In Sympathy: Martin Deppe
Rev. Martin Deppe, a retired member of the Northern Illinois Conference, passed away on Friday, October 23, 2026.
Posted: October 31 2017 at 12:00 PM
Isaiah 4 1:10
The denomination-wide Praying Our Way Forward initiative launched on New Year’s Day 2017 with 75 weeks of focused prayer for The United Methodist Church. Each annual conference will take one week to have intentional prayer for the mission of The United Methodist Church to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world and for the work of the Commission on a Way Forward.
The effort began in the North Carolina Conference and will wrap up in the West Angola Episcopal area in June 2018. The Northern Illinois Conference’s week is Dec. 3-9, 2017.
Sign-up sheets for local churches will be available to encourage members to participate and pray. A daily prayer will be offered on the delegation’s Facebook page.
To support the effort, The Upper Room hosts a website with resources and the prayer schedule at umcprays.org.
The Commission on a Way Forward was proposed by the Council of Bishops and approved by the 2016 General Conference to do a complete examination and possible revision the Book of Discipline paragraphs concerning human sexuality and explore maintaining and strengthening the unity of the church.
Watch for more information in the NIC eNews.