The deadline to register for the March 19 Faith-Sharing Seminar has been extended to March 12. Looking for new ideas and inspiration to boost your evangelism efforts? Come hear the Rev. Romal Tune, a compelling, sought-after speaker who voices his passion, intellect and faith in fresh ways, challenging listeners to see a new intersection of faith and public life. With unapologetic candor, Tune addresses the redemptive power of authentic engagement that is too often lacking in church outreach and evangelism efforts.   For complete info and to register, click here . Please print and share the new flyer .

Celebrate and support the UMC's outreach in life-saving mission at home and around the world through UMCOR. The One Great Hour of Sharing offering received on this Sunday (or whenever your church chooses) helps pay the administrative costs of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, the denomination's disaster-response organization that helps churches and communities recover, rebound and rebuild from disasters and destruction. UMCom provides new resources for pastors and lay leaders to use in promoting One Great Hour of Sharing. Get resources .  Learn more at umcgiving.org . You can also donate directly online .

"How is it with your soul?" early Methodist class leaders would ask one another each week. The Northwest District will not just ask but also help its clergy find answers to that vital question. And they'll even involve church personnel committees who work with pastors in that quest. The district will sponsor two "Soul Care" workshops this weekend, March 4-5: a Friday evening session for Staff-Parish Relations Committees (SPRC) and lay members (7-8:30 PM); and a Saturday session for clergy (9 AM-4 PM). Both will take place at Jonestown UMC.

"How can the SPRC support the spiritual health of the congregation by supporting the spiritual health of its pastor?" they'll ask. "How can pastors avoid getting caught between the conflicting expectations of church factions, their families, the conference, and their personal sense of God's call?" Clergy will get help in recognizing the toll that their work and their wounds take on them and seek ways to experience healing and new habits for spiritual health?

The Rev. David Oliver, a UM elder, professor, spiritual director and certified Christian Leadership Coach from Ohio, will lead the two sessions. The agenda will include presentations, spiritual exercises, small-group reflection, testimonies by "wounded healers," a Service of Healing and Thanksgiving, and support from area agencies that offer spiritual, marital, family, mental health and addiction counseling from a Christian perspective. The district will subsidize most of the cost for this event, as participants contribute only $20 for priceless pearls of wisdom.

"Join us...as we learn together to build up the body of Christ for the transformation of the world!" That Central District invitation is one that the five other Eastern PA Conference districts will no doubt echo in welcoming hundreds of expected local church leaders to their 2016 Tools for Ministry academies.  The six district training events will be spread over three Saturdays. Four districts--Central, East, Southeast and Southwest--will hold theirs on Saturday, March 5. The Northeast District will hold its leadership training on March 12 with a focus on poverty. And the Northwest District Tools gathering is delayed until April 30. Most of the myriad workshops will be led by home teams of knowledgeable clergy and lay professionals and volunteers from across our conference. But there will be a few out-of-town guest-lecturers among the diverse faculties.  Learn more ...

The Upper New York Conference's Human Sexuality Task Force will offer live-stream video of a forum on "Human Sexuality and Biblical Interpretation" Saturday March 5, 1-4 PM. The forum will be Webcast from Liverpool First UMC to allow viewers anywhere to benefit from hearing two  seminary theologians-- the Rev. Althea Spencer-Miller, professor at Drew Theology School in New Jersey, and the Rev. Bill T. Arnold, professor at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky--as they offer "in-depth interpretations of scripture relating to human sexuality." The 2016 General Conference will no doubt consider such interpretations when it deliberates on resolutions regarding human sexuality and ministry during its May 10-20 assembly in Portland, Ore. During the forum, each speaker will present thoughts on scripture and respond to each other, followed by a question-and-answer period. To watch the live stream, click here. The live-stream will be "on air" just prior to the event. 

Central Congo Area Bishop David K. Yemba recently reported destruction caused by heavy rains and strong winds to Diengenga, where United Methodists have created a clinic, a trade school and a farm, all lifesaving, cooperative mission enterprises. "The disaster is not only to the church property, but it also to the community," wrote Yemba. The Diengenga farm, which produces crops, milk, eggs and other animal by-products, is a key project of the Congo Partnership that links the Central Congo Area in mission with the Eastern PA, Peninsula-Delaware and Western North Carolina conferences. Eastern PA Conference churches and members are asked to direct donations to the Conference Treasurer's office (indicate "Congo Partnership" on check memo lines). Donations will be credited and forwarded to the Congo Partnership office in Pen-Del. Learn more...

The Eastern PA Conference United Methodist Women will gather their girls again for the 14th annual "Girls on the Go" this weekend, March 5-6, at Gretna Glen Camp & Retreat Center. The yearly teen summit begins Saturday at 11 AM and ends Sunday at 3 PM. Their theme is  "Created For Happiness: Understanding Your Life in God," the title of the UMW's Spiritual Growth Study at mission U. Praveena Balasundaram from the UMW staff will help participants discover themselves in their search for happiness and learn to be prayerful, patient and persistent in exploring the gifts of God's grace and love. Included will be Bible study, arts and crafts, worship and activities to equip the young ladies for leadership. Cost is $60.  For information, contact Mary Ann Repsher, [email protected]. Download: "Girls on the Go" mail-in registration form

Training Kenyan pastors-mostly poor, non-denominational pastors who can't attend seminary-has been a passion project for the Rev. Gordon Hendrickson, Conference Congregational Development Coordinator, for a decade. But now that educational opportunity may be extended to United Methodist pastors in Tanzania as well. Hendrickson returned in February to the pastors school he helped start 10 years ago near Meru, Kenya. He took with him the Rev. Truman Brooks of West Chester UMC and the Rev. Christopher Kurien, Conference Director of Connectional Ministries. But the trio also had another mission in mind: to help bring the same, much-needed pastoral training opportunity to UM clergy in Tanzania. Learn more...

Across Pennsylvania the week of March 13 is a  Week of Action for a Fair Minimum Wage. The PA Council of Churches urges religious leaders to speak on this anti-poverty issue in meetings and worship services and to engage members in efforts to aid the working poor of our state. Use information provided on the Raise the Wage Campaign to help you address this issue. A worship bulletin insert should also be made available next week.

Increasing the state's minimum wage (now only $7.25 and not raised since 2009, nor voted on for a decade) would benefit the entire economy, affirm the value of work, and enable workers to care for their families. Nearly 1.3 million workers would get a raise if Pennsylvania would increase the minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, which several bills have proposed. About a quarter of them are parents and often their children's sole support.

Nominations are open for the Harry Denman Evangelism Awards, which honor United Methodists in each conference "whose exceptional evangelism brings people into a life-transforming relationships with Jesus Christ." Once again we want to recognize three deserving evangelists--a youth, a clergy member and a layperson--at our annual conference in June. The awards are intended to celebrate, inspire and encourage all who feel called to be evangelists. As we recognize their efforts, we reflect on the multiplying impact evangelism can have on the lives of others in many places including churches, communities and campuses.

Please prayerfully nominate disciples you know who share their faith in bold, innovative, nurturing, uplifting ways. Learn more. Download the nomination form, complete it and send it by April 30 to Suzette James, of the Eastern PA Conference Congregational Development Team, at s[email protected] . Use "Denman Award Nomination" in the subject line. You may also mail the form to the Eastern PA Conference Office, P.O. Box 820, Valley Forge, PA  19482-0820, to the attention of  Dr Christopher Kurien.

Come celebrateLUMINA's Night of Light April 10, from 4 to 7:30 PM, at Columbia UMC, 510 Walnut Street, Columbia, PA. LUMINA, the Lancaster United Methodist Inner-City Alliance, is a cooperative mission project of the Eastern PA Conference and the Southwest District. The Night of Light will feature a savory dinner, a lively concert by local jazz/gospel diva Robin Work, and a silent auction. All money raised will fund LUMINA's work with struggling families in Lancaster. Donations will help supply mandatory school uniforms, healthy food for low-income families, and summer camp scholarships to Gretna Glen. RSVP to [email protected] or (717) 394-8412  by March 31. Also, don't miss the annual Winter Clothing Clearance Sale open to the public March 12, from 8 to 10 PM,  at LUMINA's Professional Clothing Bank, located in Otterbein UMC, 20 East Clay Street. The sale includes clothing, shoes, accessories and jewelry for men and women.

For its 2016 Wesley Forum on April 12 (8:30 AM to 2:30 PM), the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Myerstown, Pa., will welcome Dr. Justo Gonzalez, professor, author and one of the world's foremost Hispanic theologians in the Wesleyan Tradition. He will lecture on the theme, "Can Christianity's past be a roadmap for a hopeful future?"   Visit the seminary's Website for more information and to register for this forum. The cost is $50 and includes lunch. Please print and share the flyer .

Visit our new Children's Ministry Webpage and the first thing you'll find there is news of an exciting learning event coming soon. Save the date for " Connecting Children with Christ "  on Saturday, Sept. 10 , 8:45 AM to 3:15 PM (lunch Included), at West Lawn UMC (15 Woodside Avenue, Reading, PA). Invited are all Children's Ministry leaders, teachers, staff, volunteers and helpers. Come learn and share strategies, best practices and great ideas for connecting children with Christ and nurturing their faith. Come hear Melanie Gordon, Director of Ministry with Children at the UMC's Discipleship Ministries. Melanie wrote , What Every Child Should Experience: A Guide for Teachers and Leaders in United Methodist Congregations, and she blogs regularly at ministrywithchildren.com . Watch for further details, including workshops, etc. This is the first event planned by our Eastern PA Conference's new Children's Ministry Team, led by Lucy Heisey. Contact her at [email protected] or 717-601-1690.

Lancaster Online, the main online news publication serving the Lancaster area, reported twice on United Methodists leading in mission in its Feb. 26 issue. One article featured seminarian Jeremy Graeff, who discerned his call to creative ministry while leading worship at Grandview UMC. He now also leads Ember, a fledgling new faith community that worships in a downtown art gallery on Sunday evenings. Graeff, an artist and musician, left the church disillusioned years ago but returned when he discovered Grandview. He is a top student at Lancaster Theological Seminary. Learn more...

Lancaster Online also reported on how First UMC Lancaster may soon rescue a much-needed weekday breakfast ministry for poor neighbors who have been going to St. James Episcopal Church daily for 30 years. St. James will soon have to end the ministry, which last year served nearly 31,000 meals, an average of 119 per day, because of inadequate space and the need to renovate its century-old parish house. First UMC Lancaster is considering taking it over if other churches and organizations will help. It's a big, demanding decision that is expected in April. "There is definitely an openness to see if we can make it work," says the Rev. Joe DiPaolo, senior pastor. "It takes about 70 volunteers per week, and that's a lot." Learn more...

• Download the 2016 EPAC Advance Specials Application - See the list of 2015-16 projects and other conference Mission Outreach news.

Prayers in abundance for General Conference

We have two more District Prayer Posts scheduled to gather conference members in collective prayer vigils for the 2016 General Conference. The Southwest District Prayer Post happens Wednesday, March 30, from 6:30 to 7:30 PM, at Ruhl's UMC in Manheim  (4810 Elizabethtown Road). The Central District Prayer Post happens April 2 at 6 PM, in  West Lawn UMC 's Community Center Main Hall (101 Woodside Ave. Reading).

 

But there is also a broader General Conference Prayer Ministry that designed  a "60 Days of Prayer"  daily prayer book that runs March 31-May 29  so church members can connect through the same Scripture, meditation and prayer for each day. The Rev. Tom Albin, Director of Upper Room Ministries, invites all United Methodists to blanket the entire proceeding and all 864 delegates with intentional prayer. Read story and post a comment. Visit the   60 Days of Prayer Website .

 

Also,  UM Communications offers "Exploring General Conference," a free online course designed to help participants learn more about the official decision-making body of The United Methodist Church. The course is ongoing through June 30.  Learn more

All clergy and laity are cordially invited to a service of recognition honoring the Eastern PA Conference Certified Lay Minister Graduates, Spring Class of 2016, on Sunday, April 17, at 3 PM at West Lawn UMC, 15 Woodside Avenue, Reading, PA. Bishop Peggy Johnson will preach.  

• Monday, April 11, from 7 to 9 PM, at Wesley UMC in Bethlehem;
• Saturday, April 16, from 10 AM to 12 noon, at Simpson House in Philadelphia;
• Wednesday, April 20, from 7 to 8:30 PM, at Church of the Good Shepherd in Lebanon; and
• A telephone conference call-in session on Saturday, April 23, from 9 to 10:30 AM.