The West Virginia Conference has been blessed to receive significant funding from UMCOR to support our flood recovery work over the past several years. And so, we invite our West Virginia Conference Churches to join in celebrating UMCOR Sunday. To follow is a letter from UMCOR to the people of The United Methodist Church:
In the midst of disaster, The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is a sign of hope throughout the world.
This Sunday, United Methodist Churches across the world are called to celebrate UMCOR Sunday. In the midst of a pandemic and other disasters, UMCOR continues to offer healing and hope. Your church’s special offering is a tangible action that allows people to respond to an unprecedented crisis.
At our core, we are a mission and ministry. Funds ensure adequate training for emergency response coordinators, construction volunteers, and case managers who assist survivors of disasters. You are UMCOR. Through our global connections, every United Methodist Church and member is a vital part of our mission and ministry.
As churches set up new platforms to worship, we become more aware of our connections through Jesus Christ. We know that we are stronger together and can be a source of hope for a world that is living in fear.
Church leaders have a unique role to play in preparation and response, as trusted leaders with platforms for communicating important information to your members. We ask you to celebrate the 80 years of ministry UMCOR has provided within our communities.
UMCOR volunteers stay until the work is done and remain until long-term recovery and sustainability are reached. Today, UMCOR is hard at work supporting tornado survivors in Tennessee. Last month, UMCOR issued an emergency grant to a long time trusted partner that is working to limit the spread of Coronavirus in China.
Your support allows the vital work of UMCOR to reach communities everywhere when disaster overwhelms a community’s capacity to respond on its own. For 80 years, UMCOR has provided assistance where it is most needed. Every gift helps strengthen the organization for the days, weeks, months and years ahead.
UMCOR staff are specialists in disaster response and recovery. Whether it is a global pandemic, tornadoes in Tennessee or hurricane in Puerto Rico and the Bahamas, an earthquake in the Philippians, wildfires in California, a cyclone in Zimbabwe, communities lacking clean water, or persons displaced after war or famine, UMCOR is there on your behalf, working and walking with those who are most vulnerable.
When your church supports UMCOR Sunday, you are part of a ministry that directly serves those in need during the emergency while developing longer term strategies for recovery in the years ahead. Please don’t miss the opportunity to invite your congregation to be part of this ministry through their generous gifts, if not this week then on an upcoming Sunday.
Individuals can give online: umcgiving.org/giveUMCOR or mail checks to: UMCOR Sunday GCFA, P.O. Box 340029, Nashville, TN 37203.
The generosity of United Methodists like those in your congregation makes it possible for UMCOR to save lives and offer hope around the world in the midst of disaster. Thank you for being part of it!