A Toy Story that hits the road
The late Rev. Doug Williams brought the idea of making and distributing toy wooden cars to his congregation at Aldersgate UMC in Rockford in 2011 as a new ministry to children. Combining inspirat…
The Annual Conference Shepherding Team (ACST) is an adaptive learning team with a primary purpose to coordinate and communicate the ministry of the NIC in order to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
Goals for the Conference approved at the 2019 June Annual Conference are:
- To Grow and Reach New Disciples of Jesus Christ;
- To Live Out the Conviction that Racism is Incompatible with Christian Teaching; and
- To increase the Number of Highly Vital Congregations.
2019 ACST Strategic Goals brochure
The ACST’s priorities focus on ministries and connections in four areas: Congregational Life, Clergy Life, Missional Life and Connectional Resources. Each of the five districts has a locally focused shepherding team (DST).
The primary purpose of each DST is to coordinate the equipping of local churches so that they might be faithful, Christ-centered communities of worship, prayer, witness and change, and to enhance the connection between local churches, the districts, and the NIC.
Contacts:
Co-Chairs:
Liz Gracie and Rev. Hwa-Young Chong
shepherding@umcnic.org
Liz Gracie and Rev. Hwa-Young Chong, ACST Co-Chairs
List of Team Members (pdf)
Each goal has a committee working on details of our three primary conference goals and breaking them down into actionable steps. Task Force co-chairs are as follows:
Discipleship:
Karen Bonnell (Lay Leader, Prairie South District)
Caleb Hong (Lead Pastor, Orland Park)
Visit webpage
Anti-Racism:
Nadia Kanhai (Lay, Prairie Central District)
Visit webpage
Vital Congregations:
Mike Jones (Pastor, Bethel: Shannon)
Dennis Langdon (Pastor, Chicago: Morgan Park and Trinity)
Brittany Isaac (District Superintendent, Lake North District)
Download the Vital Congregations Documents
- Congregational Vitality and Measurements
- Sample Page to Track Weekly Vital Stats (pdf)
- Tracking UMC Vital Weekly Statictics for One Year (Excel Spreadsheet)
- Single Year Calculation Tool for Financial Sustainability and Spiritual Vitality (Excel spreadsheet)
- Multiple Year Calculation Tool for Financial Sustainability and Spiritual Vitality (Excel spreadsheet)