At their annual Laity Session, May 21, Eastern PA Conference lay members learned about how both the conference and the emerging Fresh Expressions movement are inviting and helping church laity to grow in discipleship through community engagement.
Historic conference offers healing and hope
The Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference, meeting May 21-23 in Wildwood, NJ., made history twice with two actions—one offering a redemptive healing of its past; the other offering a resilient hope for its future. John Coleman reports.
Eastern PA Annual Conference celebrates Beth Stroud’s reinstatement as an elder
WILDWOOD, NJ, May 21, 2024 – On its final day, May 3, The United Methodist Church’s momentous 2020/2024 General Conference voted to allow for the reinstatement of clergy who were previously defrocked due to their sexual identity. On the first …
Urban Ministry Awards Go to 4 Community-Engaged Churches
In describing the urban ministry challenge today, the Rev. Evelyn Kent Clark, Eastern PA Conference Dean of the Cabinet, may have turned iconic author Charles Dickens’ most famous opening line into a call for mission evangelism. “We think these are …
Helping people feel they Belong
Open hearts, open minds, open doors. United Methodists of Eastern PA have special ways of making guests of all ages feel special, to feel like they Belong. That’s our 2024 Annual Conference theme. We asked churches to share some of …
EPA Annual Conference to ordain, commission 8 clergy
“Who presents these candidates to be ordained or commissioned?” Bishop John Schol will ask that question to begin the 2024 Eastern PA Conference’s Service of Ordination and Commissioning May 21. The congregation’s response will remind all present of where these …
EPA to vote on conference partnership, camp’s land easement
The 2024 Eastern PA Annual Conference, May 21-23, will consider 11 resolutions, including a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to continue and extend the 18-month collaborative partnership between the EPA and Greater New Jersey conferences (EPA&GNJ). The MOU resolution—which also …
Annual Conferences to meet back-to-back, while looking forward
As of May 13, 526 members have registered online for the United Methodists of Eastern Pennsylvania (EPA) Annual Conference. Online registration is closed. Following his ascension, Jesus Christ’s followers gathered in a room to meet, pray and await the Holy …
How do you help people Belong?
Our 2024 Annual Conference theme is Belong. EPA&GNJ Communications wants to celebrate that theme by inviting churches to tell us, so we can tell others, how they help people—members, nonmembers and guests—feel they Belong. “People go where they are welcome,” …
Want to host an Annual Conference Focus Group? Apply by Feb. 23
The Eastern PA Annual Conference, scheduled for May 21-23 at the Wildwoods Convention Center in New Jersey, will offer small-group gathering opportunities, known as Focus Groups, during three mealtime break periods. Any EPA Conference committee or organization may host a …