As “caravans” of several thousand Central American asylum-seekers join thousands more undocumented immigrants in their persistent quest for U.S. residency, many religious groups, among them United Methodists, are on the southwest border and beyond extending mercy and rallying to their …
Helping Puerto Rico Rise Again Love Offering Oct. 14
Our conference’s Helping Puerto Rico Rise Again month-long love offering ends this Sunday, Oct. 14, along with National Hispanic/Latino Heritage Month (Sept. 15 to October 15) As we continue to offer prayers and assistance to Puerto Rico’s recovery from the …
2 immigrant families find sanctuary at Philadelphia church
Two immigrant families, both with children who are American citizens, have taken sanctuary inside First United Methodist Church of Germantown (FUMCOG) to resist deportation orders from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. The families, from Honduras and Jamaica, recently had …
BMCR, BUMP award annual scholarships to 3 new collegians
Leaders of BMCR and BUMP (Black Methodists for Church Renewal and Black UM Preachers) held their annual scholarship awards luncheon at the Conference Office in June. They awarded scholarships to three new college students from BMCR member churches: Lea Janay …
Protests help end border breakups of immigrant families
The Eastern PA Annual Conference contributed its voice to thousands of other organizations and countless individuals that brought an end to an admittedly heinous, new federal policy of separating undocumented parents and children immigrating here from Latin American countries. Many …
Conference’s Butterfly Project takes flight
Leaders to address racial-ethnic groups’ claims of institutional racism By John W. Coleman Eastern PA Conference lead decision-makers met May 21 to hear frank, revealing criticism about observed and experienced institutional racism expressed in dialogue by three groups of racial-ethnic …
BMCR has a new webpage
Bishop speaks to caucus concerns BY JOHN W. COLEMAN Philadelphia Black Methodists for Church Renewal (BMCR) has a new Web presence at www.epaumc.org/bmcr, hosted by the Eastern PA Conference website. The caucus represents interests and concerns of predominantly black Eastern …
Reflections on BMCR’s 51st General Meeting
By the Rev. Shayla Johnson
BMCR Philadelphia Coordinator
The 51st General Meeting of National Black Methodists for Church Renewal (BMCR), March 13-17, in Sacramento, Calif., drew a smaller attendance than the 500 who came to the 2017, 50th anniversary meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio. About 162 registered persons attended this year’s meeting, where there was less pomp and circumstance but nonetheless, important matters and decisions to consider, along with celebrative worship and fellowship.
Conference members attend rally against racism in DC
[box] Visit our flickr album to view more photos from the Rally: Rally Against Racism [/box] A small community of Eastern PA Conference members chatted in the chilly, pre-dawn darkness of the Conference Office parking lot Wednesday morning, April 4, …
Conference to examine its institutional racism
Let’s talk about racism. Many in the Eastern PA Conference have been doing that for years, and even more intensely the past few years. From Healing the Wounds of Racism and Changing Racism interactive training events, to Annual Conference guest …