Greetings to you in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
It has been 11 blessed years since United Evangelical Christian Fellowship (UECF ) started. I am delighted to report the progress as we are at the end of the 12th year.
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 Pastors 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 Day. On the scheduled Sundays, Sr. Honorary Pastor Rev. Dr. David Ravinder and Honorary Pastor Rev. David Davis have 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 2008 included the following eminent servants of God: Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar, Acahrya R.R.K Murthy, Rev. Anna Bhujbal, Rev. Darryl Duer, Rev. Vincent Gurrala, Rev. Israel Suppogu, Rev. Philip Pedapalli, Rev. Cheryl West, Rev. Dr. Samuel Sudhakar, Rev. George Dubish, Dr. Gurunadham Moodey, Bro. Raja Ernest Reddy, Bro. John Cornish, Rev. Edwin Fernando, Rev. Dr. Prasanna Kumar, Bro. Babu Ganta, Rev. Solomon Raju Kunchanapalli, Rev. G. R. Purushotham, Rev. Dr. B. C. Paul, Bro. Martin Gulla, Rev. Dr. Victor Luther Paul Nakka, Rev. K. Kurian, Rev. Dr. Bhanumurthy Nainarapu, Rev. Dr. Devasahayam Dandala, Rev. D.G.M. Vinod and Bro. Rajan Mathews.
As we do every year, Lenten Cottage prayer meetings were held for six weeks and we started the same for this year on last Friday. UECF joined the Community United Methodist Church in Roselle Park for a combined Easter morning service on 23rd March, 2008. UECF actively participated in Christian Family conference and NAAIC Annual Banquet.
Praise Time has been a vital part of our Sunday Worship Services. We had the opportunity to sing praises not only in English but also in the regional languages like Telugu and Hindi. Thanks to the Praise Team and to Mrs. Emily Sensen Gopal, Mr. Samuel Sudhakar Chilaka, Mr. Josiah Srigiri, Ms. Yuko Unehara, Madeline for providing music support.
Sunday School: Sunday School children of different age groups exhibited their talents on all possible special occasions. Thanks to Mr. Louis Dundi, Sunday School Coordinator and the Sunday School teaching staff for conducting dramas and group dances. Thanks for their efforts in nurturing the children with the Word of God.
Bible Study: UECF monthly Bible Study has been a blessing to many of the members. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Ravi Rapaka for taking lead in conducting the Bible Study.
Christmas Carols: As we do every year, we participated in Carol rounds during the Christmas season. In the year 2008, we had visited 48 families as part of our carol rounds and received your prayerful gifts. Thanks to Mr. Clement Myla and Mr. Louis Dundi for their help in coordinating the Carol rounds.
Picnic: Last year, we had an Annual Family picnic at Colonial 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 Mrs. Jyothi Nakka and all the congregation members for keeping the sanctuary and the fellowship hall clean and neat after the usage.
Women’s Prayer Fellowship: UECF monthly Women’s Prayer Fellowship has been a blessing to many of the members. Thanks to the encouragement of Mrs. Shanthi Bhaskar and Mrs. Udaya Pulipati, Mrs. Bhavani Raya, Mrs. Grace Tsappidi, Mrs. Susan Bushi for leading the fellowship and Mrs. Jyothi Nakka for co-ordinating these meetings.
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. Thomas Kalyanapu as Stewardship Coordinator has helped to reach out the visitors and ensured they signed the Guest Book with their addresses. Also, I would like to appreciate Mr. Vinod Nakka and Mr. Clement Myla for arranging the Communion elements on Communion Sundays.
I thank the Executive officers, Board of Trustees and Pastorate Committee, Coordinators and all the members for their help. I express my thanks to our Pastors Rev. Dr. David Ravinder and Rev. David Davis for ministering to us. Thanks to Rev. Dr. Richard Ruch and board of trustees of Reformed Church for their continued support. Also, thanks to Pastor Jim Miller and board of trustees of First Baptist Church, Metuchen for allowing us to celebrate Christmas in their facility.
In Him,
Joshua(Phani) Pilli