In Sympathy: Gwen Janet Oliver
Mrs. Gwen Janet Oliver, spouse of Rev. Richard E. Oliver, retired member of the Northern Illinois Conference, passed away on Fri., Oct. 2, 2026.
Posted: June 26 2017 at 12:00 AM
For the first time, six churches in the NIC received the One Matters Award presented by the Rev. Dr. Bener Agtarap, Path One Executive Director, at the 2017 Annual Conference.
Discipleship Ministries created the award in 2015 to lift up churches who have in recent years moved from zero baptisms and zero professions of faith into positive numbers and they redirected their focus toward intentional discipleship.
In addition to a plaque, each church received $1,000 to encourage the continuation of their work in discipleship.
The following churches were presented the One Matters Award (click each to read their story):
Aurora District:
Chicago Northwestern District:
Chicago Southern District:
DeKalb District:
Elgin District:
Rockford District:
For more information contact Rev. J. Martin Lee at mlee@umcnic.org or visit www.umcdiscipleship.org/about/one-matters.