Just weeks after an Annual Conference focused on the theme “Possibility,” Eastern PA clergy of color will get to explore their own possibilities of learning self-renewal and restoration through a joyful, guided process of spiritual and emotional nurture. And they …

CoNAM learns about oppression of Indigenous people in 2 events
The coincidence of Native American Heritage Month and Thanksgiving Day both happening in November may be troubling to some who know the grim history of brutal oppression and exploitation of Indigenous Americans by early European invaders and settlers. EPA’s Committee …

Veterans Day: Honoring former Buffalo Soldier, revered church scoutmaster
As America honors its military veterans on Friday, Nov. 11, Wharton-Wesley UMC in Philadelphia, is proud that one of its own served during World War II in a U.S. Army unit with a special inherited history. Louis M. Stukes Sr., …

Celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month
National Hispanic Heritage Month, observed annually Sept. 15-Oct. 15, highlights the history, culture and contributions of Hispanic-Americans. Communities honor the achievements of Hispanic and Latino Americans with festivals and educational activities…

Latino Commission retreats serve leaders of all ages
Bendiciones y la paz de Dios en nuestros corazones. Es de sumo gozo reiniciar nuestro retiro anual de la Comisión Latina. (Blessings and the peace of God in our hearts. It is with great joy that we resume our annual Latino Commission retreat.)

NEJ Conference to meet in November
Foster endorsed for election as bishop
The UMC’s 2022 Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference will meet Nov. 3-4 in Hunt Valley, Md. This year’s gathering of elected delegates from the NEJ’s 10 annual conferences was postponed from 2020, along with the UMC’s General Conference, due to the COVID …

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 …

Latino Commission celebrates faith, family at Camp and Convocation
‘Here is where God stirs their hearts.’ The word reuniones, Spanish for “gatherings,” evokes thoughts of la familia, which describes well the two most important gatherings sponsored annually by the Eastern PA Conference’s Latino Commission. Faith and family are both …

Juneteenth: Hope for the future wrapped in a history lesson
Juneteenth, historically celebrated on June 19, will be observed as a federal holiday this year on Monday, June 20. It commemorates the delayed emancipation of enslaved African Americans in the U.S. But more than 150 years after the first Juneteenth …

DePaz to staff EPA’s Latino Commission
The Rev. Maria Quesada “Lisa” DePaz, Pastor of Haws Avenue UMC in Norristown since, will become Coordinator of the Eastern PA Conference Latino Ministries Commission July 1. Currently the commission’s secretary, she succeeds the Rev. Lillian “Luky” Cotto, who will retire …