Partnership with DevCo Contributes to New Facility On Sunday, September 29, 2024, New Life International UMC held its dedication of a new church building. After six years, with the launch of New Life International at Fairfax (now New Life International at St. Andrews UMC), Pastor John Obeng and his congregation have a new building […]
In the past five weeks, I got a strong taste of the United Methodist requirements and process to become a clergy member through being commissioned as a provisional deacon on the last day of Annual Conference, held this year in Hampton, Virginia. The touching and moving ceremony culminated in two bishops laying hands on me […]
DevCo and Central UMC’s Partnership in Bringing Dreams to Reality On April 15th, several DevCo representatives attended the APAH and Central United Methodist Church’s celebration of the grand opening of Unity Homes at Ballston. The completion of this innovative construction project consisted of a ground floor church (Central UMC) and affordable housing on […]
Joe Park, the CEO of Horizons Stewardship, recently sent me the results of the Unstuck Church Report. Every quarter, The Unstuck Group compiles data on trends in churches in the United States. This quarter’s report focuses on questions about staffing, structure and team. The results are both helpful and eye-opening. 1. Average church attendance increased […]
Thirty years ago, Mission Central was launched in the attic of McGaheysville UMC by Artie Frederick and her husband, Dave. The attic was neither heated nor airconditioned, and every piece of clothing had to be carried up and down a flight of steep stairs. Over the years the ministry of this clothes closet expanded so […]
Our 4th Annual Golf Classic is on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. Registration closes on October 11, 2024! Since inception in 2021, this annual event has grown in popularity, so if you’d like to join in the fun and play for a worthy cause, mark your calendar now and recruit your team! We’ll be playing […]
Lovett Weems, distinguished professor of church leadership emeritus at Wesley Theological Seminary, has done some research on declining church attendance. I’d like to share some of his findings and offer some of his conclusions and mine as we seek to help pastors and local churches. Lovett says attendance among U.S. congregations has consistently declined in […]
We live in strange times. The church of today could have four generations of adults vying for leadership. The church can be a place where there is unity, but all generations need to work together. The 21st century faces issues that have never been faced before. Life expectancy in the last century was about 50 […]
Whether your church building is old or new or in need of a new HVAC system or roof, the Virginia United Methodist Development Company (DEVCO) can help your church achieve its property improvement goals. Through DevCo’s loan programs, United Methodist churches and related entities in Virginia can grow, minister and focus on local ministry […]
Greetings Virginia Conference members and affiliates! Spring is traditionally a time for change, and so it is with the Virginia United Methodist Foundation. Since last summer, our board leadership has been in consultation with Virginia Conference leadership to discern the best ways the Foundation and DevCo might serve the conference in the coming years. Those […]