One Body, Many Members
The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference is one of the more racially and ethnically diverse conferences in The United Methodist Church. We have nine Latino/Hispanic churches, four Korean-American churches and about 25 African American churches, including at least one with a significant African membership. There are also many persons of color who attend, belong to or even serve as pastors of predominantly white congregations. Such diversity can be seen among participants in many district and conference-wide events and among various leadership boards and committees.
The EPA Conference has a number of administrative, programmatic and constituency groups and initiatives that serve to enhance our racial-ethnic diversity in ministry and to address critical concerns that affect our diversity. These include the annual Changing Racism workshops, our Commission on Religion and Race, the Task Force for Cross-Cultural/Cross-Racial Appointments, Black Methodists for Church Renewal, Black United Methodist Preachers, the Latino Plan and Ministries Commission, the Committee on Native American Ministries, and the Korean Clergy Association of Philadelphia and Delaware.