Rev. Timothy Thomson-Hohl, pastor of Ardmore United Methodist Church, rejoices in the Easter Sunday unveiling of four stained glass windows of gospel-writing saints Matthew, Mark, Luke and John that came… Read more

Allentown newspaper The Morning Call recently shared some great news about Wesley UMC in Bethlehem—great for them and for the many people they serve through their Lehigh Valley Outreach Depot. … Read more

Want to see and hear a truly inspiring testimony? Check out a brief video story about the Rev. Joe Martin of Fallsington UMC. You can also find it on the… Read more

The Rev. Quentin Wallace, just 13 months ago, became the first African-American pastor of Lancaster Covenant UMC, home to a mostly older, mostly white congregation. Read Lancaster Online writer Earle… Read more

Scottsville UMC in Langhorne celebrated its 150th anniversary in May, a much-anticipated milestone featured in local newspapers like…  Read more

Sandra Cianciulli, who chairs the Eastern PA Conference’s Committee on Native American Ministry (CONAM), is featured in two recent newspaper articles about the Memorial Day pilgrimage she and others make… Read more

For the past 44 years, the United Methodist Church has debated church rules on sexuality. At the quadrennial General Conference of the United Methodist Church in Portland, Oregon, Wednesday night,… Read more

Amid talk of a split over LGBT inclusion, Bishop Bruce Ough of the United Methodist Church called for unity on May 17 and addressed conversations from the church’s General Conference… Read more

LancasterOnline keeps publishing heartwarming feature stories about United Methodists in our conference (probably because we’re such heartwarming folks); and we keep posting links to them in our Website’s new Methodists… Read more

By Patti Mengers, Delaware County Daily Times

Sunday morning services took on a new meaning April 3 for the faithful of Trainer United Methodist Church. They spent the day playing host to more than 200 passengers displaced from an Amtrak train bound for Savannah, Ga., that derailed after striking a backhoe on the tracks near Booth Street in Chester just before 8 a.m. Two Amtrak workers were killed and close to 40 people were injured.

The train came to a halt about 300 yards behind the church that is on the 3700 block of West Ninth Street in Trainer. Marcus Hook Trainer Fire Marshal Tony Capasso saw it as a potential place of sanctuary for the stunned travelers. At about 8:45 a.m. he contacted Trainer Borough Council President Jean Beck who in turn called the church’s administrative board chairperson, Marie Bowman.  Read more…

NOTE: The local CBS station also aired a TV news report on the Amtrak crash, including an interview with the Rev. James Ford, pastor of Trainer and Trinity UMCs.  And the News Journal online news outlet, delawareonline.com, produced a short video interview with Sandy Hulton, a lay member of Trainer UMC, who recounts how the church served its Amtrak passenger guests.

Also see what a  Delaware County Daily Times editorial said about the much-appreciated hospitality Trainer and Trinity UMCs offered to the Amtrak crash survivors in Editorial: Delco opened its arms to train wreck victims.  Read more