Pastor's Page

(updated 4-25-24) “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:1-5 NRSV 
        It is a VERY exciting time to be part of the church family in the Baldwinsville First United Methodist Church! Our Sunday morning worship is alive with the sounds of praise – our choir, our bells, our beautiful inspiring children! This past year, 2023, was a year of recovery and new adventures. 
        Recovery came to us as people returned from exile called COVID 19. We are not yet fully back to our pre-covid attendance numbers, but we are well on our way! We have a team working to install new sound and video capabilities for us that will allow us to expand and improve the quality of our on-line presence. Some weeks we have more people engage our worship service online than we have in the building! 
        Our new adventure began last October when we transitioned from a one-point charge to a multi-site ministry. Our pastoral ministry team or Rev. Jeff Hodge, Rev. Susan Ranous and I are now serving the Baldwinsville First UMC as well as the Liverpool First UMC and the Pennellville First UMC. Added to this multi-site mix our neighbors in the Phoenix UMC who I oversee, and our New Faith Community called Beloved that currently meets Friday evenings at the United Methodist Conference Center on Henry Clay Blvd. This multi-site approach is as old as Moses and the Israelites in the Bible, and I believe it may be the future of ministry all around our denomination and our nation. 
        Looking ahead I would ask you to pray about two important emerging ministries. I believe we need to add a Youth Director to nurture our teens and young adults. If you feel called to help with this ministry please talk to one of our pastors! We will also launch a new Mission initiative in May. Rev. Dr. BJ Norrix is joining our ministry team to lead us deeper and out into the mission field here at home and around the world! If you’re interested in this Mission opportunity, plan to join us on May 22nd at 6pm at the Baldwinsville FUMC to be part of the new adventure! 
        Come and join us for worship at 9am Sunday morning for our Heritage worship service featuring our choir and familiar hymns. If you are unable to join us in person, we are recording live on Facebook. Plan to come and join us – we’ll save you a seat!
Serving Christ with You, Pastor Bill Mudge