On Wednesday of the 2024 Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference, delegates voted to reduce the number of episcopal areas from nine to six. The new episcopal areas have yet to be officially named.
The newly formed episcopal areas are:
- Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware
- Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey
- New York and New England
- Susquehanna and Upper New York
- Western Pennsylvania
- West Virginia
This reorganization does not merge or change the annual conferences, which will continue to operate independently. Instead, it defines the official area a specific bishop is assigned to serve.
Judy Kenaston, chair of the Committee on Episcopacy, encouraged the annual conferences within the shared episcopal areas to work closely with their new bishops and the leadership of their partner annual conferences. She emphasized the importance of developing structures and best practices for collaboration, specifically through creating a memorandum of understanding (MOU).
For the United Methodists of Eastern Pennsylvania (EPA) and Greater New Jersey (GNJ), this announcement formalizes the collaborative efforts that the two conferences have been developing since 2022 — and Kenaston’s strongly-suggested collaborative work is already well underway. Both annual conferences have been working on an evolving MOU for the past several years. This living document was recently approved at their annual conferences in May.
When time was allotted for delegates from each episcopal area to get to know one another and discuss collaboration, the delegations from EPA and GNJ were notably ahead of the curve.
Rev. Dr. Lydia Muñoz of EPA shared her optimism, stating, “There is hope that we’re moving into a new space; a covenant-keeping space where we keep each other accountable and ensure collaboration with all groups.”
Barbara Revere, EPA’s CONAM Chair, celebrated the collaborative efforts of EPA and GNJ that are already influencing other annual conferences in the jurisdiction. “It was EPA and GNJ that came up with the land acknowledgment, and we’ve been doing it for three years. Now other annual conferences in the jurisdiction are picking it up too!”
Rev. Sang Won Doh, a District Superintendent from GNJ, highlighted the positive energy emerging from this collaboration. “There is new energy coming from the synergistic efforts when EPA and GNJ come together. We’ve already done a lot of the hard work. I’m eager to get to know my EPA colleagues better in the future. There is a sense of joy and enthusiasm growing as we begin to dream about our future collaboration.”
As the Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference progresses, the proactive efforts of EPA and GNJ serve as a model for effective collaboration and shared mission in this new episcopal structure.