News

Award To Recognize Church Health Ministries

  The WPAUMC Health As Wholeness Team invites congregations with a functioning Health Ministry to participate in our first Pathways to WHoly Living Health Ministry Recognition program. The purpose of the award is to recognize intentional health ministries that promote the spiritual, physical, emotional, relational, and environmental health of congregations and the communities, and to encourage other congregations to develop their own health ministries. To participate, a health ministry...

WPAUMC Haiti Prayer Service Set Feb. 28

Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton will preach and offer communion Feb. 28 during a WPA Conference service of prayer and intercession for those affected by theearthquake in Haiti. The service, preceded by a half-hour of music, will be at 4:30 pm in the Crawford Hall auditorium at Grove City College.  “The service is designed to emphasize the need for on-going long-term response to help Haiti recover, as well as recognize the tremendous outpouring of support from Western PA...

Advanced Training for Leaders Set: CLM and Licensing

  As part of efforts to develop principled Christian leaders for the church and the world, the Western PA Conference will offer Advanced Training for Church Leaders in 2010.     The courses include tracks for those pursuing Certified Lay Ministry, licensing as a local pastor, or ordained ministry. As of July 1, 2009, completion of the licensing school course for local pastors is mandatory for all newly certified candidates for ordained ministry.     “All...

United Methodist Witness Becomes United Methodist Advocacy in PA

HARRISBURG – United Methodist Witness in Pennsylvania has a new name: United Methodist Advocacy in Pennsylvania. “Communication requires quick, clear messaging,” said the Rev. Keith Benjamin of Carbondale, PA, chair of the UM Advocacy PA. “Changing our name from witness to advocacy removes any confusion about our role. We are advocates for the church and Jesus Christ.” As he announced the new name, Benjamin said the organization has a new website,...

Call to Action on Haiti: Pray, Give, Don't Go Yet!

   Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton has issued a call to action to all Western PA United Methodists in the wake of the massive Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti.   In an e-mail, he urged all Western PA clergy and key lay people, to mobilize congregations and communities. Specifically he asked them to gather for prayer; give to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR); generate UMCOR relief kits and get volunteers ready to go to Haiti when conditions permit.    ...

Slain Trooper Was Active Church Member

Murder Victim Also Tied to Christ Church in Franklin  A Pennsylvania state trooper slain while responding to a suspected domestic incident was an active member of Christ United Methodist Church in Franklin, PA. The woman whose body was found inside the home where he was ambushed was a member of the same church.   Trooper Paul Richey, 40, who helped with junior church and regularly attended the second worship service at Christ Church with his family, was killed by a single...

Volunteers in Mission: Why Not Send Money?

Sunday, Jan. 10,  will be Volunteers in Mission (VIM) Awareness Sunday in Western PA United Methodist congregations. It’s a day to recognize participants on VIM teams, let the congregation know about VIM opportunities and receive a special offering. The offerings help to fund  “VIMships” for participants who need help to pay expenses for their VIM experience.  “Volunteers in Mission are not paid to do the work they do.  It’s costly to take a...

Speaker to Fly High with Youth at SPARK

You should meet Justin Lookadoo. He’s the speaker for SPARK, Feb. 26-28, at the Pittsburgh Sheraton Station Square. SPARK is THE Conference event for youth and youth leaders. So here’s more about Justin Lookadoo. Justin was a juvenile probation officer. He spent nearly six years as a crime prevention specialist. This allowed him to see the “before” and “after” of crime prevention. He developed and implemented programs for 28 elementary schools. By 2000, the...

Help Build the Body at Healthy Church Leadership Days

Healthy Church Leadership Days, scheduled this winter and spring at various locations around the Conference, are aimed not so much at improving individual health as at energizing and revitalizing the body of Christ in Western PA. “It would be an understatement to say that I’m tremendously excited about what these healthy church events might mean to the vitality of our annual conference,” said Washington District Superintendent Eric Park, who will serve as a keynote...

Bishop Welcomes Confirmands to Tour UM Center

Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton invites Western PA confirmands to join him for a tour of the United Methodist Center in Cranberry Twp. Thousands of youth have met and asked questions of their bishop and Conference staff and learned of our United Methodist heritage, resources, ministries, programs, outreach and scholarships. Good news! Many students and adults have even said they loved the day. Each leader and youth gets a gift, too! Morning tours are 9:30 am-12:30 pm and afternoons run...

Change Needed in Churches, Bishop Says

If United Methodists want to make new Christian disciples, things will have to change in many local churches, Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton told clergy and laity during visits to each of the 10 districts in Western Pennsylvania. Citing declining statistics on worship attendance, baptisms, and church membership in each district, the Bishop said that to change the current downward trend, “we have to: realize that what we are currently doing isn’t working; organize ourselves around...

Girl Talks Turkey to Raise Giving

District Superintendent Eric Park’s call for creativity to encourage giving spurred 5th-grader Mikayla Mirich to action.  Shocked to learn that her church had paid just a small percentage of its Mission Share to support regional and global United Methodist ministries, Mikayla, 11, decided to talk some turkey—and sell feathers to raise money.    With permission from her pastor, the Rev. Keith Simmons, and help from her parents, Mikayla, 11, erected a large...

Mission Gala Benefits Three Agencies

Nearly 100 United Methodists and guests gathered in Cranberry Township on Saturday, Nov. 21 for a Mission Gala to support and recognize the work of three United Methodist mission agencies who are making a difference in the lives of those in need in the Johnstown, Pittsburgh and Erie areas.  The three agencies are: Bethany House Academy, which provides early childhood education, mentoring and life skills training for youth and other support to residents...

Partnership Offers Advent Devotional in English, German

United Methodists in Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Germany have published an Advent Devotional in English and German. The annual denotional is prepared each year by clergy and laity in both areas as part of a Partnership formed in 1988 before the fall of the Berlin Wall. To download the 2009 devotional, click the link at right.   Members of the partnership shared memories and greetings Nov. 9 to mark  the 20th anniversary of the opening of the Berlin Wall. The...

Bishop Calls for Change at Appalachian Ministry Event

The Appalachian Ministry Network, like the United Methodist Church and other mainline denominations, has a narrowing window of opportunity to shed some baggage, make substantive changes, and grow into the future, Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton told participants at the 2009 Appalachian Assembly in Bethany, WVA on Oct. 28. Developing new leaders and adapting to reach new people in changing culture are key, he said in the keynote address of the gathering at Bethany College.    “In my...

United Methodists Seek End to Budget Crisis

United Methodists in Pennsylvania are praying for a just end to the Pennsylvania budget crisis and  calling their state legislators to urge them to end the stalemate, which is nearing Day 100.    Millions of people are affected by the cutoff of state funding to help children, families, elderly persons, and those in need of vital social services. United Methodist are part of an interfaith effort to convince legislators to move quickly and to ensure...

UM Teen Liturgist for G-20 Prayer Service in Pittsburgh

Standing in St. Paul’s Cathedral in Pittsburgh before about 500 Christian, Muslim and Jewish people and their leaders at an Interfaith Prayer Service for the G20 Summit, 9th-grader Jeannie Choi said she was so nervous her legs were practically shaking. But Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton said Jeannie did a wonderful job representing United Methodist youth in proclaiming Paul’s message from 2 Corinthians 1: 2-4 in Korean. Although it was somewhat intimidating, Jeannie said,...

Holy Land Missionaries Visit WPA

While “there is no moral defense for detonating a bomb in a crowded area, or any other act of violence perpetrated against civilians,” a United Methodist missionary serving in the Middle East told Western Pennsylvanians that there is a double standard that demonizes any Palestinian use of violence while legitimizing that employed by Israel.   The Rev. Alex Awad and his wife Brenda visited churches in Erie and the Pittsburgh area Sept. 17-18 to tell the stories of the...

Christian Education Sunday Helps to Form Disciples

In September,Western PA United Methodist churches celebrate Christian Education Sunday. In the midst of launching new Sunday School classes, begin new ministries, planning for Volunteers in Mission trips, starting new mid-week studies, and  invite and welcoming visitors, we give thanks for all of those who pass on the faith through Christian education and celebrate the ministries that help to form disciples. This year, Sept. 13 is the day set by our annual conference members as...

Conference Young Adult Heads to Mongolia

The question of “what’s next?” is a frequent one for college students facing graduation. As a young adult who became a college graduate this past May, my answer to the” what’s next?” question has changed and shifted over the course of my final two semesters of college, finding its flexible and current home in the words, “I’m moving to Mongolia in mid-October .” Mongolia? Yes, Mongolia. Prayer, reflection, conversations with friends and...