When First United Methodist members agreed to host the United Methodist Council of Bishops’ memorial service on April 30, they immediately organized for an opportunity they considered an honor. Hospitality comes naturally to this big-hearted congregation, who wanted to show the bishops "our little slice of heaven."
Read MoreTen churches’ request for disaffiliation from The United Methodist Church will be considered by Northern Illinois Annual Conference session members on June 6. These churches, constituting 2.8 percent of NIC congregations, completed a set of required steps that the 2019 UMC General Conference, in special session, passed as church law.
Read MoreImages of trees torn out by their roots and roofs pierced by tree limbs and reports of tornadoes dominated the news in late March and early April. Northern Illinois United Methodists immediately offered help and support those whose lives were disrupted.
Read MoreScripture implores us to encourage each other and Hebrews 10:25 gives us a context: “Don’t stop meeting together with other believers, which some people have gotten into the habit of doing. Instead, encourage each other, especially as you see the day drawing near” (CEB).
Read MoreThe Boy Scouts of America recently settled a lawsuit related to accusations of sexual abuse of children. The United Methodist Church—one of the parties in the suit—is committed to caring for the children who were harmed and to preventing abuse in the future. The Northern Illinois Conference Trustees and Council on Finance and Administration, in collaboration with Bishop Dan Schwerin and the conference staff, created the Repair the Harm to Children Campaign to respond to the victims’ needs.
Read MoreDuring that learning process, I found out that the Galena UMC congregation was not officially a Reconciling Congregation, even though they thought they were.They had already been openly in support of LGBTQ+ people for a long time, so I helped them start the process to become a Reconciling Congregation. It was difficult, but we prayed and communicated with each other.
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