While the Philadelphia Eagles will spend Saturday preparing to win Sunday’s Super Bowl, about a hundred EPA&GNJ church, district and conference leaders will gather to prepare for something far more important and more lasting: a new and improved Leadership Academy …
Feb. 2023 Book Study: Tod Bolsinger’s Tempered Resilience
In Tempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change, Tod Bolsinger, author and leadership expert, will help us explore adaptive leadership qualities we can develop in changing times. Learn how to overcome the external challenges we face and the internal …
Pathways initiative prepares for September launch
The Eastern PA Conference’s new Pathways to Congregational Fruitfulness & Health initiative has its crew and initial passengers all aboard, as it prepares to taxi down the runway for a September takeoff. Eighteen chosen facilitators have received an orientation to begin …
Wholeness Centers to spur BIPOC church-community ministry partnerships
The Eastern PA Conference is placing a new milestone on its justice-centered Dismantling Racism: Path Toward Wholeness initiative with the launch of its Wholeness Centers program this month. Wholeness Centers are intentional church-based partnerships with local residents and groups in …
From a nudge, Leap of Faith praise band takes flight
“Right before the beginning of Covid shutdowns a small group of young adults who love music were nudged to begin a praise band.” That’s how the Rev. Jean Howe, former pastor of Grace UMC in Reading, began her email message …
Planting a church outdoors and on the move
The Rail Trail Church, sponsored by Hope UMC in Ephrata, is a church outstanding in its field…or rather, in its meadow. That’s where members, friends and neighbors take a short nature walk on two Sundays a month through a grassy …
Exploring the lifecycle and leadership of small-membership churches
Bi-Vocational Pastors & Small Church Network to focus on church revitalization July 12 Church Revitalization for Small-Membership Churches will be the focus of the EPA Bi-Vocational Pastors and Small Church Network’s next meeting on Tuesday, July 12. The group’s usually …
Federal EPA to offer churches free energy efficiency trainings
The Rev. Zachary Hopple, pastor of Christ UMC Lansdale, wants Eastern PA Conference churches to know about free, upcoming Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) training events to help churches save on energy costs. The first, July 12, from 6:30 to 8:00 …
Morton to manage Leadership Development in EPA
The Rev. Steve Morton, North District Superintendent, will become the Eastern PA Conference’s new Leadership Development Manager July 1. Morton, who has led the North District since 2018, will now help plan and coordinate a leadership development program to equip …
EPA honors churches, leaders for the fruit they bear
“Be purposeful and fruitful.” That creative challenge is in the last line of Bishop John Schol’s April 4 essay titled “ Direction: A Key Ingredient for Successful Leadership – Part 2: Mission.” He reminds us of the Eastern PA Conference’s mission: “Recruit …