Episcopal Address: How Refuge is a Practice of Hope
Hope is like a refuge, Bishop Dan Schwerin said in his episcopal address on June 15. He was not talking about escape but the biological idea of refugia, a pocket of safety th…
***** Update 2026 *****
The Mission Links booklet has been updated with new projects and missionaries, contact information, and other key details.
Gifts should be directed only to the funds and projects listed in the updated booklet. Churches can give through the regular NIC apportionment process, noting the specific Mission Links fund and project when submitting payments. Individuals may give through their local church, making sure to indicate the fund or project they wish to support. Please note that credit toward a church’s Mission Links giving is applied only when donations are submitted through the Conference office.
What is The Advance?
As the accountable designated giving program of The United Methodist Church, The Advance serves as the leading conduit that allows churches, individuals and organizations to support missionaries and projects throughout the world in order to strengthen and sustain one another.
Advance funds are specifically designated for particular projects or ministries, allowing the Church to advance the cause of Christ through new church development, disaster relief, missionary support, health services, and many other programs.
Your congregation chooses to partner with an existing project or ministry. Because other donations cover overhead costs, 100% of every gift to the Advance goes to the ministry designated.
7 areas of giving within the Mission Links Program
- Special Sundays - Sundays set aside and celebrated around the conference and the denomination as a way for your church to join with other congregations across our connection to recognize specific kinds of ministries.
- Global Advance Projects - Advance funds are specifically designated for particular projects or ministries around the world working to care for the least of these.
- Missionary Support - Missionary support providing direct support to specific United Methodist missionaries serving in over 60 countries.
- UMCOR / Emergency Relief Projects - Projects providing immediate relief during disasters as well as ongoing support, and are directly related to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). Learn more about UMCOR.
- US-Based Advances - Mission projects located across the United States and correlate with the ongoing work of justice in the Northern Illinois Conference.
- Northern Illinois Conference Projects - Mission projects located within the Northern Illinois Conference that have a far reaching impact. Includes campus ministries, outdoor and retreat ministries, and Northern Illinois projects and organizations.
- NIC District Projects - Mission projects located within our districts effecting direct communities. Includes campus ministries, outdoor and retreat ministries, and Northern Illinois projects and organizations.
Special Sundays
Northern Illinois Conference Special Sundays
- Scouting Ministries Sunday - NIC Fund #783 - Any Sunday in February or March
- Golden Cross Sunday - NIC Fund #775 - First Sunday in May
- Volunteers in Mission - NIC Fund #901375 - Any Sunday in July or August
- Christian Education Sunday - NIC Fund #776 - First Sunday in September
- Accessibility Sunday - NIC Fund #782 - First Sunday in November
- World AIDS Day - NIC Fund #780 - First Sunday in December
- United Voices for Children Sunday - NIC Fund #778 - Each fifth Sunday in months with five Sundays
General Conference-Designated Special Sundays
- January - Human Relations Day - Northern Illinois Fund #770
- March - UMCOR Sunday - Northern Illinois Fund #771
- April - Native American Ministries Sunday - Northern Illinois Fund #769
- May - Peace with Justice Sunday - Northern Illinois Fund #773
- October - World Communion Sunday - Northern Illinois Fund #774
- November - United Methodist Student Day - Northern Illinois Fund #772
The Beatitudes are essential and relevant today.
The Advance for Christ and His Church (The Advance) is the United Methodist program for designated mission giving. The Northern Illinois Conference Global Board of Ministry has organized the options for giving through The Advance in our Mission Links program book. In Matthew 5: 1-12, Jesus offers a portrait of the ways in which it is possible to be a good person with respect to others within the eight categories of the beatitudes.
Each project in the Mission Links book connects to at least one of the beatitudes – and NIC’s direct call to action in response to Jesus’ words.
View the 2024 Mission Links Award Winners
View the 2023 Mission Links Award Winners
View the 2022 Mission Links Award Winners
View the 2021 Mission Links Award Winners
View the 2020 Rainbow Covenant Award Winners