In Sympathy: Erma Bryan
Mrs. Erma Bryan, the surviving spouse of deceased member Rev. Bill Bryan of the Northern Illinois Conference, passed away on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.
I was born and raised in Methodism and constantly heard the words “connection” and “connectionalism.” I didn’t understand what it meant at first, but when I started to get involved in the life and mission of the church, I realized that we are a connectional church, a church that works together to support one another, share resources and carry out our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. This is a historic core value of our denomination, yet one of the hardest to define.
Fellowship of Asian-American Pastors gathering
The United Methodist Book of Discipline ¶608 calls the director of connectional ministries to work with the bishop, cabinet, and elected conference leaders to fulfill four primary responsibilities:
NIC Hispanic/Latinx Pastors at the Entre Nos gathering in Phoneix, AZ.
To live out our connectionalism means that every local church is linked to each other and an interconnected network of organizations that join in mission and ministry, allowing us to accomplish far more than any one local church or person could alone.
Cross-Cultural/Cross-Racial/Multicultural Pastors from Wisconsin and Illinois shared experiences at the Facing the Future gathering in Atlanta.
Many UMC leaders, including the Directors of Connectional Ministries, Global Ministries Secretaries, Disaster Response Coordinators, and several Bishops, gathered at the US Global Ministries Consultation in Atlanta to discuss the mission work in our denomination. Photo by Adam Bowers.
Through these interactive relationships and connections, we strongly prove that we can do so much more together than we can alone.
The United Methodist Church is connectional. Your congregation can live out this connectionalism when you join your efforts with others to carry out our shared mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Mrs. Erma Bryan, the surviving spouse of deceased member Rev. Bill Bryan of the Northern Illinois Conference, passed away on Wednesday, June 11, 2025.
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