Dear Beloved in Christ:

Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I would like to start this letter thanking our Creator God, in and through the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,using the words of the psalmist, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name.  Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits — (Psalm 103:1-2).

Through the mighty grace of God and with the generosity of each of you, we have been able to close the year having fulfilled all our financial obligations. We have paid all our bills and fully participated in our connectionalism and worldwide ministries and missions.  

Our Conference Committee on Finance and Administration (CCFA) has been able to direct funds to our reserves and set aside an additional $50,000 to enable the Connectional Table to allocate money as needed to New England Missions that adjusted their 2020 budgets due to the challenges of COVID-19. Connectional Table leaders will be in contact with chairs of agencies to submit grant applications for these funds.   

Despite the challenges of 2020, all these things were made possible through your commitment to the budget, steady generosity and participation in my special appeal, the faithful stewardship of the CCFA, and unwavering support of the District Superintendents. Additionally, many of you contributed to the Zarephath Emergency Relief Fund through the United Methodist Foundation of New England. The fund  provided support for struggling congregations during the pandemic.

In celebration of your generous spirit, I forego my tradition of repeating “thank you!” three times and wholeheartedly share my gratitude to each of you using some languages from around the world …

• xie xie (she-eh she-eh)

• hvala (HVAH-lah)

• thank you (THAN kyoo)

• merci (MEHR-see)

• danke (dahn-kah)

• grazie (GRAHTS-yeh)

• arigato (ah-ree-GAH-toh)

• kamsahamnida (KAM-sah-ham-NEE-da)

• obrigado (oh-bree-GAH-dooh) masculine

• obrigada (oh-bree-GAH-dah) feminine

• gracias (GRAH-syahs)

• asante (ah-sahn-teh)

• salamat (sa-LAH-mat)

• khob khun (cob-coohn)

• dhanyavaad (Dun-Yuh-Vahd)

In Christ’s love,

Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar