General Conference 2020 (2024) Updates
The UMC General Conference (postponed from 2020) came to order on the morning of April 23. Follow daily reports focusing on topics of interest to Northern Illinois Conference readers.
Read MoreNorthern Illinois United Methodists Working and Helping at General Conference
General Conference takes thousands of people to help the event run smoothly and do its work. United Methodists from across Northern Illinois participated in General Conference 2020 in many different ways.
Read More40-year ban on gay clergy struck down
Without debate, General Conference removed the UMC’s ban on the ordination of clergy who are “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” —a prohibition that dates to 1984.
Read MoreDYK: What is a General Conference?
United Methodists have heard the phrase General Conference tossed about frequently these days. A General Conference is a representative gathering of laity and clergy who come together to set church laws, processes, budgets, elect committee members, consider resolutions on social issues, hear reports, and frame the work of the denomination for the coming four years.
Read MoreMission Links giving connects across the globe
The Northern Illinois Conference appreciates the churches that went the second mile as Mission Links churches. To become a Mission Links 100% Supporter, a church needs to pay its conference and general church apportionments in full and donate to at least one Mission Links project in each of the giving areas. In addition to their apportionment giving, Mission Links 100% Supporters gave almost $451,500 in second-mile gifts and over $89,500 in Special Sunday offerings.
Read MoreNorth Central Jurisdiction Confirms: Northern Illinois and Wisconsin Will Share a Bishop
It’s official: Wisconsin Conference and Northern Illinois Conference will start sharing a bishop on Sept. 1. The North Central Jurisdiction, meeting online in a special session on Jan. 23, passed two motions: to form a new episcopal area composed of Northern Illinois and Wisconsin Conferences and to form another composed of East Ohio and West Ohio Conferences.
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