Pineville United Methodist Church is a welcoming community located in Pineville, NC. Our church is dedicated to spreading the love of Christ and serving the local community. We offer various programs and services for individuals and families, providing a place for spiritual growth and support. Feel free to reach out to us and learn more about our church and the opportunities to get involved.
Our mission is to be Rooted in Christ and Rooted in Community.
Key Dates for October
10/6 - Leadership Team Meeting
10/7 - Golden Pines, 11am, Fellowship Building
10/10 - Potato Drop, 9am, Carolina Place Mall
10/15- Stephen Minister’s Meeting
10/18 - Charge Conference
10/18 - Stateline Orchestra Concert, 3pm, Crossroads Center
10/25 - Boo Bash, 4-6pm, Crossroads Center
10/27- UWF Meeting, 9:30am, Fellowship Hall (or through zoom)
Dear Church Family,
We are entering my favorite season of the year, and I can feel myself energized. Maybe it’s the cooler weather and the changing leaves, but I think I’m also energized by the ministry happening in our church and by the work I sense Christ calling us to in our community.
I remember, as a child and teenager, really wrestling with the Bible and trying to understand what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. I attended church every weekend with my family. I memorized the books of the Bible as a kid. I went through confirmation and was active in youth group. Church was a significant part of my life.
But as I neared the end of high school and prepared to leave for college, I began wrestling with something that would deeply shape my faith. It seemed to me that Christians were often very serious about the Bible verses concerning judgment and sin, but when it came to the verses about feeding the hungry, sharing what we have, caring for those in need, or not holding too tightly to our excess, we were much more comfortable explaining those away. I saw people act one way inside the church and then speak or behave differently outside of it in ways that felt contradictory to the life of Jesus.
Those questions have stayed with me.
I often return to the words of Micah 6:8: “What does the Lord require of you? To do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God." And when Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, he answered: Love God and love your neighbor. It really is that simple.
Simple, of course, does not mean easy.
As a pastor, it can be difficult to look at a world that feels so divided and to see people increasingly at odds with one another. In the midst of all of it, I keep returning to these questions for myself, and I invite you to wrestle with them too:
How am I working for justice?
In what ways can I offer mercy?
How am I actively loving my neighbor? The neighbor I know. The neighbor I don’t know. The neighbor I don’t see. The neighbor who is different from me.
How am I loving?
Because ultimately, our faith is about more than what we believe or what we do for an hour on Sunday morning. Following Jesus shapes how we live, how we speak, how we use what we have, how we treat one another, and how we show up for our community.
And right now, I am excited about the ways I see our church asking those questions together. As we enter this new season, may we keep looking for where Christ is calling us to care, to serve, to grow, and above all, to love our neighbors well.
Grace and peace
Pastor Jessica