As 2018 rolled in we began to hear 50 year retrospectives. The year 1968 was a tumultuous, pivotal, and significant year in our nation’s recent history. It’s impossible to reflect on all of those semicentennial events and persons that have shaped us more than we may realize.
Read MoreDuring the month of December, I took a renewal leave. For the first few days, I energetically cleaned every closet, cupboard, drawer, shelf, and closet in our condo. I took loads of books, clothes and other articles to the local Goodwill store. It was quite gratifying! Then I decided to read. Read more of the Bishop's February Column...
Read MoreThis year Bishop Sally Dyck is going home for Christmas and encourages you to think about who you might welcome into your home. She shares her video greeting and wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas.
Read MoreThe Council of Bishops has called The United Methodist Church to be in a posture of prayer, praying for God’s leadership to guide us as we discern our Way Forward. This week, the Northern Illinois Conference will be praying for the denomination, the work of the Commission on a Way Forward, for the leaders that will help determine the path we take. Each day, we will post a prayer on the NIC General and Jurisdictional Facebook page, and we encourage you to continue to pray throughout the day.Our first prayer comes from Bishop Sally Dyck.
Read MoreThe overall goal in appointment-making is to match clergy’s gifts, experience and needs with a congregation for missional reasons. Appointment-making is an art and not a science because there are many factors that go into appointment-making. We all recognize that there are other factors than missional ones that impact itinerancy, such as the level of financial support, spouse’s employment, ages of children, etc., which we try to take into account.
Read MoreIn early November 2017, the Council of Bishops met and received the first report from the Commission on a Way Forward. The Commission’s mandate is to present a recommendation to the Council of Bishops at their May 2018 meeting to forward on to the Special General Conference 2019 (GC19).
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