Reminders
Children's Faith Formation Curriculum Fair, July 26
The 2020s have been a decade of accelerating change, and we in children’s ministries have spent the last two years pivoting and reinventing. The Leadership Development Office wants to help you get a jump on planning for 2022/2023. We’ll look at our curriculum options for faith formation so we are prepared to go forth in ministry, whatever our setting may be. Learn more and REGISTER.
Laity Academy, Part 1, August 5-6. Register by July 29
The EPAUMC Laity Academy, Part 1, happens Friday-Saturday, August 5-6, in-person at Cedarville UMC in Pottstown. It’s an opportunity to expand your faith, explore your gifts, and advance your ministries and service to our Lord. REGISTER by July 29 before registration closes. (The Session 2 weekend is planned for Sept. 30-Oct. 1 and will be held online.) One course, Preaching Carefully (Speaking 203), has been cancelled due to low enrollment. But seven other courses are still available:
Disaffiliation Discernment information session, Aug. 1
An information session about disaffiliation discernment is scheduled for Monday, August 1, at 6:30 PM. Jo Fielding, Director of Administrative Services, and Bishop John Schol will lead the session. More information will follow. Learn More. See further resources: Disaffiliation Discernment webpage, Bishop Schol’s 6/30/22 Message: Annual Conference Follow-Up
Helping women prepare for disasters, Aug. 13
Be Red Cross Ready: How Women can be Prepared for Disaster Events is a workshop sponsored by COSROW (Commission on the Status & Role of Women) on Saturday, August 13, at 9 AM. The hour long event will feature two speakers: Sibongile Sithole (a UMC member) and Heather Bowman. Both women are involved with the American Red Cross. Learn more. (Further details TBA.)
October Book Club to explore On Vanishing, about challenges of dementia
Learning for Leaders is a series of weekly conference-wide, author-led book studies EPA’s Congregational Development Team (CDT) cosponsors on Wednesdays, 11 AM to noon, via Zoom, throughout the year. The next book study, for four weeks in October, will be On Vanishing: Mortality, Dementia and What It Means to Disappear, authored by the Rev. Lynn Casteel Harper, who has studied and ministered among people living with dementia. The study discussion dates are October 5, 12, 19, 26. Harper will co-lead the study with the Rev. Karen Bartkowski, Pastoral Ministries Coordinator and Chaplain at Maris Grove Senior Living in Glen Mills. Learn more and register. The first 25 registrants will receive a free e-copy (Kindle edition) of the book. CEUs are available for participation in CDT Book Studies.
Mustard Seed Migration Grants
Mustard Seed Migration Grants, inspired by the well-known parable, are available to provide up to 50 congregations in the U.S., offering up to $2,000 in one-time grants to support community-based projects that assist refugees, asylum seekers, undocumented persons and migrants of all types. Applications will be accepted at any time prior to Sept. 1. Learn more.
Church and Society announces 2022 grants
GBCS grants support local UMC churches, annual conferences, caucuses and community partners to further ministries of justice and peace. Applications may be submitted August 1 to Sept.16, via a new online application system. Funding is provided through three grant programs: Ethnic Local Church Grants; Human Relations Day Grants; and Peace with Justice Grants. Learn more.
EPA’s Conference Office is closed on Fridays
The EPA Conference Office is closed on Fridays for summer, until Sept. 5. Staff work summer hours, Monday to Thursday, 8 AM to 5:15 PM, alternating between in-office and at-home work during the prevailing COVID pandemic.
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