‘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 …

EPA, GNJ Advance Special projects Loving abundantly, pursuing possibilities
“With God, all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26) The spirit of that scripture, which inspired the 2023 Annual Conference theme Possible, is also infused into the work of both Greater New Jersey’s and Eastern Pennsylvania’s Advance Special Projects. Both conferences …

EPA churches give generously to Advance for mission
United Methodists churches in Eastern PA gave over a half-million dollars to mission through the denomination’s General Advance fund in 2022. Those funds were given to respond to a range of mission needs, including disaster recovery, schools and scholarships, mission …

United Methodists collect 180,000 total pounds of donated food in Super Bowl challenge
The biggest team with the biggest score that emerged from the NFL Super Bowl, Feb. 12, were the United Methodist churches of both competing areas that together collected about 180,000 pounds of donated food to fight hunger in their communities. …

A challenge to collect the most donated food before Super Bowl
Just as the NFL’s Super Bowl begins play on Sunday at 6:30 PM, a much bigger and friendlier United Methodist competition will end—a competition that highlights not football but food banks. It’s the donated food collection competition between the Eastern …

Justice for Our Neighbors needs Spanish-English interpreters now!
Justice for Our Neighbors of the Delaware Valley (JFON-DV), which provides affordable immigration legal services to low-income clients in our region, urgently needs Spanish-English language interpreters now to help busloads of migrants arriving in Philadelphia seeking asylum. The small agency, …

Giving to Advance Specials aids ministries in need
Jesus calls us to go the second mile (Matthew 5:41) in our sacrificial giving. Most Eastern PA churches do just that—giving beyond their apportioned askings to support conference and denominational ministries. And while many also fund causes in their own …

EPA churches asked to become Covenant Partners with DRC missionaries
EPA Churches are invited to being supporting United Methodist Global Ministries missionaries Gaston and Jeanne Ntambo, who serve with Wings of the Morning in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We now have an official conference relationship with their longtime …

Bakers report on their return tour of Congo mission sites
Donna and Jonathan Baker recently returned from “an inspiring and exciting journey” to Central Congo. There they reconnected with many friends while visiting and assessing many projects of the Congo Partnership that they helped create and support during their time …