“Give me liberty or give me death!”
Those are the words accredited to Patrick Henry in a speech he gave 250 years ago this past Sunday (March 23, 1775) at St. John’s, an Episcopal church in Richmond, Virginia. According to U.S. history, Henry and his words were instrumental in supplying the Revolutionary War effort with Virginia’s military personnel, thus tipping the point toward our country’s independence.
St. John’s Episcopal Church seems like an unusual place for the Second Virginia Convention to have conducted this meeting. After all, our forefathers were adamant about separation of church and state and freedom of, and from, religion. But a deeper dive into the story revealed that this church, St. John’s, was the perfect location. It had ample space, it was safe, and it was administered by patriots, particularly the pastor. It was deemed a place to speak freely.
Although our current moment in U.S. history isn’t as dire as the Revolutionary War (or the Civil War or World War II), it is a moment, nonetheless, that is catastrophic for many of our nation’s citizens. And it is this moment, along with our individual and collective responsibilities, that SUMC’s Leadership Board contemplated at our monthly meeting on Monday, March 24th.
Decisions have been made at the highest level of our government to eliminate many of the safety nets that help our most vulnerable. The programs that backstop hunger, homelessness, discrimination, abuse, deportation, and hate. These are programs that coincide exactly with Jesus’s ministry and his directive to us to “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” and to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
So, should we? And if so, what does that look like, sound like? In this moment, what is SUMC’s responsibility? What is the Leadership Board’s responsibility? What is our Pastor’s role? What is our collective desire, if at all, to take a position? What is our decision as devout Jesus followers and disciples committed to transforming the world?
These are the ideals that your Leadership Board deliberated emotionally over the first half of our monthly meeting.
The rest of the Board meeting was spent on usual agenda items, reviewing progress and determining solutions to problems. Here are the highlights.
Membership at SUMC is continuing an upward trajectory. Online participation each Sunday is averaging 400 attendees over the first two months of 2025. This is more than double the online participation rate of the first two months of 2024. We feel like we have momentum and desire to determine exactly what is driving this increase.
We talked about SUMC’s new members and the folks that just completed the most recent New Members Class and the stories they shared with us. We marveled at their persistence in finding a church that was just the right fit for them after searching for years, and in some cases decades, before they found their home right here at SUMC. We love them and their stories.
Eight kids are participating in this year’s Confirmation Class, a journey to strengthen their faith in Jesus Christ. As part of their Confirmation curriculum, they will be meeting with Bishop Steiner Ball later this month to learn more about the organization and work of the United Methodist Church in Western Pennsylvania. Each kid has been assigned a mentor from the Leadership Board or the congregation and, based on preliminary reports, the mentors are learning way more from the kids than vice versa!
You have likely noticed two projects being conducted on the exterior of the church. A masonry project, which was recently completed, filled holes between the bricks and stones to properly repair and seal gaps in the church’s exterior walls. This project was funded in part by the Sewickley Valley Historical Society, which granted SUMC $5,000 to help offset the $10,000 cost to mortar the bricks and stones. The other project, which is currently underway, is refurbishing door #2, the main entrance from Broad Street into the sanctuary. While this door is undergoing reconstruction, we ask that you enter the sanctuary using door #3. The cost of this project is $7,500 and is a priority that was accounted for in this year’s budget.
Whether the monthly work managed by the Leadership Board—and ultimately the Church—is mundane or momentous, local or global, unrecognized or renowned, ours is the labor that bears witness to the light of Jesus Christ in all we do. That’s why we’re here. To meet His moment.
Photo by Anne Davis 773