Aug 08, 2023 | John W. Coleman

The Rev. Sammy Arroyo of GNJ prays along with other EPA&GNJ leaders, led by Mert Shane of EPA. From "Ending the Sin of Racism" video. Corbin Payne producer

EPA&GNJ staff leaders met April 27 at EPA’s Carson Simpson Farm Camp & Retreat Center to learn about each conference’s work to end the sin of racism and to explore how they might work together in affiliation. “We saw significant alignment and synergy in our vital ministries,” said Eric Drew, GNJ Director of Connectional Ministries.

The team created an inspirational video about their efforts, shown at both Annual Conference sessions in May. It highlights the spirit and accomplishments of the retreat and includes testimonials from participants. View the video: Ending the Sin of Racism. Together. // Possibility

 EPA&GNJ conferences are now collaborating in their mutual commitments to:

  1. Recalculate Shared (aka Connectional) Ministries apportionments and billings more equitably for churches serving in low-income areas.
  2. Increase diversity in conference leadership by growing the percentage of board, committee and agency chairpersons who are people of color. 
  3. Increase numbers of appointed clergy of color.
  4. Help strengthen racial-ethnic congregations.
  5. Make conference administration more equitable via reviews of all conference policies, procedures, reports and legislation to identify and eliminate implicit bias.
  6. Train and deploy facilitators to help congregations create and implement plans to end the sin of racism in their churches and communities.
  7. Increase the number and potential for success of cross-racial/cross-cultural (CR/CC) pastoral appointments.

“Working together to end racism is one excellent example of how affiliation comes about organically and helps us further our mission,” Drew explained. He plans to develop and share a “Scoreboard” with leaders of both conferences that shows our progress in some areas and areas that aren’t making progress, “so we can hold ourselves accountable and keep moving forward.

Watch the video Ending the Sin of Racism. Together. // Possibility