Rev. Fabiola Grandon-Mayor, Prairie North District Superintendent, (right) greets the group of pastors at Our Saviour's UMC in Schaumburg for the first in-person gathering in several years due to the pandemic.

The Hispanic/Latinx Ministries of our Northern Illinois Conference has a tradition of offering a dinner during the sessions of our Annual Conference. This feast could not happen in the last years because of COVID restrictions. Like other groups, they were eager to get together, talk, laugh, eat and share about their ministries.

After two long years, this dinner was offered again on the last day of the 183rd Northern Illinois Annual Conference, on Friday, June 10, at Our Saviour's United Methodist Church in Schaumburg. Thirty-five people from different churches across the conference attended the dinner. 

"Our annual Hispanic/Latinx ministry celebration highlights the numerous and diverse ministries within the Northern Illinois Conference," said Rev. Patricia Bonilla, Chair of the Hispanic/Latinx Ministry team. 
The Prairie North District Superintendent, Rev. Fabiola Grandon-Mayer, opened the dinner with a prayer and greeted the audience by saying, "How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!" using the psalmist's words in Psalm 133.

The Northern Illinois Conference has 20 Hispanic/Latinx churches and New Faith Communities and 35 pastors and lay missioners who serve in Spanish-speaking congregations and cross-cultural appointments.

This year they also celebrated the new class of pastors taking the licensing school in Spanish to become Licensed Local Pastor and will continue their process through Course of Study.

Our Northern Illinois Conference has 20 Hispanic/Latinx churches and New Faith Communities and 35 pastors and lay missioners who serve in Spanish-speaking congregations and cross-cultural appointments. It has not been easy to get together in the last years, but the plan is to create new spaces to meet to share experiences and support each other in the coming years.