Leading the Laity: No Room for distractions

And now we embark upon a brand-new year; one that we never saw before and did nothing to merit. But God! Indeed, but God; whose grace and mercy endureth forever. But despite these blessings, we enter 2024 with all of its challenges and uncertainty. We continue with our efforts to recover from the grief of disaffiliation and to plan for the yoking of conferences and assignment of a shared bishop. Add to that the General Conference delegates’ consideration of a proposal for regionalizing The United Methodist Church and the Council of Bishops’ recommendation for a special session of General Conference in 2026.

Churches offer compassion by feeding bodies and souls

Throughout the conference, many churches are offering compassion. This story is a snippet of a small portion of churches that are working to feed others' bodies and souls.

Become a Net-Zero advocate

The Net-Zero Task Force invites congregations to name a net-zero advocate (or advocates). The advocates would work with the congregation’s trustees and members to adopt sustainable practices.  The conference task force will provide advocates with a “List of Sustainable Actions for Congregations to Implement” to begin their work. The first step is to invite a task-force member to lead a presentation on “Leaping to Net-Zero,” which introduces steps a congregation can take.

Plarn projects weave communities and ministry

A new mission project from Midwest Mission is being woven across Northern Illinois. Church groups are turning clean plastic shopping bags into sleeping mats. The mats are distributed to organizations around the world that serve people who lack homes, who have been displaced by disaster, or who need temporary sleeping arrangements—anyone who needs a clean, dry barrier between them and the ground.

Conference UM Men feed neighbors through ‘potato drop’

United Methodist Men from Grace United Methodist Church (Rockford), the UMC of New Lenox, and the Prairie North District partnered with Society of St. Andrew this fall to give away fresh produce and other basics to their neighbors.

Apply for a Grant for Your Church’s Special Ministries

Looking for a bit of a financial boost to help get a ministry off the ground? Healthy churches look for ways to share God’s love with their neighbors in practical ways. The Northern Illinois Conference offers a number of grants that assist many kinds of ministries for your church’s context. Discover whether there is one here for your church.

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