January 20, 2023 | ISSUE #146

BELLEFIELD WEEKLY
Love. Share. Grow. Serve.

Bellefield family, 


Throughout November, we spent time focusing on the biblical concept of financial stewardship. We encouraged you to give prayerful consideration to what that act of worship and discipleship would look like in your own life in 2023, and invited you to submit a pledge card reflecting that. Taking that step is meant to aid you, because it will help you be intentional and consistent in your stewardship, and it also aids us as we seek to responsibly plan our upcoming budget. 


At that time, we were tracking about 13% behind our offerings goal through the first half of our fiscal year. The plan was to try to close that gap by meeting in middle: reduce our expenses and ask people to consider increasing their giving. I'd like to provide an update as we now enter the second half of our fiscal year.


There are two pieces of good news. First, thanks to a number of generous year-end gifts, we were able to make significant progress and are currently at 97% of our year-to-date offerings goal. Thank you to all who gave so generously with year-end gifts!


Second, the pledges that we received for 2023 reflected an increase of almost 19% over 2022 pledges. Thank you to all who responded so generously with their pledges!


The combination of these factors puts us on much better footing for the second half of our fiscal year and gives us a more clear picture of how to plan for the upcoming year. Pledges only represent about 50% of our total giving each year, however, meaning that there is still a wide range of variability regarding our overall giving totals.


Therefore, we will continue to reduce expenses in all areas that we can (without compromising effective ministry), and we hope that you will continue to support the mission and ministry of God's Church here in this place. When we begin to plan our 2023-2024 budget we will be as wise and realistic about our current capacity as we can be.


As a way to best align our current capacity with the mission we believe God has given us, our Session has recently begun to prayerfully revisit our strategic ministry initiatives and goals. We want to discern as best we can how God is calling us to love, share, grow, and serve in the days ahead, and then to pursue those things as intentionally and effectively as we can. We will keep you posted as we go. 


In the meantime, we value your prayers, your ongoing support, and your participation in this work. If you have a desire to be more involved with any of our ministries or Teams, then we would love to talk to you about how to make that happen! I'm excited for the upcoming year, and grateful for the continued privilege of serving the Lord together with you. 


Grace and peace,


Josh

This Week at Bellefield

Sunday, January 22nd

  • Traditional Worship @ 8:30am, Sanctuary
  • Sunday School Classes @ 9:45am
  • Modern Worship @ 11am, Sanctuary
  • Modern Worship Online, Livestream @ 11am
  • Young Adult Small Group @12:45pm, room B6
  • Relaxed Worship @ 5pm, Fellowship Hall
  • Cornerstone Small Group @ 7:00pm, Conference Room


Monday, January 23rd

  • Women's Bible Study @ 9:30am, Conference Room & Online
  • Youth Group, Email Matthew for details
  • Chatham Christian Fellowship @ 7pm, Chatham Chapel


Tuesday, January 24th

  • Rooted Young Adult Fellowship @ 6:30pm, Fellowship Hall


Wednesday, January 25th

  • Wednesday Hangouts & Bible Club, Email Matthew for details
  • Young Adult Small Group @ 7:00pm, room B5
  • Cornerstone University Fellowship @ 8:40pm, Fellowship Hall


Thursday, January 26th

  • Young Adult Small Group @ 7:00pm, room B6


Friday, January 27th

  • Chatham Healthcare Bible Study @ 3pm, Chatham Mellon Conover & Online


Saturday, January 28th

  • Families with Young Children Small Group @ 9:30am, Room 203
  • Women's Quilting Ministry Event @ 10am, rooms B5 & B6


Sunday, January 29th

  • Traditional Worship @ 8:30am, Sanctuary
  • Sunday School Classes @ 9:45am
  • Modern Worship @ 11am, Sanctuary
  • Modern Worship Online, Livestream @ 11am
  • University Student Luncheon @ 12:15pm, Fellowship Hall
  • Young Adult Small Group @12:45pm, room B6
  • Relaxed Worship @ 5pm, Fellowship Hall
  • Cornerstone Small Group @ 7:00pm, Conference Room


To watch our worship service online after Sunday morning, head over to our YouTube page, click Videos and then Past Live Videos. On Monday mornings you can find the recorded live stream on the front page of our YouTube channel.

Adult Sunday Class

"Modern Problems, Historic Solutions"


Sundays at 9:45am in Fellowship hall, we will be looking at problems and questions that we face today as believers, and how Christians who came before us dealt with those questions.


This Sunday, January 22nd, Adult Sunday Class will look at controversies around modern revival movements and the historic Great Awakening, the engage the question, "what is genuine spiritual growth?"

Small Groups

The beginning of the year is a great time to check out and join one of our small groups. You can contact Julie Coffin or Greg Burdette for more information on any of these groups.

Upcoming Events

Rooted: Young Adult Fellowship

January 24th, 6:30pm


Mark your calendars for Rooted in January. We'll be having a meal together and continuing our series on the seven deadly sins by looking at greed. We are all in various stages of handling money, so we will take about the pitfalls and the possibilities of the resources God has given us.


Sign up for dinner here

Women's Quilting Event

January 28th 10am-2pm


All Bellefield women and friends are invited!


Bring your own lunch and stay as long or short as suits your schedule. IF YOU DON'T SEW...NO WORRIES! You can iron, cut fabric, coordinate colors for a quilt or just come and mingle and meet new friends.


The baby quilts are gifted to new babies in our congregation and also shared with our partner ministry in Guatemala.

Breakfast Connect Fundraiser

February 4th, 9:45am


Our next Breakfast Connect will be hosted again by our University Ministry. Food will be provided and all donations will go to supporting students going to CCO Jubilee Conference at the end of February.

Women's Valentines Breakfast

February 11th, 9:30am


The Men's and Women's ministries are hosting a valentines breakfast on Saturday, February 11th for all women in the church from 9:30am-12pm. The men of the church are invited to help cook and serve the breakfast.


For more information or to RSVP, contact Barb Liberati (bliberati@verizon.net) for the women, or Gary Liberati (drgarylib@gmail.com) for the men.


Community Care

Connect

If you are looking for ways to connect with our community, please reach out to us using this connect form. One of our staff or leaders would be happy to talk with you. 


Small Groups

If you would like to grow in your faith through joining a small group, there are a number of groups to choose from! Email Julie for more information.


Prayer

Our Prayer Team will offer prayer after our morning service. Contact Greg if you need to talk or would like prayer during the week.


Deacons

If you or your family have been experiencing spiritual, financial, or physical hardship during this time, please reach out to our Deacons who are here to help care for you.

deacons@bellefield.org


COVID-19 Guidelines

Our elders and leadership have made it our practice to promote the local CDC guidelines for mitigation strategies. Here are the current recommendations:

  • The CDC COVID-19 Community Level for Allegheny County is currently LOW
  • Those who are sick or may have recent exposure are encouraged to remain at home and participate in our online options when available. 
  • Please be mindful of your interactions with vulnerable populations.
  • A fully masked section is on the east side of the sanctuary for any who choose.
  • If after attending an onsite event you test positive for COVID, we encourage you to let the group leader know so they can inform those who may be impacted.


Thank you for helping us to care for one another!

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Bellefield Presbyterian Church | 4001 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 | 412-687-3222
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