Allegheny East Conference

Story by LaTasha Hewitt

The Bethel French church in Trenton, N.J., recently graduated 17 students in a church-sponsored Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) program. Recognizing the need to equip members with skills for acquiring employment, Luckson Innocent, church treasurer, birthed the idea.

The Bethel church partnered with Yves Annie Ervilus, dean of the Broadway Vocational Technical School, LLC, in Camden, N.J., to conduct a five-week program. At the completion of the program, participants were certified to seek employment as a CNA.

Minnie McNeil, who co-founded and advises a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing housing and supportive services in Coatesville, Pa., says every member everywhere has the opportunity to demonstrate God’s love in a variety of ways, regardless of if they live in the city or country, in an affluent or poor area. She offers 10 tips for starting a ministry and making an impact:

1. Pray for guidance.

2. Identify the vision, mission and goals of the church; available resources, including leadership; and capability and potential to sustain outreach ministry. 

3. Plan to have ongoing community involvement, not a one-time event.

4. Assess and research the strengths and needs of the community. Don’t assume.

Story by V. Michelle Bernard

Sharpening The Focus

It’s been two years since the death of Freddie Gray sparked civil unrest in Baltimore. Maurice Taylor, senior pastor of Allegheny East Conference’s (AEC) Berea Temple, and director of its Baltimore Ministerium, says since Gray’s death, he’s noticed more of a desire to address the needs of the community. “Before we were focused more on internal events,” he says. “Now we’re focused more on external.”

Story by V. Michelle Bernard / Photos by Lilac Martinez

Sixteen Pathfinder Bible Experience (PBE) teams from the Columbia Union Conference will continue on to the North American Division finals in Chicago April 21-22.

Those sixteen teams from nine Pathfinder clubs placed first at the Columbia Union PBE event March 18 at Pennsylvania Conference’s Blue Mountain Academy in Hamburg, Pa.

Story by Dinah Jordan