From Shared Challenges to Shared Hope: Inside the Northeastern Jurisdiction Cabinet Gathering
By the NEJ Communicators
In 2026, the Northeastern Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church began with a stirring gathering of leaders. From January 5–9, the Cabinets of the then NEJ annual conferences joined together in Haddonfield, New Jersey, for worship, learning, and shared discernment. Rooted in Scripture and shaped by United Methodist and Wesleyan theology, the gathering embodied our connectional calling with leaders intentionally stirring one another up to love and good deeds for the sake of Christ and the world (Hebrews 10:24–25).
The week opened with worship at Haddonfield United Methodist Church, where Rev. Chris Heckert, senior pastor, offered a gracious welcome and Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi, resident bishop of the Eastern Pennsylvania and Greater New Jersey Area, greeted the gathered leaders with words of hope and expectation: “Your college of bishops is delighted to welcome you together for this time of visioning, collaboration, and restoration. We can’t wait to see what God is going to do.”
Inspired by the Feast of Epiphany, the opening worship invited leaders to embrace patient trust for the journey ahead, and for one another. Alongside Scripture readings from Hebrews 10:24–25 and Matthew 2:1–12, Rev. Debbie Earthrowl (Upper New York) offered a prayer by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, reminding the gathering that God’s work often unfolds through seasons of instability and waiting. Rev. Sherri Rood (Upper New York) reflected on the Magi’s uncertain journey, naming the truth that the path toward new destinations is rarely neat or predictable. God, she reminded the room, does not demand certainty, only faithfulness to keep walking. As worship concluded, each participant wrote a word on a star, a symbol of guidance to carry through the retreat and beyond.
On Monday, leaders were invited deeper into reflection through a presentation by Dr. Ashley Boggan and Rev. Chris Heckert, who spoke about their book "Calling on Fire." Drawing on themes of holy longing, renewal, and God’s refining work, they invited leaders to consider how the Spirit is already at work rekindling passion and purpose in this season of change. Those gathered were then broken into table groups and asked to reflect together on four catalytic practices as ways of igniting the fire within their conferences: field preaching, micro-communities, social engagement, and leadership activation. These conversations grounded the work of leadership not in anxiety or control, but in faithful experimentation and attentiveness to the fire God continues to kindle among God’s people.
In addition to worship and conversation, the gathering made space for hands-on service, living out the very love leaders were called to stir up in one another. Participants supported "Operation Bear Hug," a mission project of Haddonfield United Methodist Church that began in 1998 when the church’s youth imagined a simple yet profound act of compassion: collecting teddy bears to deliver to patients who must remain in the hospital on Christmas Eve. Those gathered helped sort more than 1,000 bears, attaching personalized cards and organizing them for future delivery, an embodied reminder that small acts of love, offered faithfully, can bring comfort and hope.
Leaders also prepared lunches for The Neighborhood Center in Camden, a long-standing mission partner of Haddonfield UMC. The Neighborhood Center’s mission is “to work with an abundance of love to transform the community.” Each weekday, the Center provides nutritious meals to children, adults, and working families experiencing food insecurity, offering food in an environment rooted in dignity and hospitality. Through this shared service, participants were reminded that the work of renewal is not only discussed but also practiced, shared, and served.
Tuesday morning’s worship was led by Rev. Tina Blake of the Baltimore-Washington and Peninsula-Delaware Area. Preaching from Hebrews 10:24–25, Rev. Blake called the church to examine what it truly means to “stir up” love and good works and issued a prophetic challenge. “If Jesus is the bread of life,” she proclaimed, “then we are the bakery.” Drawing on Matthew 25 and the feeding of the five thousand, she reminded leaders that Jesus consistently refused to send people away hungry, calling his disciples instead to offer what they had and trust God to multiply it. Naming the long tradition of faithful “pot-stirrers” from Moses and Esther to John Wesley, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Jesus himself, Rev. Blake affirmed that holy love often requires courage, discomfort, and action.
The closing day of the retreat was led in worship by the New York Annual Conference. Rev. Elizabeth Abel offered the image of an Olympic torch relay, proclaiming, “The torch is not diminished by being shared.” As a candle flame was passed from one person to the next while the room sang “Pass It On,” leaders were reminded that Christ’s light is not something to be guarded, but something to be shared freely.
Beyond worship, the gathering created space for honest conversation and shared imagination. Leaders named common challenges: clergy fatigue, shifting ministry contexts, aging facilities, and limited capacity. Yet the dominant spirit was not one of decline. Instead, participants challenged one another to practice hope, to tell new stories of where God is already at work, and to anticipate growth rather than scarcity. Collaboration emerged as a powerful opportunity, with ideas ranging from shared leadership development and online learning to cooperative approaches to church planting and reimagining church buildings for community-centered ministry.
As the gathering concluded, gratitude and resolve filled the room. This historic convening affirmed that the church’s mission is not to preserve institutions, but to form disciples rooted in Christ and sent into the world for the sake of love, justice, and transformation. United in purpose and grounded in God’s grace, leaders departed committed to walking together, listening deeply, sharing boldly, and trusting the Spirit to shape the next chapter of the church’s life in the Northeast.