By Apryl Miller This summer our four sites served 1,375 individual families from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and 12 otherstates—Arizona, Delaware, California, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia—plus Washington DC. Those families provided an opportunity …
IGNITE 2023 sets hundreds of young faithful hearts on fire
“God sees us and loves us, no matter how unworthy we may think we are!” The Rev. Lydia Sohn’s blessing reverberated like a pulsing heartbeat throughout the IGNITE youth conference, whose excitement filled the Wildwood New Jersey Convention Center from …
Color of Compromise book study to explore church’s ‘complicity in racism’
Some Eastern PA Conference members and others, perhaps from Greater New Jersey and elsewhere, will embark this month on a challenging literary expedition through Jemar Tisby’s acclaimed 2019 book The Color of Compromise: The Truth About American Church’s Complicity in …
EPA seminar to explore ‘Healing from the Trauma of Domestic Violence’
The Eastern PA Conference Domestic Violence Committee will sponsor its eighth annual seminar October 20-21 to address a widespread, often lethal problem that afflicts many families, intimate-partner relationships and even churches. October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month. “Healing from …
Camp offers events to explore grief, plus haven for eco-friendly burials
Pocono Plateau honors the sacred gifts of life and creation—in both the nature and nurture it offers to people of all ages through camping and retreat ministries. So, it’s ideal that this place apart should also honor death and the …
Bethlehem church serves church, community in local Mission Blitz Week
Forty-one members of Epworth United Methodist Church in Bethlehem shared in a fast and furious, one-week Mission Blitz, this past summer, serving needs of others in their church and community. It was an intergenerational labor of love, with volunteers ranging …
Lancaster church to open year-round shelter for homeless neighbors
Otterbein United Methodist Church in Lancaster will open its spacious, rarely used fellowship hall as a year-round emergency, overnight shelter for homeless neighbors starting December 1, in response to an urgent appeal from the city. The historic church will have …
Sharing God’s Love at Christmas once again
‘Remember those who are in prison…’ (Hebrews 13:3) Can you imagine being separated from your family and friends at Christmas? Those who are incarcerated suffer this isolation and other deprivations on a daily basis, but at Christmas, those losses can …
Toiletry Bowl generosity delivers ‘a reflection of God’s love’
The Eastern PA Conference’s Toiletry Bowl campaign to provide basic necessities to incarcerated persons went from high-tech to high-touch on August 30. That’s when over 2,300 toiletry items—soap, toothpaste, deodorant and hand cream—ordered by donors online from Amazon.com were bagged …
Church ends VBS with lively worship and carnival
Black Creek United Methodist Church in Sugarloaf, near Hazleton, climaxed its Vacation Bible School on Sunday, August 20, by sharing worship and a free carnival with its congregation and community. “Our small but awesome group of VBS children led the …