Attending the local Chamber of Commerce's annual awards banquet last August, the Rev. Megan Smick, who leads Oregon UMC in the Prairie South District, received a big surprise for her small church. "I was flabbergasted!" said Smick, who had no idea she would be presented with the 2021 Civic Leadership Award for Oregon UMC that evening.
Read MoreThe Northern Illinois Conference is thankful to its many churches for their faithful apportionment giving and celebrates those who paid in full, despite challenging times. In 2021, 198 churches paid 100% of their calculated apportionments compared to 159 in 2020. Forty churches paid over 100% and nearly 50 went the second mile as Mission Links churches. The Conference also celebrates the 42 churches that have consistently paid 100% for ten years.
Read MoreUnited Methodist leaders have reached an agreement with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to extend existing UMC-sponsored Scouting charters through June 30, 2022 to provide for uninterrupted ministry with young people through Scouting.
Read MoreAfter nearly six years on hiatus, representatives from each district of the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist church returned to the CodeRed (Congregational Development and Redevelopment Committee) Church Trail, visiting potential new church sites and redevelopment areas across the conference over two days last November.
Read MoreThe high-speed surge of the omicron coronavirus variant over the last few months presented another pandemic challenge to United Methodist churches, prompting some to put the pause on in-person gatherings, with others making more modest changes.
Read MoreDespite challenging times and strain on church finances because of the ongoing pandemic, apportionment largess for 2021 far exceeded expectations and will allow the Conference to pay 100 percent General Church apportionments for the first time in nearly a decade.
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