The Eastern Conference PA Conference has appeared in both the United Methodist and Philadelphia media lately.  The Philadelphia Inquirer and www.philly.com published a story about our Annual Conference’s historic passage of Resolution 2018-25, which canceled most of the unpaid “prior-years’ …

By John W. Coleman To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NKJV) Invoking heaven’s oversight from start to finish, the 232nd Eastern PA Annual Conference, June 14-16, sought to reconcile its uneven …

Money, Time and Place, Gracious Leadership, Relationship, Truth, Wellness. Those are the six Holy Currencies the Rev. Eric Law shared with Eastern PA Conference members in his interactive teaching session at their 2018 Annual Conference June 15. These essential values must circulate or flow among people to form a “cycle of blessings,” he said. They should continuously recycle through exchanges, like currency, to ensure that effective ministry can be both “missional and sustainable.”

“Raise your expectations.” That is the Rev. Justin Hancock’s advice when asked what United Methodists can do to improve “disability ministry.” “You must have gospel-level expectations. That is when the world begins to change.” That advice, offered during his sermon …

By John W. Coleman Members of the 2018 Eastern PA Annual Conference, meeting June 14-16 in Oaks, PA, took historic steps in the cause for justice by passing several key resolutions. But they stopped just short of advocating for the …

Gamification: the process of adding games or gamelike elements to something (such as a task) so as to encourage participation. The 2018 Eastern PA Annual Conference will be unlike any before it, probably in various ways but most assuredly in …

By John W. Coleman The Eastern PA Annual Conference in 2017 used a new and improved process for monitoring its session for inclusiveness—“a quality of including many different types of people and treating them all fairly and equally.” The process …

By John W. Coleman Members and guests attending Annual Conference this week will have plenty of chances to get their hearts and hips—yes, hips—moving, all to benefit their health. Doing what, you ask?  Well, that answer also begins with an …

The Annual Conference Service of Ordination and Commissioning, always a climactic event, will again commence with robed clergy in a stirring procession, followed by sacred worship with powerful music and preaching. Then comes the high moment when vows are pronounced, …