Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi has been assigned to serve as the episcopal leader of United Methodists of Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey, effective September 1, 2024. Elected as a bishop during the 2016 Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference in Lancaster, PA, Bishop Moore-Koikoi has previously served the Western Pennsylvania and Susquehanna Conferences.
During the plenary session of the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference, lead delegates from each annual conference, paired with their counterparts from the respective shared episcopal areas, gathered at the six microphones to announce the bishops assigned to their new episcopal areas.
The restructuring has led to the formation of six new episcopal areas that includes the existing ten annual conferences, which will remain unchanged. The new episcopal areas are as follows, with official names pending:
- New England and New York Conferences
- Upper New York and Susquehanna Conferences
- Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey (EPA&GNJ) Conferences
- Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Conferences
- Western Pennsylvania Conference
- West Virginia Conference
When it was time for the EPA&GNJ announcement, delegates Rev. Dawn Taylor-Storm and Judy Ehninger from EPA, along with Rev. Drew Dyson and Bethany Amey from GNJ, stood and announced:
“The NEJ COE has prayerfully discerned and now recommends the assignment of Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi to the Eastern Pennsylvania/Greater New Jersey Area. This Jurisdictional Conference blesses you to guide in the following missional work:
- To provide spiritually grounded leadership in a season of transition throughout both annual conferences;
- To provide inter-culturally competent leadership that sets an anti-racist framework and continues to build upon the ‘Journey of Hope and Wholeness’ across both annual conferences;
- To provide risk-taking and boundary-pushing leadership in both annual conferences, building fully inclusive communities, particularly as it relates to supporting LGBTQIA+ leadership;
- To strengthen both conferences’ ministries with young people, building a leadership pipeline by calling, equipping, and supporting young people for clergy and lay leadership;
- To build relationships within and across annual conference lines, build trust, foster collaboration, and strengthen shared advocacy work;
- To empower congregations to live out their missional identity through evangelism, disciple-forming, and justice-seeking ministry.
We are overflowing with hope and we are grateful for the gifts you bring to the work set before you. Bishop Moore-Koikoi, we bless you and we will never cease praying for you.”
After the adjournment, the delegations of each episcopal area spent time meeting and talking with their newly assigned bishops. Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi and the delegations of EPA&GNJ shared what excited them most about their conferences and their hopes for the future.
The conference attendees left with a renewed sense of hope and anticipation, ready to embark on this new journey under Bishop Moore-Koikoi’s leadership. Bishop Moore-Koikoi will begin serving EPA&GNJ on September 1.
For more information, visit Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi’s bio.
This is a developing story.
