All churches are required to submit their 2022 Statistical Reports by Jan. 31, using the UMC’s new ACStats System, which is open now for data entry. Check our Statistics webpage for updates and FAQs.
Be Flexible
“Who knows whether he will not turn and relent?” (Joel 2:14a) The Washington Post, on Sunday, Dec. 11, 2022, in the midst of Advent, led off its Sunday Books section with an inquisitive, bold headline: “Can we still change each other’s …
EPA’s camps prepare for winter retreats, summer fun
EPA’s Camp & Retreat Centers are looking back at a successful year in 2022 and looking forward to yet another, as they express both thanks and hopes for fundraising donations, while preparing for winter events and larger attendance at summer …
UMCOR increases EPA’s disaster recovery funds and wisdom
As the EPA Conference increases its support to survivors of devastating storms spawned by Hurricanes Ida in 2021 and Isaias in 2020, the UMC’s disaster relief agency is increasing its support of our ongoing efforts. UMCOR (the UM Committee on …
2023 Annual Conference Theme: Possibility
EPA’s 2023 Annual Conference will return to the newly renovated Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA, May 18-20. The in-person session will be held onsite only. We look forward to gathering for worship, business, and fellowship. Join us in May …
Webinars explain advent of EPA & GNJ affiliation
United Methodists of Eastern PA and Greater New Jersey learned in a series of webinars, Dec. 7-8, how structural collaboration will work to help both their conferences improve efficiency and effectiveness in achieving together their common mission to “make disciples …
Drop by drop: Employ random acts of appreciation
“I do not cease to give thanks for you…” (Ephesians 1:16a) A recent card I received in the U.S. mail warmed my heart in an unusual and lingering way. It was an expression of thanks for something I had done—in-and-of-itself, …
As attendance dips, churches change to stay relevant for a new wave of worshippers
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — It’s Sunday morning and a small group sits around a fire pit in a community garden under the limbs of an expansive box elder tree. Church is about to start. And it’s cold. “God our Father, we …
New EPA/GNJ joint communications team collaborates
The newly aligned EPA/GNJ Conference Communications Team is working together from EPA’s Conference Office and GNJ’s Mission Resource Center (MRC) on numerous shared tasks. Included are: EPA’s former newspaper, NEWSpirit, will return as a quarterly publication in 2023. The six …
EPA sends over 10,000 Christmas cards to prisoners
A heart-to-heart ministry Eastern PA Conference members and churches again reached out to incarcerated persons with caring messages of encouragement penned on signed Christmas cards. And again, we went the second mile by also donating unsigned cards that inmates can …