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.

Livestream

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.