December 23, 2020
Pickens to head PA Council of Churches
The Pennsylvania Council of Churches (PCC) has elected the Rev. Larry D. Pickens of Allentown, a longtime UM leader in ecumenical ministry and relations, as its new executive director beginning in January 2021.

Dr. Pickens, who for years led the UMC’s former General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns (GCCUIC), has been ecumenical director of the Lehigh Conference of Churches for six years. He has also served as a pastor in the Eastern PA Conference. Learn more…
2020: Remembering notable United Methodists
United Methodists this past year mourned the passing of groundbreaking bishops, founders of Africa University, giants of the U.S. civil rights movement, and a mathematician who charted the way for astronauts. Here are 34 remembrances, listed in order of date of death or memorial service. Learn more…
A Digital Ministry forum ‘for the rest of us’
“Digital Ministry for the Rest of Us” was an ideal title for a helpful online forum offered by the Eastern PA Conference Dec. 5, where church practitioners shared valuable knowledge and experience using limited tech-speak. Their talks covered some basics and recommendations for sources of church websites, online giving platforms and graphic design, plus advice on livestreaming and pre-recording worship.
 
“This has been great; lots of valuable information,” wrote the Rev. Olivet Brown in the chat section. The Congregational Development Team sponsored the informative interactive seminar via Zoom. A recording of “Digital Ministry for the Rest of Us” is available now on the Conference YouTube page. Learn more…
Disaster response team shares masks, sanitizer with communities in need
As the COVID-10 pandemic rages, the use of protective masks and hand sanitizer has become more crucial and widespread. The Rev. Myra Maxwell, East District Disaster Response Coordinator, and her team have been collecting and distributing both to disadvantaged communities that need them.
 
Maxwell reports that 400 disposable masks and 200 2-ounce bottles of hand sanitizer were delivered on Thanksgiving Eve to Chosen 300 Ministries, an organization that serves homeless Philadelphia residents with help from partner churches. Since then, hundreds more masks and bottles of sanitizer have been provided to the Kensington community, the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office for distribution, food pantries in South Philadelphia and a senior care facility. Learn more…
Cabinet gifts churches with recorded sermons through January
Bishop Peggy Johnson and other Cabinet clergy are gifting churches and pastors with a series of preached and recorded sermons to be used over the coming month if desired. The collection of seven Cabinet messages will appear on the Conference’s YouTube page through January as a Christmastide and Epiphany gift to churches to offer their pastors a needed break from sermon preparation and preaching. Sermons for Christmas Eve, the Sunday after Christmas (Dec. 27) and Epiphany Sunday (Jan. 3) are online now, with more to come. Learn more...
Bishop's New Year’s message urges celebrating Watch Night, Dec. 31
In her annual New Year’s video greeting to the conference, Bishop Peggy Johnson highlights the early Methodist New Year’s Eve tradition of Watch Night Service, described by John Wesley as “a meaningful and remarkable blessing.” She shares some of Watch Night’s heritage, including its importance to many African American churches that celebrated it as “Freedom’s Eve,” remembering the night before Jan. 1, 1863.

BIshop Johnson encourages all churches to hold Watch Night services this year, marking a significant transition from a year so fraught with tragic losses and difficult challenges into a new year of faithfulness and “the assurance of things hoped for.” She even provides an inspirational liturgy to help make this occasion special.  Learn more...
Remember, learn about these January, February 2021 events