The Penn West Conference is looking forward to meeting and working with Rev. Char (Charlene) Burch as she begins her ministry with us January 15, 2012. Her previous experience in a wide number of Conference settings as interim Conference Minister and Conference staff and her knowledge of and experience in the wider UCC and colleagues is a wonderful resource for the next part of the Penn West Conference journey.

The interim or transition is similar to the experience of local churches. The interim time is a reflective time to look over the past to carry forward that which is valued and the essential ministries and missions, discern a vision and mission for the Conference, enhance partnerships with the ministries and missions carried out through churches, pastors and lay leaders, and look to welcome new ministerial leadership. Recently in Greensburg to look for housing and to meet with Moderator Earl Mostoller and Alan McLarty, Char expressed her excitement and anticipation in the opportunities in the Conference. “As people have heard I am coming to the Penn West Conference,” she noted, “I have had many pastors and lay people tell me about their past ministries and families in the area. This has picked my interest even more.”

Do you believe or hope that God is birthing new life within your church?

Is this Advent a time for God’s Mission, God’s Realm of Love, to be born for you?

What a joy to discover that God blesses our congregation in hope and love!

Advent is hope and expectation as we yearn to hear and experience the Good News of God’s Love for all people.



And Mary said,
I'm bursting with God-news;
I'm dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
I'm the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It's exactly what he promised,
beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

We invite you to read Mary’s hymn slowly, several times to hear words or phases that speak to you. Pray for the new birth that God is preparing for ministries within your church. Pray with souls and hearts eager to receive the Good News that Emmanuel, God-with-us, is present here, in our lowly stable, even now.

Download the PENN WEST CONFERENCE RENEWAL SWEEPSTAKES AND RETREAT Flyer

We learned that Edgar passed away Saturday after his courageous struggle with pancreatic cancer. Edgar was a special and wonderful person who touched lives in so many ways.

His mind and heart were forever embracing others, seeking new knowledge and wisdom .we enjoyed his ironic take on things and wonderful sense of humor. As a pharmacist in the US Public health and as a teacher, scholar and practitioner, Edgar impacted unnumbered of lives. Edgar accomplishments are significant: he was the first black assistant surgeon general for the US Public Health Service, and Associate dean of the Piss’s School of Education.

Edgar was a member of the Smithfield UCC, Pittsburg and past Moderator of the Penn West Conference. He was and is beloved by those in the Penn West Conference who had the opportunity to know him.

God’s eternally embracing love surrounds his family and Edger, and all of us to celebrate his life.

Sign Edgar's online guestbook »

Joy to the world! the Lord is come: Let earth its praises bring; Let every heart prepare Christ room, And heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing.

Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns! Let all their songs employ; While fields and floods, rocks, hill, and plains repeat the sounding joy, plains repeat the sounding joy, plains repeat the sounding joy.

Christ rules the world with truth and grace, and makes the nations prove The glories of God’s righteousness and wonders of God’s Love and wonders of God’s Love, and wonders of God’s Love.

God’s Blessings and Joy is with us in these days in the Birth of Jesus.

The Penn West Conference website is a platform for sharing the mutual ministries and missions (that our churches and members carry forward) of God. Members and visitors will find insights and resources, documents and materials, our resource center and catalog, Ministry Teams, links to local PWC church websites, and more. We are linked to the national site as well as other important ministry sites. As we move forward, we will have Annual Meeting information and registration online.

Combined with the periodic PWC eNewsletter (for current information and updates), churches and members will have greater access than ever before. Moving to electronic media is a challenge for the reader and for the originator. We will learn together how we can become collaborators in God’s Ministry and in God’s Message. Join in this by sending in articles about your church life and all the emails of members in your church.

Blessings and joy to you, Rev. Alan Mclarty Conference Minister

Suggested Links:

• God Is Still Speaking - Become a Still Speaking Voice
• UCC Daily Devotion