Register for IGNITE’s Youth Leader Days now: January 27 at West Chester UMC, in Eastern PA, and February 24 at Aldersgate UMC in East Brunswick, NJ. Michael Nelson, a dynamic youth pastor at Norwood (PA) United Methodist Church and a …

At EPA camps ‘tis the season for discovering faith, beauty and much more
“How many lessons of faith and beauty we should lose,” wrote Thomas Wentworth Higginson in 1861, “if there were no winter in our year!” Our three year-round Camp and Retreat Centers are getting a head start on the big chill, …

Leadership Academy Preaching Institute hires director, coordinator
The EPA&GNJ Leadership Academy’s new Lilly Endowment-funded Preaching Institute (LAPI) hired a new director and coordinator January 1. The Rev. Darryl Stephens, who chairs the Order of Deacons in the Eastern PA Conference and teaches at Lancaster Theological Seminary, will serve as director. …

EPA&GNJ members “Journey with Paul” in Greece
Evoking the season and spirit of Epiphany, which signifies the revelation of Christ to the world, 23 members of the Eastern PA and Greater New Jersey conferences began 2024 in Greece on a revealing “Journey with Paul.” Since January 4 …

Leadership Academy uses Teachable online courses to train church leaders
EPA&GNJ’s Leadership Academy has launched its first online courses for training church leaders, using Teachable, one of the nation’s top online learning management systems. The multimedia, fully accessible digital platform enables creation and hosting of a variety of instructor-led courses …

IGNITE’s 2 Youth Leader Days to empower youth ministry
Join fellow youth ministry leaders for a day of enrichment, networking, and skill-building at the IGNITE Youth Leaders Day. EPA&GNJ will fan the flame of its IGNITE creative youth ministries with two upcoming events designed to empower youth leaders and …

EPA delivers over 11,300 donated Christmas cards to area prisons
Eight correctional facilities in our region have received 11,378 donated Christmas cards from church members and others through the Eastern PA Conference Prison Ministry & Restorative Justice (PMRJ) Team. The annual outreach effort surpassed previous totals in a near decade-long …

Summer’s coming…Registering campers, hiring staff now
All four Eastern PA Conference Camp & Retreat Centers have opened registration and begun seeking staff and volunteers for Summer Camp 2024, as they prepare to welcome campers from EPA, Greater New Jersey and beyond to a socially and spiritually …

EPA&GNJ Collaboration progress, next steps: December 2023 update
Each month EPA&GNJ Cabinet and staff will be reporting on the progress and next steps, opportunities and challenges in collaborative areas of leadership, database development, ending the sin of racism, youth ministry groups, camp & retreat ministry, finances and benefits, …

Pathways to Transformation: Creating Wholeness and Fruitfulness
The church as a living, dynamic spiritual body is constantly evolving and seeking to adapt to the changing needs of its members and society. Recent upheavals in our world have accelerated changes in our churches that were already underway, thrusting …