Illinois Pilgrimage Opens Hearts and Minds
From June 25 to 28, members from the Northern Illinois, Illinois Great Rivers, and Wisconsin Conferences embarked on a spiritual pilgrimage organized by the NIC Committee on Religion…
Posted: June 1 2026 at 03:41 PM
Author: Victoria Rebeck
Continuing many United Methodists' concern for the treatment of immigrants in the region, people of the Northern Illinois Conference of The United Methodist Church will march in solidarity along North Meacham Road near Thoreau Drive in Schaumburg on Monday, June 15, at approximately 5:30 p.m.
All interested United Methodists and friends--they need not be a Annual Conference session member--may participate.
This optional event will begin shortly after Annual Conference (June 14-16) adjourns for its second day.
The demonstration, “Faithful Action: Love Your Neighbor,” draws on Jesus’s teachings and example to love our neighbors—part of what the Christian Church calls “the Great Commandment”—and will express welcome to immigrants to Chicago-area communities.
“Scripture and our United Methodist Social Principles call us to show compassion for our neighbors and to work to meet their needs, but we are also charged to challenge the laws and policies that harm them,” says Lisa Rogers, advocacy chair of the NIC Commission on Religion and Race.
"We believe we must leave the safety of our sanctuaries and stand up for the dignity, worth, and rights of migrants, immigrants, and refugees. It’s important for us to stand together to show that United Methodists are committed to loving and supporting our immigrant neighbors through loud—but peaceful—protest.”
About 800 United Methodists from the northern quarter of Illinois will be meeting for their annual conference session at the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center, June 14-16. Interested participants will walk from the convention center to Meacham Road, carrying signs that express their advocacy for immigrants.
The United Methodist Church officially states its affirmation of “the dignity, worth, and rights of migrants, immigrants, and refugees, including displaced and stateless people. . . . We urge United Methodists to welcome migrants, refugees, and immigrants into their congregations and to commit themselves to providing concrete support, including help with navigating restrictive and often lengthy immigration policies, and assistance with securing food, housing, education, employment, and other kinds of support.” (United Methodist Social Principles, para. 163[G]).