In Sympathy: Mr. Vi Tran
Mr. Vi Tran, spouse of Rev. Brian Gilbert of the Northern Illinois Conference, passed away on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, at the age of 37.
Posted: November 9 2021 at 03:50 PM
From the Northern Illinois Conference General and Jurisdictional Delegation
Since the election of the delegation team in 2019, Northern Illinois Conference delegates have been meeting regularly and diligently, preparing for the upcoming General and Jurisdictional Conferences. Despite changing situations, due to the cancelations or postponements, of General and Jurisdictional Conferences, or considerations for virtual gatherings, the NIC delegation team remained resilient and adaptive. The team transitioned to online meetings, engaging in conversations on the future direction of our denomination.
With the death of George Floyd in May 2020, the delegation found ways to engage in the conversation. We worked together to create a video imploring our conference and denomination to do more to eradicate racism. We created a statement of lament over Asian hate and published the statement through NIC Communication, which is also here.
While we are still waiting to hear whether the currently scheduled General Conference for August 2022 will convene, the College of Bishops of the North Central Jurisdiction has called a virtual special session of the North Central Jurisdictional Conference for November 10-11, 2021. Your delegation has been preparing for it, and leading dialogues and conversations with delegates across the jurisdiction, to work on the three main focuses for the upcoming special session: the future of the United Methodist church, dismantling racism, and episcopal leadership in the jurisdiction. We pray that God's wisdom will guide our conversations and decisions during the Conference and we ask you to please keep us in your prayers.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at 2020-nic-delegation@googlegroups.com.
Lay Delegation for General Conference
Lonnie Chafin
Nadia R. Kanhai
Adrian Hill - Vice-Chair
Clergy Delegation for General Conference
Rev. Alka Lyall - Chair
Rev. Luis Reyes
Rev. Gregory Gross
Lay Delegation to Jurisdictional Conference
Rita L. Smith
Jessie Cunningham
Ronnie Lyall
Alternates: Nancy Pendergrass and Mark Manzi
Clergy Delegation to Jurisdictional
Hwa-Young Chong
Jacques Conway
Brian Gilbert
Alternates: Britt Cox and Rachel Birkhahn-Rommelfanger
Follow them on Facebook at facebook.com/NICDelegation.