Pastor’s Message for August 2022

Greetings friends,

I’m the new guy! Nice to meet you!

It’s so wonderful to be a part of what God is up to in the Aliquippa First and Monaca United Methodist Churches. Ministry is given to all of us by Jesus through the Holy Spirit to the glory of the Father. As the Father sent Jesus, Jesus sends us into the world to bring the good news to the world of Christ’s love for all of us. All of us are called to ministry, and that ministry is defined in various callings and empowered by spiritual gifts. As a pastor, my ministry is defined by the vows of my ordination as a four-fold ministry of Word, Order, Sacrament, and Service. As laity, your ministry is defined by the vows of your confirmation to participate in the life of the church through your prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness. Though our roles are different, they are equally important.

Not one of us is called to be all things to all people. We are called to share each other’s burdens. I hope that as time goes by here that I can help you discover where God is calling you to be in service here. Not everyone can do everything, but everybody can do something. I’m looking forward to seeing how God reveals to us where God wants us to go. As you get to know me and I get to know you, we’ll find that we will not always agree on what it is God wants us to do. That’s okay. Even when we disagree, we have the opportunity to display and experience God’s grace and peace in the way we work out our differences.

I can’t wait to see what God is going to do in our time together!

God loves you, and so do I!
Pastor Jim