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The Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference theme: Quilted by Connection
July 8, 2016 / By UNY Communications
The theme of the 2016 Northeastern Jurisdictional Conference is: Quilted by Connection. This year’s conference takes place in Lancaster, PA, which is rich in the heritage for the United Methodist Church and predecessor denominations. Lancaster is in the center of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, well-known for Amish quilts. Like the iconic quilts, the people of the United Methodist Church are a collection of spiritual and cultural expressions connected to each other to form a tapestry of beauty and functionality. As such, the colorful quilt becomes a visual image of the diversity that is central to the identity of the churches of Northeastern Jurisdiction.
The biblical verse that is the anchor or the delegates and participants’ time together comes from Ephesians 4:16. Paul writes, “From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.”
Just as a quilt is joined together, so are the conference delegates, participants, and the United Methodist Church as a whole, to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. This cannot happen alone, but only as a body working together.
Editor’s note: This article is published with amendments from the July 2016, Advanced Edition of the Daily Christian Advocate. The full Daily Christian Advocate is available here.