Praying our Way Forward - Day One

The 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.

Bishops review Commission on a Way Forward sketches

In 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).

Praying Our Way Forward

The Northern Illinois Conference encourages congregations to participate in our week to pray for the Commission On a Way Forward and The United Methodist Church from Dec. 3-9.

NIC churches receive Discipleship One Matters Awards

For the first time, six churches in the NIC received the One Matters Award presented by the Rev. Dr. Bener Agtarap, Path One Executive Director, at the 2017 Annual Conference. Discipleship Ministries created the award in 2015 to lift up churches who have in recent years moved from zero baptisms and zero professions of faith into positive numbers and they redirected their focus toward intentional discipleship.

2017 Annual Conference awards

Legislation proposes conference restructuring

With submitted legislation, the Organizational Task Force is introducing a restructuring plan for the Northern Illinois Conference to streamline committee work, align resources and create an intersection between administrative, program and superintending functions.