To The People of Sewickley United Methodist Church,

I want to personally thank and congratulate your congregation for demonstrating your faithfulness to our United Methodist connection by paying 100% of your apportionment covenant in 2022. Because you fulfilled your commitment, the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference was able to continue our ministry by providing leadership, connection and resources to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Through sacrifice and with God’s grace, our annual conference is making a difference in people’s lives and demonstrating Jesus’s love locally and around the world.

Your gifts, and those of many other faithful congregations, support vital ministry and mission. In 2022, your Conference staff and leadership focused on congregations poised for renewal and equipped church leaders to create new places for new people. We continued to support the educational endeavors of young people through scholarships and awarded grants to innovative ministries. Recognizing a persistent sense of post-pandemic burnout and grief, an emphasis was placed on caring for the mental health of our clergy and laity through programming and resource sharing. Additionally, our Conference Commission on Religion and Race hosted a multi-day summit to continue the work of dismantling racism.

Through our commitment to mission, hundreds of UMCOR hygiene and menstrual kits were assembled and distributed to people in need. Youth continued to grow as leaders at SPARK and served multiple communities by participating in Uth 4 Missions. Our apportioned giving also provided support and training for those who respond to God’s call upon their lives by serving as lay servant ministers, ordained clergy, local pastors or missionaries.

What we do together as United Methodists is far more than any one congregation can do by itself. Your commitment through apportioned giving makes you a significant partner in the connectional ministries of the church that we all can celebrate. We are truly blessed.

I praise God for the faithfulness of His people. I thank God for the ministries we’ve supported and the disciples being made because of your faithful giving.

Blessings,
Cynthia Moore-Koikoi
Resident Bishop

I offer prayerful thanksgiving for Pastor Hannah, for Susie and Laura G. and the Worship Committee, for Jack and the Marketing Committee, for Leap of Faith, and for everyone who participated in our LGBTQIA2S+ programming in June.

I am especially thankful for everyone who spent time at our booth during Pittsburgh Pride, for those who marched in the parade, and for those that attended the special worship service.

It is beautiful to know that we are creating an identity as a church intent on sharing and celebrating the inclusive love of Jesus. That identity requires active participation. It requires connecting and listening and encouraging and inviting. It requires extending, and I was encouraged to see so many of us extending to share His love. I was lifted by all of you and for the hope you created as we move forward in our ministries.

Sincerely,
Bill Utterback

Alison Trexel and her family are thankful for the show of support through the many letters and kind words following the passing of her mom, Jan Jones.

“…when you have done it for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you have done it for me.” – Jesus (Matt. 25:40 CEB)

Dear Friends in Mission,

Thank you! The dear people you just helped with your gifts for our response to help those impacted by the war in Ukraine and for those in the US impacted by natural disasters may never have the opportunity to meet you, but if they did, I am certain their response would be – Thank you!

And through your financial support, you are serving within a vital network of interactive relationships in the U.S. and in more than 60 countries in which UMCOR and partnering agencies engage in direct ministry to persons in need.

May we continue to reveal the love of God for men, women, and children of all ethnic, racial, cultural, and national backgrounds and to demonstrate the healing power of the gospel with those who suffer.

Grace and Peace,
Roland Fernandes, General Secretary
United Methodist Commission on Relief

Dear Sewickley UMC,

In a world full of choices, thank you for choosing United Methodist Church Union. Your check designated to Northview Heights Kids’ Ministry was received and deposited.

Why choose United Methodist Church Union?

Because gifts like yours have blessed us with an ever-increasing ability to help those in need within the Greater Pittsburgh Area. Year after year, we are able to record measurable progress in the growth of Church Union’s ministries—more children fed in the summer through Kids Meal Network, more schools coming on board with the Reading & Mentoring Program, and more neighbors experiencing homelessness being fed by Daily Bread. But just as important may be the immeasurable achievements:

• Churches and community groups, 22 in the Greater Pittsburgh Area, volunteer at Daily Bread’s year-round program, serving meals three times per week and striving to serve with compassion and grace. Over 16,000 meals were served in 2022.

• Seniors who volunteer with our Reading & Mentoring Program (some of whom are residents of Church Union’s senior housing) find themselves newly engaged in the community and experience the heartwarming rewards of helping a child. In 2022, over 100 students across three different school districts were served.

• Congregations reconnecting with their communities by getting to know the children in their neighborhoods by name. More than 9,000 nutritious meals were served to children dealing with food insecurity during the summer of 2022, along with a big helping of fun through recreational activities.

On behalf of the United Methodist Church Union Board of Directors, thank you for enabling Church Union to attain the goal of becoming an even greater force in responding to the needs of poverty, illiteracy, and social injustice. We are most grateful for your generosity and continued support.

God’s Blessings,
Rev. Larry P. Homitsky
President, United Methodist Church Union

The Ambridge Volunteer Fire Department would like to express our sincere gratitude for your thoughtfulness and generosity for providing food to the department for our event on May 13.

Thank you,
Michael Mikulich
Secretary

Photo by Kristi Graves