June 13-15, at Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, Oaks, Pennsylvania
Theme: “Tell to the Coming Generation” (from Psalm 78)
Officiating bishop: Bishop Peggy Johnson
Guest speakers:
Teaching Session: Derrick Laruth Scott III, executive director of Campus to City Wesley Foundation in Northeast Florida.
“We need to overinvest in the next generation….We need to be the church that’s willing to go after them and sit with them as they discern their call….They may not be in your churches, but they are watching what you say and do….What we do as the church, the way we are, how we handle our differences does affect the next generation.”
The conference featured three young adult lay speakers — Derrick Scott and two active millennials in our conference, Krystl Johnson and Samuel Longmire. Also, we had one young adult preacher, the Rev. Nathalie Nelson Parker, national program coordinator for Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century, who preached for our Ordination and Commissioning Service.
Memorial Service Preacher: Bishop Susan Hassinger (retired—revisiting her home conference)
Main actions enacted by the conference (other than resolutions and 2020 delegate elections):
• Created the new Herbert E. Palmer Award for Urban Ministries. Gave it to Palmer (94-year-old, long-serving, retired clergyman and father of Bishop Gregory Palmer) and to four urban churches and church alliances.
• Bishop Peggy Johnson gave her first State of the Church Report in 11 years as bishop. It reported on an array of conference ministries and advocated for unity amid the church’s conflict and division. “We will be sorely hurt and our effectiveness and witness will suffer if we divide over this. We need each other. We especially need the people we don’t agree with,” she said.
• Heard and approved a report on the conference’s commitment and remarkable progress in efforts to dismantle systemic racism (as part of the Northeastern Jurisdiction’s 2016-2020 Call to Action initiative) and to strategically expand cross-racial/cross-cultural appointments and ministries.
Resolutions related to General Conference 2019: Named Eastern Pennsylvania a “One Church Plan Conference.” Regarded as an aspirational measure, but members voted to request a Judicial Council ruling on its legality. Also, temporarily suspended dispositive rules adopted in 2015 for handling property of disaffiliating churches (enacted after Wesley United Methodist Church Quarryville left the denomination in 2015 and was able to take its heavily mortgaged church building at a cost).
Resolutions related to General Conference 2020: Members affirmed asking the denomination to make local pastors and provisional clergy—including those who have not completed seminary or the course of study, as well as student pastors—eligible for election as delegates to General and Jurisdictional conferences and allowed to vote on constitutional amendments.
Other resolutions adopted by the conference: Passed 18 of 19 resolutions, including naming Eastern Pennsylvania a “One Church Plan Conference” and enhancing the anti-racism training required of all active clergy and lay ministers and conference staff. Also voted to advocate for protection of and respect for Native American land rights based on treaties between Native tribes and the U.S. government. Rejected the resolution to add “Open Bibles” to the unofficial United Methodist Church slogan “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.”
Number of people ordained, commissioned or received into associate membership:
Commissioned: 1; Ordained: 7.
Names of delegates for 2020 General Conference:
Clergy: The Revs. Dawn Taylor-Storm; Andrea Brown; Lydia Muñoz; and Johnson Dodla.
Laity: Judy Ehninger (chair); Krystl Johnson; Ann Jacob; and Lenora Thompson
Seven delegates are under 40: The Rev. Hannah Adair Bonner, Matthew Calderone, Krystl Johnson, the Rev. Daniel Lebo, Ann Jacob, Samuel Longmire, the Rev. Monica Guepet.
Did the conference develop plans or policies for churches that are interested in leaving the denomination? Temporarily suspended rules for disaffiliation adopted in 2015, and enacted United Methodist Church-recommended rules re: disposition of property and pensions.
Did your bishop address church unity? Yes, in her first State of the Church Report and recently in her new, follow-up essay, Postscripts from Annual Conference 2019.
Number of clergy retired: 28 retired and six “re-retired”
Membership stands at 32,180, down 2,264 from the previous year.
Worship attendance stands at 94,521, down 1,605 from 2017.
Church school attendance stands at 9,730, down 190 from 2017.
Professions or reaffirmations of faith for 2018 was at 1,557, up 51 from 2017 at 1,506.
Adults and young adults in small groups for 2018 was at 30,400, down from 2017 at 34,800.
Worshippers engaged in mission for 2018 was at 479,000, down from 2017 at 480,000.
Theme: “Tell to the Coming Generation” (from Psalm 78)
Officiating bishop: Bishop Peggy Johnson
Guest speakers:
Teaching Session: Derrick Laruth Scott III, executive director of Campus to City Wesley Foundation in Northeast Florida.
“We need to overinvest in the next generation….We need to be the church that’s willing to go after them and sit with them as they discern their call….They may not be in your churches, but they are watching what you say and do….What we do as the church, the way we are, how we handle our differences does affect the next generation.”
The conference featured three young adult lay speakers — Derrick Scott and two active millennials in our conference, Krystl Johnson and Samuel Longmire. Also, we had one young adult preacher, the Rev. Nathalie Nelson Parker, national program coordinator for Strengthening the Black Church for the 21st Century, who preached for our Ordination and Commissioning Service.
Memorial Service Preacher: Bishop Susan Hassinger (retired—revisiting her home conference)
Main actions enacted by the conference (other than resolutions and 2020 delegate elections):
• Created the new Herbert E. Palmer Award for Urban Ministries. Gave it to Palmer (94-year-old, long-serving, retired clergyman and father of Bishop Gregory Palmer) and to four urban churches and church alliances.
• Bishop Peggy Johnson gave her first State of the Church Report in 11 years as bishop. It reported on an array of conference ministries and advocated for unity amid the church’s conflict and division. “We will be sorely hurt and our effectiveness and witness will suffer if we divide over this. We need each other. We especially need the people we don’t agree with,” she said.
• Heard and approved a report on the conference’s commitment and remarkable progress in efforts to dismantle systemic racism (as part of the Northeastern Jurisdiction’s 2016-2020 Call to Action initiative) and to strategically expand cross-racial/cross-cultural appointments and ministries.
Resolutions related to General Conference 2019: Named Eastern Pennsylvania a “One Church Plan Conference.” Regarded as an aspirational measure, but members voted to request a Judicial Council ruling on its legality. Also, temporarily suspended dispositive rules adopted in 2015 for handling property of disaffiliating churches (enacted after Wesley United Methodist Church Quarryville left the denomination in 2015 and was able to take its heavily mortgaged church building at a cost).
Resolutions related to General Conference 2020: Members affirmed asking the denomination to make local pastors and provisional clergy—including those who have not completed seminary or the course of study, as well as student pastors—eligible for election as delegates to General and Jurisdictional conferences and allowed to vote on constitutional amendments.
Other resolutions adopted by the conference: Passed 18 of 19 resolutions, including naming Eastern Pennsylvania a “One Church Plan Conference” and enhancing the anti-racism training required of all active clergy and lay ministers and conference staff. Also voted to advocate for protection of and respect for Native American land rights based on treaties between Native tribes and the U.S. government. Rejected the resolution to add “Open Bibles” to the unofficial United Methodist Church slogan “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors.”
Number of people ordained, commissioned or received into associate membership:
Commissioned: 1; Ordained: 7.
Names of delegates for 2020 General Conference:
Clergy: The Revs. Dawn Taylor-Storm; Andrea Brown; Lydia Muñoz; and Johnson Dodla.
Laity: Judy Ehninger (chair); Krystl Johnson; Ann Jacob; and Lenora Thompson
Seven delegates are under 40: The Rev. Hannah Adair Bonner, Matthew Calderone, Krystl Johnson, the Rev. Daniel Lebo, Ann Jacob, Samuel Longmire, the Rev. Monica Guepet.
Did the conference develop plans or policies for churches that are interested in leaving the denomination? Temporarily suspended rules for disaffiliation adopted in 2015, and enacted United Methodist Church-recommended rules re: disposition of property and pensions.
Did your bishop address church unity? Yes, in her first State of the Church Report and recently in her new, follow-up essay, Postscripts from Annual Conference 2019.
Number of clergy retired: 28 retired and six “re-retired”
Membership stands at 32,180, down 2,264 from the previous year.
Worship attendance stands at 94,521, down 1,605 from 2017.
Church school attendance stands at 9,730, down 190 from 2017.
Professions or reaffirmations of faith for 2018 was at 1,557, up 51 from 2017 at 1,506.
Adults and young adults in small groups for 2018 was at 30,400, down from 2017 at 34,800.
Worshippers engaged in mission for 2018 was at 479,000, down from 2017 at 480,000.
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