Phishing is very common these days, and as people get more desperate, phishing attacks will get worse. When people attempt to steal your data, they do so using free email address providers. They will use email accounts purporting to be from the bishop or a local pastor but using an @gmail.com address or something similar. Rarely, will they come from an @umcnic.org email address.
Read MoreUnited Methodists in Northern Illinois have been living under the Wesleyan banner of “Do No Harm” for almost a year now with the pandemic. Suspending in-person events including worship, programming and so many other community activities we hold dear. We are not out from under the threat of the virus even as our state does better in managing the spread. But with the rollout of a vaccine over the past month, we can now become proactive in combating the spread.
Read MoreFew of us really understood in March 2020 what it meant to live through a pandemic. Now we are entering our second year, still struggling with a steep learning curve. We have a better sense of the strength and spread of COVID-19 than we had 12 months ago. The medical community has more tools to combat the disease. We have hope as vaccines are rolling out. Yet the need to stay vigilant and patient is as important now as it was last spring. Many of us long for life to return to normal.
Read MoreA new faith community in Oswego, Ill., is springing up in the new year. Wellspring UMC launched on January 1, 2021, with the Rev. Corey Ashley serving in the former Oswego Campus of Wheatland Salem UMC. On the heels of a difficult year for churches with the pandemic and restrictions on in-person services, some may ask, ‘is this the right time to plant a church?’
Read MoreAs the Apostle Paul greeted the Ephesians, I greet new Christian friends in Northern Illinois. Of course, Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter and I am merely in COVID-19 confinement in Indianapolis. His letter may have been written by someone else and carried for weeks to reach the church in Ephesus, while I can instantaneously connect via Zoom by clicking a link.
Read MoreAs we reach a sobering milestone of 400,000 lives lost in the U.S. as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the State of Illinois moves forward in steps toward restoration from the devastation of this infection with the hope that vaccinations will move us further along throughout 2021.
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