Annual Conference 2017 to focus on prayer
Rise Up and Pray! is the elevating main theme of the 2017 Eastern PA Annual Conference, which will return to the spacious Expo Center, 100 Station Avenue, Oaks, PA, from Thursday to Saturday, June 15-17.
Preachers, teachers, musicians, worship liturgists, prayer guides and prayer stations around the meeting hall will all center the gathering in the practice and power of prayer, no doubt invoking the God of eternal grace to “Grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the facing of this hour.” That centering will receive particular attention when special guest the Rev. Tom Albin, Dean of the Upper Room Chapel in Nashville since 1999, offers a Friday teaching session on prayer.
Albin, a SLI (Spiritual Leadership, Inc.) coach and former pastor and seminary professor, has a passion for “helping individuals, teams, small groups and organizations become mature, vital, world-changing disciples of Jesus Christ.” He oversees the Upper Room’s Spiritual Formation Academy and denominational prayer efforts. “When we pray,” he says, “we can be convinced that God will hear and respond.”
Three bishops will preach during the 251st session of the Eastern PA Conference, including two familiar voices and a new voice on the Northeastern Jurisdictional College of Bishops. Resident Bishop Peggy Johnson will preach for the Opening Worship and Eucharist Service on Thursday afternoon. New Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling, who leads the neighboring Baltimore-Washington Conference, will preach for the Ordination Service on Friday night, with the subtheme “Rise Up and Lead!” Formerly a pastor and district superintendent in the New England Conference, she was elected a bishop at the 2016 Jurisdictional Conference.
Bishop Peter Weaver, retired, who led our own conference and the Philadelphia Episcopal Area from 1996 to 2004, will preach during the Memorial Service on Saturday morning with the subtheme “Rise Up in Glory!” A third subtheme, “Rise Up for Generations!” will herald the annual celebration of ministry that recognizes new clergy retirees and the new elders and deacons preparing to follow in their footsteps. Read More.
