Greetings to you in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
I thank and praise God for the privilege to serve Him. I thank Him for watching over us all these years and helping us in growing both spiritually and in numbers. Praise the Lord for His continued blessings. Our regular worship services have been a great blessing to many. We are privileged to hear the word of God through our honorary Pastor and guest Preachers.
Apart from regular Sunday worship services, we had special services on Christmas, New Year Eve (Watch Night Service), Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter, Thanksgiving, Mothers Day and Fathers Da. On the scheduled Sundays, Sr. Honorary Pastor Rev. Dr. David Ravinder shared the God’s Word and spiritually encouraged us all through the year. We are also blessed to hear the Word of God through many of the guest preachers from India and around New Jersey. The guest preachers for the year 2015 included the following eminent servants of God: Rev. Daniel Mylabathula, Rev. Stanley Joseph, Pastor Joshua Rowand, Rev. Dr. Samuel Mohanraj, Rev. Dr. David Mertz, Rev. Dr. Susan Iliff, Bro. Josiah Srigiri, Bro. Sunil Robert Vuppula, Bro. Pravin Charles Dhara, Bro. Nagesh Kola, Bro. Venkat Potana, Bro. Rajendra Dutt, Bro. Devaraju Jakki, Pastor Deevanaiah, Pastor Abraham Anumanthappa, Rev. Dr. T.J. R. Reddy, Bishop Daniel Kalyanapu, Bro. Dayanidhi Rao, Bro. Dinesh Khatri, Bro. Bhogi Santha Rao, Rev. Dr. Isaac Simon, Bro. A. S. Isaac, Rev. Timothy Kollabathula, Pastor John Moses Dussi, Bro. Anil Kumar and Rev. K. Kurian.
Our special meditation programs included the Cottage Prayer meetings during the 6 weeks of Lenten season. UECF participated in New Jersey, Virginia and Connecticut annual family conferences.
Missions/ Outreach Ministry:
UECF goal and purpose is to participate in the great commission given by our Lord Jesus in Mark 16:15 ‘Go ye into the all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’. UECF is supporting missionaries who are doing missionary service for the spread of the Gospel primarily in India where many people do not know Christ. UECF supported AEL Revival Forum, Rev. GCR Arun Rao, Bro. J. Prem Kumar, Bro. Joseph Dawson, Dr. Augustine Pagolu, Lutheran Boarding Home, Partners India International, Pileru Church Planting, Followers of Christ Ministries, Leprosy and Orphanage in Tirupathi, Save a Child Ministry, Peace Proclamation Ministries, Mrs. Sudharani Orphanage and Old Age support in Chittoor District, Chennai Floods, Nepal Floods, PCIL Student Scholarship, Sunshine Ministry, Church Construction in Krishna district, Ministry among HIV affected, Village Ministry, University Campus Ministry as part of missions support. Thanks for your prayerful financial support.
UECF is humbly following the word in Acts 1:8, ‘Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth’. We thank and praise the Lord for all those who have participated in this ministry in different caliber for the glory of GOD.
Old Age Home Ministry: The nursing home ministry has become an integral part of UECF evangelism. Because of UECF Nursing Home evangelism, some people got saved at CareOne Nursing home and now they are spending their eternity with the Lord. It’s good to see more and more UECF representation at the CareOne Nursing Home. We thank the Lord for all those parents who are bringing their children to CareOne Nursing home worship service on every third Saturday of the month at 10:30 AM. It’s really pleasing to the Lord that the Children are also participating in the worship service by singing special songs. We also thank all those speakers who are bringing the Word of God and also we thank all the Musicians and Singers who are participating in the worship service.
The highlights of the Nursing Home Ministry:
1. The residents of CareOne Nursing Home are tremendously blessed. in fact the residents request us to come again soon.
2. The CareOne Nursing Home staff were also blessed with our music, singing and the Word of God.
3. The Nursing Home Ministry has become a great encouragement and inspiration to all those UECF congregation members participating in the worship service.
In conclusion we want to say that spreading the love and message of Jesus Christ in nursing home environment, providing support and encouragement by regular monthly visits by caring Christians of UECF.
Music Ministry: We thank and Praise the lord for UECF music Ministry which is a vital part of our Worship Service every Sunday. UECF music Ministry is based on four key factors.
1. Adoration of God's power and majesty. 2. We praise and worship the Lord in response to God's goodness towards us. 3. Our worship is an expression of our love towards God.
4. Our worship is all about Jesus.
Highlights of Music Ministry: 1. The music ministry of UECF has been a blessing to so many people around the world.
2. The music ministry is a blessing to so many people in USA also.
3. The UECF choir is highly appreciated by well known musicians as one of the top Telugu choirs in USA.
4. UECF music ministry has become a blessing to so many local people as well as the local Churches too.
We thank and praise the Lord for all the Musicians, Singers, Sound Engineers and AV people, who are committed to serve the Lord by exalting the Lord's Name.
Sunday School Ministry: We thank the Lord for UECF Sunday School Children for participating in all special occasions with their individual talents, Dramas and group dances and a successful VBS program. Thanks to Mrs. Emily Myla and the Sunday’s School staff for their efforts to nurture our children in Word of God.
Youth and Junior Bible Quiz(JBQ) Ministry: Our children and Youth continued to growing in the knowledge of God and develop their faith. Thanks to Mr. Sunil Robert & Mrs. Prafulla Vuppala for leading this ministry.
Married Couple’s Ministry: The Married Couple’s meeting usually held on the 4th Saturday of every month in various homes that are pre-decided. Couples discussed and debated on various topics that are very practical and tried to use the Bible as a guiding tool. Thanks to Rev. Dr. David Ravinder & Mrs. Sarita Ravinder for leading this ministry. Thanks to Mrs. Asha Chakravarthy for coordinating.
Bible Study: It was a great blessing to the believers to have studied the book of Revelation Chapters 1 to 7, even as the scripture itself revealed it to us through Rev.1:3,
"Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand". A detailed study was done about the following 7 Churches as revealed to St. John by our Lord Jesus Christ: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. This gave an insight into how the present day Church should conduct itself in preparation to the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then a study was done about the six of the seven seals that were opened by our Lord Jesus Christ who alone had the authority and worthy to open them and the out come there of. On an average 10 believers met together to study the word and encourage one and another. Thanks to Bro. Josiah & Sis. Satya Srigiri for leading this ministry.
Christmas Carols: As we do every year, we participated in Carol rounds during the Christmas season. In the year 2015, we had visited 65 families as part of our carol rounds and received prayerful gifts.
Picnic: Last year, we had an Annual Family picnic at Roosevelt Park. Rev. Dr. David Ravinder shared the word of God during our picnic time. Many families have actively participated in various items of the picnic.
Fellowship Hour: Many of our members have volunteered to host Fellowship Coffee hour after each Sunday service while celebrating their Birthdays and anniversaries. I thank all the congregation members for keeping the sanctuary and the fellowship hall clean and neat after the usage.
Women’s Prayer Fellowship: UECF Women’s Fellowship is dedicated to glorifying God by bringing women into a more intimate relationship with Jesus as Lord and Savior through the use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Prayer and praise, meditation, study of the scriptures and loving fellowship.
- Monthly Prayer: Women’s monthly prayer is held on every fourth Friday of the month. In the year 2015, we have devoted more time to pray for the church and individual needs. Thanks to Mrs. Grace Tsappidi, Mrs. Komala Vellore, Mrs. Helen Patta, Mrs. Padma Borugadda, Mrs. Satya Srigiri and Mrs.Sunitha Mare for sharing the word of God in our monthly prayer.
- Women’s Christmas: We had a fun filled 2015 UECF Women’s Christmas at Mrs. Rathna Kambham’s residence. Thanks to Mrs. Udaya Pulipati, Mrs. Helen Patta and Mrs. Komala Vellore for sharing the word of God during Women’s Christmas and Mrs. Rathna Kambham for hosting. The offering of $920.00 has been given to an orphanage ‘Cherish Foundation, Hyderabad’.
- Baby Showers: As a sign of celebrating God’s Blessing, UECF women have joyfully celebrated baby showers for Mrs. Rebecca Pagadala, Mrs. Kavitha Shaik, Mrs. Elizabeth Gummadi and Mrs. Asha Dayala. Heartfelt thanks to all the women for their consistent guidance, support and encouragement. Sincere thanks to our dear pastor Rev. Dr. David Ravinder, President Mr. Joshua Pilli and the executive committee for their support in organizing the Women's Fellowship events.
UECF Women are grateful to all the volunteers who helped us with arrangements for the events and helping us in maintaining the fellowship hall clean and tidy.
Men’s Prayer Fellowship: Men's Prayer group meets every last Friday of the month at 8:00 PM in the church. This ministry is based on the Scripture: As Iron sharpens iron, so over man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17. Men are involved in praying for UECF families and relatives for spiritual needs, financial needs and for God's protection over the children. We thank and praise the Lord for answering so many of our prayer requests. We thank all those who are participating in the Men's prayer group meeting with a grateful heart.
UECF.NET: The presence of UECF is known all over the world through this web site. Many visitors have attended our worship services and testified that they came to know about UECF through the website. Some such visitors started attending regularly.
Many guests have visited us and worshipped with us during regular Sunday worship and other Special services. Mr. Sunil Pagadala as a Stewardship Coordinator has helped to reach out the visitors by preparing colorful flyers on all occasions, also thanks to Mr. Sunil Pagadala and Mr. Sunil Mentay for auditing the UECF finances.
I am thankful to the Executive Committee Mr. Samuel Sudhakar Chilaka(Vice President), Mr. Anand Devi(Treasurer) and Mr. Joshua Shaik(Secretary) for providing their continual cooperation and support. I also thank the Board of Trustees and Pastorate Committee, Coordinators and all the members of UECF for their cooperation. I express my thanks to our Pastor Rev. Dr. David Ravinder for ministering to us. Thanks to Rev. Dr. David Mertz and FUMC Westfield leadership for welcoming and supporting UECF worship services.
I am extremely happy to inform you that the Lord has blessed UECF ministry with wonderful messages by Pastors and other eminent Servants of God, Praise and Worship, Offerings, Children activities and Bible Studies and Outreach and our Lord’s name was glorified.
In Him,
Joshua(Phani) Pilli 07- Feb- 2016