Blooming flowers, sprouting seeds, and shining sun! Just like Springtime in southwestern Pennsylvania, Sewickley United Methodist Church (SUMC) is experiencing change, growth, and new beginnings! At the Leadership Board meeting in April, our team talked about the energy that is emanating from you and our church!
Change
The Leadership Board recently received its newest member, Amanda Pelphrey. Amanda brings remarkable insight and empathy to the Board’s discussions and decision making. At April’s Board meeting, she led our team through a session on Spiritual & Leadership Development by sharing how we can be better at resolving conflict by treating people with dignity deserving of a human being, rather than marginalizing them like an object. Amanda asked us to contemplate truly how we treat family, friends, work colleagues, and other people in our network when clashing over problems, opinions, and differences. She suggested we make a mental shift when dealing with conflict, one that takes an inward approach and chooses peace and love as the basis of resolution, rather than raging on the other person and expecting them to change. Amanda appealed us to adopt a shift that makes a deliberate choice to treat others with grace by seeing the sacred image of Jesus Christ in each person with whom we interact. Please welcome Amanda, who will be sharing her unique gifts with the Board through December 2026.
Growth
As Pastor Hannah regularly does at each Board meeting, she reported on the status of our congregation, SUMC’s God-sized annual goals, and other happenings. Here are a few rays of sunshine from the meeting.
Online participation in SUMC’s Sunday services continues to soar. For the first quarter of 2025, average online attendance totaled 398 people each Sunday as compared to 180 each Sunday during the first quarter in 2024. In-person attendance is holding steady at about 130 each Sunday. On behalf of the Leadership Board, I invite online participants to join us in-person at least once so we can see your beautiful faces and connect with your amazing spirit!
We are grateful to all of you who have contributed items to the Home Goods Community Closet, a ministry that provides underserved people with daily personal and household items. Your generosity has provided items like cleaning supplies, hygiene products, small appliances, towels, sheets, and bedding to more than 20 families since the middle of March. This progress in just one month’s time reflects the hard work of SUMC’s volunteers, your generosity, and the power of the mighty God of the universe who always multiplies our works.
SUMC will be serving our community at this year’s May Mart, which will be held on Broad Street in Sewickley on Saturday, May 10th, from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Offering the absolute perfect food for those looking to grab a bite to eat while perusing Broad Street’s more than 70 vendors, SUMC’s volunteers will be cooking up some Walking Tacos!!! This year’s theme is “Keeping Sewickley Green” and will be held rain or shine! If you are interested in helping to fund or buy taco ingredients, prepare for the event, or sell tacos, please see me, and I will hook you up!
Finally, a few of SUMC’s Leadership Board members will be participating in the 2025 Western Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church from June 12-14 in Erie. Pastor Hannah, Jenine Furry, and I will be connecting and worshipping with other like-minded Jesus followers, attending briefings, and representing the interests of SUMC in discussions and votes on the conference’s business items. I will report back to you in July’s newsletter on the outcome of the conference.
New Beginnings
Fishing, theater, music, gymnastics… these are just a few of the interests of the young adults that participated in this year’s Confirmation class. As a mentor to one of the eight Confirmands in this year’s class, I am not only intrigued by their interests, but I am also amazed at the love, caring, intellect, talent, and spiritual gifts exhibited by each. Yet my greatest admiration for these remarkable youngsters was their decision and courage to stand before SUMC’s congregation and their families to declare their love and commitment to Jesus Christ. For the past month, these kids prepared their hearts and minds for an intentional commitment to strengthen their faith and God’s calling through Confirmation. Each kid attended Confirmation classes and was assigned a mentor, dedicated to advising them through the process and longer-term through their faith journey. Confirmands’ commitments were recognized during Easter Sunday services when Pastor Hannah introduced and confirmed this year’s class. Through confirmation and the reaffirmation of their faith, Confirmands renewed the covenant declared at their baptism, acknowledging what God is doing for them and affirming their commitment to Jesus Christ.
Lastly, let me express a vociferous “WOW!” for the in-person attendance at Easter Sunday services. According to my eyes, it looked as though there were several hundred people at the 9:00 am service and more than 300 people at the 11:00 am service. The energy in the sanctuary was pulsating and positively hopeful. Thank you for being here to praise and honor our risen Messiah, Jesus Christ!
Lynn Colosi
Leadership Board Member