News

Haiti Prayer Service Offers Hope, Celebrates Response

  Tootsie Pops were distributed along with the communion elements at a Feb. 28 Service of Prayer for those affected by the Haiti earthquake and those who are responding to their needs.   Bishop Thomas J. Bickerton gave the candy in memory of the Revs. Sam Dixon, head of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, and Clint Rabb, leader of UM Volunteers in Mission, who were trapped in the rubble of the Hotel Montana when the Jan. 12 earthquake hit Haiti . The two were pinned...

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...

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...

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...

Hands On Work, Study Mark 2009 School of Missions

United Methodists and friends found 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 mid-July school at Grove City College also offered opportunities for people of all ages to do hands-on mission work. Adult participants attended the four-day weekday school, July 13-17, or the July 17-19 weekend school. The Sampler Days –July 14 or 18, were another option. Mission...

Western PA Youth Mission Service Changes Lives

Hundreds of United Methodist youth from across Western PA are helping others and building relationships this summer on mission work teams serving in the region, other parts of the United States and abroad. Some are part of teams formed in their local church. Others join Conference Volunteers in Mission teams or participate in the Youth Ministry Team's weeklong uth4Missions event in Johnstown or Mission Discovery, Mission Adventure and Mission Expedition -- part of the Western PA Cooperative...

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,...