Just as the NFL’s Super Bowl begins play on Sunday at 6:30 PM, a much bigger and friendlier United Methodist competition will end—a competition that highlights not football but food banks. It’s the donated food collection competition between the Eastern …
Saturday is Leadership Academy Planning Day
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 …
Mission to Mama Land: Church bonds with UM orphanage in Sierra Leone
A “dream team” from First UMC Lancaster landed in Sierra Leone, West Africa, Feb. 1, on a mission to visit a children’s village known affectionately as MamaLand. The Rev. Dorcas Kamanda, an elder in Eastern PA, birthed the fledgling home …
Justice for Our Neighbors needs Spanish-English interpreters now!
Justice for Our Neighbors of the Delaware Valley (JFON-DV), which provides affordable immigration legal services to low-income clients in our region, urgently needs Spanish-English language interpreters now to help busloads of migrants arriving in Philadelphia seeking asylum. The small agency, …
Bishop mourns fatal police violence, calls for justice, grace, love
Bishop John Schol expressed in a letter to EPA & GNJ United Methodists Saturday the anguish many felt when viewing the video of Tyre Nichols being brutally and fatally beaten by Memphis, Tenn., police officers. “It was painful to watch,” …
World Methodist Council nominations sought
Bishop John Schol seeks persons—clergy, lay adults and youth—to nominate for membership and leadership on the World Methodist Council, for the remainder of its current term, 2022-2024, and also for 2024 to 2030. The Eastern PA and Greater New Jersey …
Message from Bishop Schol: Tyre Nichols
Queridos metodistas unidos de EPA y GNJ. Anoche, la ciudad de Memphis publicó un video de Tire Nichols siendo asesinado brutalmente por agentes de policía. Fue doloroso de ver. La muerte de Tire Nichols no tiene valor redentivo. Incluso Dios …
Church hosts MLK Jr. Day of Action to End Gun Violence
On a cold but sunny Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Jan. 16, volunteers gathered on a street in Lansdale with T-shirts, rebar, PVC frames and mallets to install a Memorial to the Lost for the 66 lives taken by gun …
Support groups: a new chapter in youth ministry
I have been in ministry with youth, young adults and families for over 25 years; and over time I have seen ministry with young people change as their needs have changed. Still, I felt there was more we could do. …
EPA&GNJ welcomes new Communications Administrator
We welcome Joshua Watkins (“JW”) to the EPA&GNJ Communications Team as our new Communications Administrator. He has served as a temporary worker for us since February 2022, supporting our database and communications efforts. JW has labored reliably behind the scenes …