The United Methodist Council of Bishops has the authority to call jurisdictional conferences this year to elect and assign new episcopal leaders in the U.S. However, that authority does not extend to changing the Sept. 1 date when church law says newly elected U.S. bishops officially take office, the denomination’s top court ruled in Decision 1445.
New redistricting of churches completed
The Eastern PA Conference Cabinet has completed arrangements of its 415 member churches into four new districts—East, North, South and West—to take effect July 1, 2017. The reduction from six to four districts was a necessary cost-savings decision made by …
Eastern PA to help launch UMC prayer vigil in 2017
The Eastern PA Conference will help lead off a more than yearlong United Methodist prayer vigil in 2017 by being the second conference to gather daily, even hourly in many places for a full week of prayer together. Our urgent …
Conference ratifies 4 districts, $3.2 million budget for 2017
Unlike some church meetings, where leaders quickly dispense with a hymn, a prayer and a short homily to get down to business, Eastern PA Conference members gave more time and may have found more need for the prelude to their …
2016 Resolutions as voted at 2016 Annual Conference
All resolution documents are downloadable PDFs: 2016-01 Episcopal Nomination Process – Committed back to the delegation, as Amended Note: This resolution was committed back to the delegation that presented it “for further refinement, in consultation with such persons as the bishop recommends for …
Open-hearted generosity at Annual Conference
“Open Wide Your Hearts!” was the theme of the 2016 Annual Conference, and many members, guests and churches did just that with their generous giving to support higher education and disaster relief mission. The conference received three offerings during its …
Annual Conference learns about breaking down dividing walls
The two main featured speakers at The United Methodist Church’s Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference in June set a tone that was healing and harmonious, like the Apostle Paul’s good news that Jesus Christ had “broken down the dividing wall of …
Disharmony felt in key resolutions, relations at NEJ Conference
Reflection by The Rev. Jeffrey Raffauf: The NE Jurisdictional Conference was a unique experience for me. I understood going in the importance of this body…
Call to action against racism: Are we really going to do this?
“We will all have to repent, not merely for the hateful words and actions of bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
Delegates share glimpses, reactions to NEJ Conference
The Eastern PA Conference sent 21 delegates to the UMC’s Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference, July 11-15, in Lancaster, Pa., determined to learn something about the art of quilting. After two days of preliminary meetings and episcopal candidates’ interviews in various rooms …