After 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.
Read MoreUnited Methodist leaders have reached a settlement in the matter of the Boy Scouts of America’s (BSA) pending bankruptcy proceedings. Upon final court approval, the settlement would absolve any claims of sexual abuse that may have occurred in congregation-sponsored Scouting programs.
Read MoreMore than 9,000 United Methodist churches with a history of sponsoring Scouting troops have a say in the Boy Scouts of America’s sex abuse-related bankruptcy proceedings. With a deadline looming, United Methodist leaders earlier this week began advising those churches to vote “no” on a proposed BSA bankruptcy reorganization plan.
Read MoreAs I return to the Northern Illinois Conference for another year, I wish you an early Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I look to next year expecting God to break into our lives to save our world and give us hope. I expect God to give us joy as we follow the way of Jesus.
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