“This is a group designed exclusively for church leaders of smaller churches, welcoming part-time, bivocational, retired and all other small-church leaders, both clergy and lay,” said the Rev. Dawn Taylor-Storm, Connectional Ministries Director. “Small churches are the backbone of The …
2023 Denman Evangelism Awards nominations due Feb 26
The Eastern PA Conference Congregational Development Team is now accepting nominations for clergy, lay and youth to receive 2023 Denman Evangelism Awards. The Harry Denman Evangelism Award honors selected United Methodist clergy, lay and youth whose exceptional outreach to others …
Drop by drop: Employ random acts of appreciation
“I do not cease to give thanks for you…” (Ephesians 1:16a) A recent card I received in the U.S. mail warmed my heart in an unusual and lingering way. It was an expression of thanks for something I had done—in-and-of-itself, …
As attendance dips, churches change to stay relevant for a new wave of worshippers
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It’s Sunday morning and a small group sits around a fire pit in a community garden under the limbs of an expansive box elder tree. Church is about to start. And it’s cold. “God our Father, we …
New EPA/GNJ joint communications team collaborates
The newly aligned EPA/GNJ Conference Communications Team is working together from EPA’s Conference Office and GNJ’s Mission Resource Center (MRC) on numerous shared tasks. Included are: EPA’s former newspaper, NEWSpirit, will return as a quarterly publication in 2023. The six …
EPA sends over 10,000 Christmas cards to prisoners
A heart-to-heart ministry Eastern PA Conference members and churches again reached out to incarcerated persons with caring messages of encouragement penned on signed Christmas cards. And again, we went the second mile by also donating unsigned cards that inmates can …
Church food pantry feeds hundreds of neighbors
Bridesburg UMC in northeast Philadelphia, established in 1834, provides food to about 250 families from the 19134 and 19137 ZIP codes, through the Bridesburg Community Food Pantry, located on its lower level. The church is fighting hunger in an area …
EPA’s hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico continue
The Rev. Nicolas Camacho led his seventh mission team of Eastern PA volunteers to Puerto Rico Nov. 5-12 to help residents there recover from the widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Maria in 2018. The ramshackle, storm-damaged house they transformed into …
Mrs. Ginger S. Goudie
We have received word of the passing of Mrs. Ginger S. Goudie, who died November 28, 2022. She was the wife of Rev. James A. Goudie, Retired Elder. Rev. Goudie has served the following Eastern PA Conference churches: Her life …
World AIDS Day, December 1
2022 THEME: “Putting Ourselves to the Test: Achieving Equity to End HIV” World AIDS Day has been observed annually on Dec. 1 since 1988. The day honors all of those who have lost their lives to AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) and …