“I give thanks for Tools for Ministry events that provide us with learning, encouragement and connections for this journey,” said the Rev. Dawn Taylor-Storm, Assistant to the Bishop for Leadership Development and the Eastern PA Conference’s Director of Connectional Ministries. …

Next spiritual retreat for busy pastors, April 3
The next Pastors Spiritual Retreat will happen April 3 at Hope UMC in Ephrata and online via Zoom, at 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. REGISTER. Participate via Zoom. (Meeting ID: 964 2192 0885. Passcode: 236569.) The Rev. Peter Jamieson will lead the retreat; and …

3 Tools for Ministry academies will offer learning for leaders
Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding. —Proverbs 3:13 Several hundred lay and clergy members of Eastern PA will spend three brief but full Saturday mornings in February and March drilling down into a deep well in …

EPA’s North-West Region plans 2024 Korea pilgrimage
The Eastern PA Conference’s North-West Region will explore Korean Methodism’s roots during a 10-day pilgrimage to Incheon and Seoul, South Korea, June 17-27, 2024. The Rev. Hun Ju Lee, North District Superintendent, is inviting clergy, laity and youth members on …

Reentry simulation offers bitter taste of released prisoners’ frustration
The Lancaster County Reentry Coalition invite all to experience a reentry simulation event on Friday, November 3, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., at the IU13 Conference Center, 1020 New Holland Ave, Lancaster. Participants will experience what it is like …

Workshop will help churches prepare for pastoral transitions
The EPA Transition Workshop for New Pastoral Appointments, to help churches receive new pastors, will be offered twice, May 4, at 7:00 p.m., and May 6, at 9:00 a.m., both via Zoom. Each participating church should form a transition team to attend the …

Tools for Ministry returns to onsite learning for leadership
The Eastern PA Conference will close its 2023 Tools for Ministry toolbox when the trio of leadership development events ends this Saturday where the sun sets, in the West District. It’s the first major, in-person training to occur there in …

Build your church’s future with Tools for Ministry
Nearly 200 people attended 22 classes at the South-East Region’s Tools for Ministry at Palmer Seminary at Eastern University Saturday, March 4. Many showed visible appreciation for a half-day of lively learning and face-to-face fellowship. It was the first onsite, …

Mission to Mama Land: Church bonds with UM orphanage in Sierra Leone
A “dream team” from First UMC Lancaster landed in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Feb. 1, on a mission to visit a children’s village known affectionately as MamaLand. The Rev. Dorcas Kamanda, an elder in Eastern PA, birthed the fledgling home …

Church’s ministry serves 30,000 breakfasts, opens warming center
New ministry aided by EPA Wholeness Center grant Anchor Lancaster, a ministry at First UMC Lancaster, served 30,000 hot breakfast meals in 2022. The breakfast ministry, which serves every weekday, including holidays, was recognized as “the best non-profit in Lancaster.” …