Skip to Main Content

NIC MLK Celebration 2024

Location: St. Mark UMC (8441 S. St. Lawrence Ave. Chicago, IL 60619)

Mlk2024postponedsq

Rescheduled date - March 3rd!

Jan. 14 date was postponed due to weather conditions.


Join us in celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with prayers, testimonies, music and a guest speaker.

March 3, 2024
3 p.m.

St. Mark UMC
8441 S. St Lawrence Ave., Chicago

Worship service with light supper afterwards

There is no cost, but please register here to help us prepare the correct amount of food. 

Guest Speaker Rev. Dr. Iva Carruthers - General Secretary of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference (SDPC), an interdenominational organization within the African American faith tradition focused on justice and equity issues.

Remarks from our Bishop Dan Schwerin -  Northern Illinois Conference

Register Online


Carruthers

Rev. Dr. Iva E. Carruthers

Rev. Dr. Iva E. Carruthers is General Secretary of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference (SDPC), an interdenominational organization focused on justice and equity issues. SDPC is both a 501c3 and United Nations Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). As founding CEO and a trustee of SDPC, she has steered the organization as a unique, influential and esteemed network of faith-based advocates and activists, clergy and lay.

Dr. Carruthers is Professor Emeritus and former Chairperson of the Sociology Department at Northeastern Illinois University and was founding President of Nexus Unlimited, an information and educational technology firm. She was appointed to the White House Advisory Council on the internet, "National Information Infrastructure", Mega Project; the educational software she developed was awarded a ComputerWorld Smithsonian Award. Dr. Carruthers has a long history of teaching, engagement in community development initiatives and social justice ministry, including initiatives related to the U.N. Decade of People of African Descent and the establishment of the Center for Reparatory Justice, Transformation and Remediation at McCormick Theological Seminary. 

She received the B.A. degree from the University of Illinois; the M.A. and the Ph.D. in Sociology from Northwestern University and a Master in Theological Studies degree from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. Recipient of many awards, she was recognized by the History Makers in 2003 and most recently honored by her oil portrait being hung in the International Hall of Honor, Morehouse University Chapel.

News & Announcements

Sympathynoticeflowers

In Sympathy: Lora Zink

Rev. Lora Zink, a retired member of the Northern Illinois Conference, passed away on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025.

Sympathynoticeflowers

In Sympathy: Freda Whittle

Mrs. Freda Whittle, surviving spouse of Rev. Paul Whittle Jr., a deceased member of the Northern Illinois Conference, passed away on April 16, 2025.

Scales Mound Vbs Boys

VBS Adventures Inspire Faith and Community

This summer, churches across the conference brought vacation Bible school to life, each one putting its own unique spin on the beloved tradition. From creative scheduling and special…

Appellate Court Signcr

Conference Advocacy Partners Learn from IL Supreme Court Justice

The NIC Advocacy Partners led a group of 11 United Methodists from four United Methodist churches on July 25 to meet Illinois Supreme Court Justice P. Scott Nevi…

Print