United Women in Faith

The United Women in Faith, formerly United Methodist Women, thank everyone who helped to make 2022 a successful year for raising mission money. Whether you assisted with one or all of our three Rummage Sales for Missions and/or donated money to our group, we appreciate your support. We are blessed to have exceeded our budget this year, which enabled us to donate more money to local, national, and international mission projects including, but not limited to, the local food bank, the Center for Hope, UMCOR Eastbrook Mission Barn, UMCOR Ukraine, UMCOR Puerto Rico, The Light of Life Mission, The Bridge, Church Union, the Ruth M. Smith Center, Asbury Heights, and our own church.

Again, thank you.
Kristine Swaney, President UWF

Operation Christmas Child

Dear SUMC Church Family,

The Fellowship of the Cross is lifting a prayer of thanks for everyone who contributed to the most successful
Operation Christmas Child campaign in our history. We have left our fingerprints on more than 170 boxes this year, and each box will bless a child and create a window for the Light of Jesus.

In 12 years, we have sent nearly 1,300 shoeboxes to His children at Christmas. Church family has contributed enough to fill at least 100 boxes in each of the past 11 years.

We’re especially grateful to the 16 children who, through Children’s Church, participated in our packing party this year: Jade, Bella, Gideon, Jordyn, Christian, Emma, Amelie, Noah, Emmy, Lucia, Riley, Archer, Stella, Eva, Ansel, and Lincoln. Few of them were born when we started our OCC relationship in 2011, but they will be the ones carrying it forward.

We’re grateful for the extra assistance Jade, Bella, Gideon, and Jordyn provided in the weeks following our packing party.

It is our hope that as the shoeboxes remind the children who receive them that Jesus loves them, our SUMC children are learning that they are key components in sharing His love.

We’re grateful for those who contributed shoeboxes, and for Kara, Elliett, and Evarett for wrapping and delivering 100 of them.

We’re grateful for everyone who contributed gifts to fill the boxes at Christmas in July services and throughout the year. We’re thankful to everyone who helped pack the boxes and those who helped deliver them to the collection center.

We’re grateful for a community that contributed more than 70 boxes and for Pastor Hannah, Pam H., and the Pumpkin Patch, who graciously and cheerfully received those boxes.

We’re grateful to everyone who has prayed over the boxes and for those who continue to pray.

We’re forever thankful for a church family that, in so many ways throughout the year, reminds us that our shared faith and our shared energy and our shared blessings can have impact for the kingdom well beyond the walls of our building.

With love,
Grace Rogansky
Pamela Mayo
Bill Utterback

Building of Faith

Siblings in Christ, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

I give thanks to God always for you. I write to you as I join my heart and voice with yours in celebration of the final payment made on the renovation project of the grand and beautiful sanctuary.

The Bible tells us (in both the Old and New Testaments) that “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.” God says it through his prophet Joel (Joel 2:28) in a vision of those “last days” when Israel shall be forgiven and restored. The Apostle Peter quotes it (Acts 2:17) when questioned about why Christians are speaking in tongues and filled with the Holy Spirit.

In my 14 years as your pastor, one of the many things I so admired about you was your willingness to dream dreams and see visions. It was 2013 when we had a dream and a vision of renovating the sanctuary for the enhancement of worship and making this sacred space accessible (the chancel) and to enlarge the chancel to accommodate our various worship leaders and musicians. We began to put our dream and vision into motion. As the plans unfolded, it seemed like a very daunting and overwhelming undertaking, a more than $650,000.00 undertaking. Yikes! But we had faith! We trusted God with God’s dream and vision. We clung so tightly to God’s word and promises: “I can do all things through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

We trusted God, and on December 29, 2013, as part of our closing worship experience, we carried hymnals, Bibles, the cross, altar candles, etc. into the Simpson Room where we would worship for the next 4 months. We closed the door to the old sanctuary that last Sunday of 2013 and reopened it on Easter Day, April 20, 2014. We celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and Savior in the fully renovated sanctuary with our Bishop and District Superintendent in attendance. Bishop Bickerton consecrated God’s dream and vison of the glorious sanctuary.

In faithfulness to God and God’s ministry, everyone dug deep into their pockets and offered the sacrifice of praise through monetary pledges; gallons upon gallons of soup and hummus were made and sold to help pay off the debt.

Under the very capable leadership of Pastor Hannah, I eagerly wait to hear what new dreams and visions God gives you. Our gracious God is always on the move, creating and recreating. I will watch with excited anticipation as to what God has in store for the body of Christ, known as the Sewickley United Methodist Church.

Thank you! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of God’s dream and vision.

Well done good and faithful servants!

Blessings,
Pastor Russel

Haunted House

Dear Church Family,

Thank you to all the voices raised in the September administrative council meeting in support of hosting a haunted house this year. Thanks for trusting.

Thank you to everyone who lent energy and imagination toward creating the haunted house, and thank you to everyone who staffed the event, upstairs and downstairs. Thank you to those who welcomed and encouraged the youngest among us, helping them find their places in the dark. Thanks for trusting.

Thank you, Pastor Hannah, for joining the team. Thanks for trusting.

Thank you, Susie and Jack, for having the courage to rally the team and to launch the event again. Thanks for trusting.

Thank you, everyone, for believing that our God could find opportunity to shine His Light into an event that draws 500 visitors and a team of more than 70. Thank you for trusting Him.

We all hear the voices that wonder how a church can promote a haunted house, and our response is not complicated. We trust Him. We don’t always see where seeds are planted, where hope is watered, where love is tended, where prejudice is pruned. We don’t need to see it. We see families entering. We see friends and neighbors, classmates and teammates, entering. We see relationships renewed and nourished within our team. We trust God to work in all of those spaces. We trust Him.

Thanks for trusting,
Bill Utterback