A Blessing or a Curse? Faithful Servants Don’t Believe in Any Stinkin’ Curse!
Thirty-two months. Thirty meetings. More than four thousand five hundred minutes. That’s how much time I’ve spent in meetings during my term as a member of Sewickley United Methodist Church’s (SUMC) Leadership Board. Not for one second over those three years did I ever feel overwhelmed or stymied or discouraged about our responsibilities. Until our meeting Wednesday, August 19th, 2026. That’s when the best laid plans of SUMC’s conscientious Board were negated by a “peril”, a technical term for what insurance agencies previously referred to as an “act of God.”
The church suffered a lightning strike, a strike so strong it struck my eyes a half-mile away as I sat at my kitchen table. A bang so bad that I proclaimed out loud, “Holy crap! Someone just got crushed!” Little did I know that someone was us.
The lightning strike, I and my fellow Board members came to learn, basically fried some elements of the recently installed, brand new sound system, components of the clock tower, and some of the church’s internal outlets and ports. Even though this occurrence couldn’t have been predicted, nor avoided, nor stopped, it stings particularly hard because it comes on the heels of another previously unexpected problem that must be repaired – collapsed pipes that are part of the church’s downspout system.
As some of you might recall, back in February, Board members conducted a formal meeting (called a Charge Conference) with the congregation detailing a list of improvements necessary to keep the church and parsonage functioning and in good repair. Replacement of the church roof, installation of windows at the parsonage, modernization of the sound system in the sanctuary, design and implementation of a “lift” connecting the main floor and basement to accommodate our congregants who have mobility impairments, reparation of our 100+ year old organ, upgrade of the HVAC system, and clock tower maintenance comprised the totality of the list at that time. All tallied, the cost of this Capital Campaign was estimated at $470,000, which was doable because SUMC was eligible for a $500,000 line of credit, which we secured from Christian Family Credit Union to accomplish the plan.
After a brutally lengthy discussion about the lightning strike and collapsed pipes, the Board assessed that these unforeseen reparations would add about $200,000 to our already lofty capital needs. Suddenly, what was well thought out and doable became daunting. The discussion drained the energy from the room as we contemplated plans B, C, D, and E. After three grueling hours, our longest Board meeting during my tenure, we adjourned.
But, by the time I got home that night, my fellow Board members and I were already feeling optimistic. As disciples of Christ and faithful servants, we know things like this happen for a reason. And as devout believers in an almighty God, we choose to view the lightning strike as a stroke of good fortune, an opportunity, and maybe, just maybe, a message that God is telling us to think bigger!
I was glad Pastor Hannah wasn’t at August’s Board meeting. She was instead participating in the Board of Ministry’s Mid-Quadrennial Training in Atlanta, Georgia. There she was connecting with peers, gaining practical tools and applications to help our church and members, and talking about new and changing opportunities for individuals who might be discerning a call to licensed or ordained ministry and the systems that care for them. She was rejuvenating her Spirit for the long-haul that is the season of pumpkins and haunted houses and Thanksgiving and Advent and Jesus and Christmas and New Year’s. Little did Pastor Hannah know when she started her journey to Atlanta that she would have to add “sudden, high-voltage electrical discharge between the atmosphere and the ground” as an obstacle to her revival tour. Nevertheless, she is back and radiating the faith, optimism, commitment, and energy necessary for the season in front of us.
Pastor Hannah and Board members are planning to explain all this on Sunday, September 13th at 10:00 am (following the 9:00 am service) and again at noon (following the 11:00 am service). This update and conversation are extremely important. I strongly urge you to attend. We need all hands on deck.
September Leadership Board Meeting
Our next Leadership Board meeting is Wednesday, September 16th at 6:30pm in The Patton Library. As always, you are welcome to attend!
Lynn Colosi
Board Member
Photo by Gustavo Almeida Couto de Andrade