United Church of Pittsford

A Stewardship Testimonial by
DENNIS MULVEY

Good morning, for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Dennis Mulvey, and I have gone to this church for as long as I can remember. Over the years, I came to see it less like a church, and more like a second home, its congregation more like a second family.

As I grew up here, this church has helped shape me into the person that I am today. In Sunday School, I learned right from wrong, and the Christian values that my family taught me were reinforced.

In Discipleship Class, I took the next step, and I saw what the phrase “active faith” really meant, as we served meals at Cameron. When we read the Bible, I finally saw the answers within it, and I began to actually understand what I read. Of course, I started to learn how to talk to girls as well, when I realized I was the only boy there.

Later on, I joined AGAPE, and it changed my life. I became lifelong friends with everyone there, and together, we began exploring the toughest questions about faith, God, and life. My first Youth Service was one of my first times public speaking, and slowly, it became easier.

I learned how to talk to adults here, one Howard Hall coffee break at a time, and every person I met inspired me to be a better person in my own life.

Inside this community of faith, I am surrounded by people that share my values, and so I can be myself. This church has acted as my support group, or my “Holy Huddle,” if you will, revitalizing me after the stresses of every week, and reminding me that I am not alone. From the lessons and skills I’ve learned here, to the magnificent people I’ve met, and to the dear friendships that I have forged, this church has given me the means and the motivation to become the best person I can be. I’m not saying that I’m there now, or close to it. However, I think I’m on the right path, and that’s because of this church. Because of all it has given me, and all it continues to give.

To me, UCP symbolizes my faith, my heroes, my friends, and the kind of person that I want to be. It is my home, it is my family, and it is my church. At the same time though, with every fiber of it’s existence, and in everything that it does, this church leads me back to God, and that’s why I love being here.