Blacksburg United Methodist Church’s (BUMC) Ukraine ministry team will be holding a Ukraine Celebration in honor of the covenant relationship between the church and Spring of Life United Methodist Church in Kyiv on March 2 at BUMC. It will include worship services at 8:30 and 11 a.m. dedicated to Ukrainian music/culture, Rev. Fred Vanderwerf as guest speaker, and a noon luncheon for donors to the ministry and other interested parties.
Rev. Vanderwerf, coordinator of In Mission Together – Ukraine, engages with Ukraine on behalf The United Methodist Church. While currently based in Minnesota, he and his wife served as missionaries in Ukraine from 2000 to 2008, and he speaks the language. Rev. Vanderwerf would be available for an interview during his visit here that Saturday and Sunday.
The church’s partnership with Spring of Life UMC began about 25 years ago, and has seen church mission teams visit back and forth between Blacksburg and Kyiv. Members of the two congregations feel like family and still Zoom in order to keep in touch. During wartime in Ukraine, BUMC and community have stepped up to help alleviate suffering there. Since spring of 2022, BUMC has sent over $184,000 to Spring of Life UMC, its members, shelters operated by its members and associated humanitarian causes.
The church is located at 111 Church Street, Blacksburg; park in the adjacent lot at 202 Lee Street.
Blacksburg United Methodist Church
