar Member Finds Ministry for Unemployed

When Bud Longfellow, a member of Ingomar UMC, lost his job in 2003, it would have been easy for him to feel sorry for himself and retreat behind the four walls of his own house. But he didn’t. Instead, he gathered a small group of people from Ingomar and began networking. That was the beginning of the Seekers job-search group, which is free and open to anyone looking for a job. It currently is held every second Tuesday of the month. The objective is to provide a place for...