Rev. Dr. Joleen Willis presented the 2023 Altoona District One Matters Award to Cove Forge UMC in Williamsburg, represented by District Lay Leader Ken Bodle.
Every year, Discipleship Ministries partners with annual conferences by offering the One Matters Award (OMA) to one eligible congregation at each annual conference. At the 2023 Susquehanna Annual Conference, the One Matters Award was given to one church in each of our districts.
This award has a strong focus on making disciples because, by integrating into the church body, the individual may experience the personal transformation to potentially engage in the church’s mission for the transformation of the world. While most Discipleship Ministries programs focus on existing members, OMA focuses on new members. After all, ONE Matters.
The 2023 One Matters Award for Altoona District was awarded to:
Cove Forge UMC, Williamsburg
By Rev. Dr. Joleen Willis, Altoona District Superintendent
There are many small churches in our Conference and in the Altoona District where I serve. I speak of those who may have around 20 people in worship. Cove Forge UMC, located just outside Williamsburg, Pa., is one such church. A beautiful country setting which borders on a “crick” with a nice picnic pavilion and someone with a knack for plants has established a nice little nook of a prayer garden at the corner of the church.
The One Matters Award celebrates those churches who have received, by profession of faith, a member after some years of not having done so. Cove Forge UMC received five. And for Cove Forge it isn’t just about membership, it’s about discipleship; it’s about growing people in Christ; and about people growing in their love and service of God and the Church.
Of the five, four had been attending regularly and were moved to become members—a membership not in name only, but one in which they have become more actively involved in the life of the church, in leadership and in hands-on service.
The fifth became a member as she reached out to the church and the pastor in her time of need, as a family member was approaching death. The pastor and church responded. A visit led to a funeral … which led to a baptism. The death of one family member led to new life for another.
Personally, my favorite story is that of a mother and son who had attended for years. They became members when the son, a special needs young adult, desired to become a part of God’s kingdom. I celebrate with Cove Forge the gift of surrounding this child of God with the love of Christ, embracing and nurturing him with a faith that stirred within him the desire to make a public confession of what had already happened in their midst, a sense of belonging. I love this story, because of the valuing and inclusion of this young man. But I also love it because this young man’s faith and desire is what led his mother forward in her discipleship journey.
May Cove Forge and may all of our churches foster that sense of belonging; and may we value and recognize the gifts of all God’s children; and may we make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!
