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PLUM Churches:

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Christ (Duquesne)

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Newletter

February 2015

 

Dear Partners in ministry,

WOW, if there's ever been a PLUM Board meeting that I wish every one of our members could have witnessed, along with the over 50 delegates and friends who were present, it would be the meeting we had this past Sunday, January 18, at East Liberty Lutheran Church.  The unplanned theme of the meeting sprung from the opening prayer out of the day’s Gospel lesson from John 1:46,  "…COME and SEE."  It was Phillip's simple 3 word response to Nathaniel's doubts when Phillip declared, "we have found Jesus."  The meeting was upbeat and energetic and one could actually feel God's Spirit moving in our midst.

Yes, we did all the busy work needed, revisited the 2015 Budget and reviewed the "2014 Year End Treasurers Report," which I might add revealed that all the congregations were current in their contributions as we begin 2015.  We passed off to the Finance Committee the task of finding a new PLUM Treasurer and then the meeting took off as we talked about our ministry together and what is going on in our individual mission fields.  We have 12 youth preparing to be confirmed this fall from 6 of our 10 congregations.  We have weekly Bible Studies in each of our congregations; youth preparing for 1st Holy Communion; adults being trained and lifted up as "Breakers" who nurture and care for our shut-ins and those in need; a joint VBS planning group that shares resources, ideas and personnel as needed to support the VBS program in each our congregations, as desired.  And then, following these discussions on what we do collectively the focus shifted in response to the request for stories on how you see Jesus working in your congregation’s midst and the ministries we support jointly, and here it got really interesting.

In an electrifying way the theme was being transformed as the meeting evolved from "Come and See" to "Go and Tell."

Due to our collective support and willingness to work together, not only do we provide Word and Sacrament ministry at 10 different sites across the Greater Pittsburgh Area, from St. Paul's (Canonsburg), to Zion (Coraopolis), to East Liberty, to Christ (Duquesne) and 6 communities in between.  There are food banks, day schools, preschools, NA and AA groups, counselling services provided, Bible Studies.  Through Bethany (Dormont), over 900 free turkey meals were served and distributed this Thanksgiving.  In fact, the spirit of our individual worship services is improving and we are seeing some old faces return and new ones checking us out; in several of our churches attendance is up.  There are free Fish Fry's, Spaghetti dinners, and fair trade shows, during which we ask for and received prayer requests that we include the following Sunday, follow up on as needed, etc., and that is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg of the things that were accomplished in 2014, as I am sure that you can each add more to this list of the things that are being done in your individual congregation.  And you know, all of these things are being done in our 10 small congregations, by people who have answered God's call to "Go and Tell," because we accepted Phillips 3 simple words, to "Come and See."  May this be our theme and message for the New Year, that others might experience the stirring of that same Spirit that we witnessed last weekend.       

We, your pastoral staff, praise the Lord for each of you and are honored to share with you the collective ministry to which we have all been called.

Peace,

Pastors John, Beth, Melba, Paul, Dona and Elizabeth

 

         

   
 

Pittsburgh Lutheran United Ministries (PLUM), 405 Kennedy Avenue, Duquesne, PA 15110        412-466-7773