August 22, 2024
Bishop Sue and the Missional Engagement Office recently shared an update on the Virginia Annual Conference offering.
Thanks to the generosity of the Annual Conference members and churches, the total offering has reached $109,800. The 2024 offering this year was split between Partnerships of Hope, who will be receiving $54,900, and Undue Medical Debt, which will also be receiving $54,900 alongside special gifts of $15,300 for a total of $70,200.
Bishop Sue wants to see the VAUMC take the next step toward forgiving medical debt in Virginia by sharing an updated challenge.
If the VAUMC could raise an additional $180,000 over the remainder of 2024, for a total amount raised of $250,000, our collective efforts would forgive at least $25 million in medical debt in Virginia. According to our friends at Undue Medical Debt this could lead to the forgiveness of as much as $45 million.
Can you imagine that level of impact? The level of transformation in the Commonwealth of Virginia?
Bishop Sue recognizes raising this much money is a big goal.
“It will take all of us working together to raise money in our neighborhoods, local churches, districts, and throughout the Annual Conference,” she said. “But I think this might be the time for us to take such an important step together. Amidst the turmoil of disaffiliation and the divisiveness that has pervaded our world, wouldn’t it be incredible to come together and make a generational impact on our state? I think we can do this. I think we will do this. I think God is calling us forward to live our faith in a new way. And so, I invite you to this space of generosity and stewardship over the rest of 2024. Because we are a connectional people. We are a transformed people. We are the people called United Methodists.”
If you would like to give to this effort, please visit www.vaumcdonations.org and select the Undue Medical Debt tab.
Over the coming weeks, the conference office will share fundraising progress and celebrate stories of lives changed by this kind of forgiveness along the way.
Thank you so much for your generosity and for embracing what’s ahead.
Let’s see what God will do!