During the storms of mid-July, Transformation Community UMC in Harvey, Illinois, faced a major power outage. Despite these challenges, TCUMC volunteers, supported by the Northern Illinois Conference, swiftly ensured their essential food pantry remained operational. This response showcased the church’s commitment to serving the community’s needs, and demonstrated the power of United Methodist Connectionalism.
Read More"Our Northern Illinois Conference has many reasons to celebrate," observes Rev. Fabiola Grandon-Mayer, Northern Illinois Conference's director of connectional ministries. "Although we are not all the same, come from diverse backgrounds, and have different opinions, we are one in Christ Jesus. As we work for the kin-dom, we are not islands; we are one body working together to make a difference in this world."
Read MoreThe Northern Illinois Conference recognized five churches with the One Matters Award. The United Methodist Church’s Discipleship Ministries created this recognition to encourage congregations that in the previous year increased baptisms and professions of faith from zero to at least one. The UMC believes that each person matters.
Read MoreGeneral Conference takes thousands of people to help the event run smoothly and do its work. United Methodists from across Northern Illinois participated in General Conference 2020 in many different ways.
Read MoreEarly in the morning of 18 April 2024, 22 members of the Northern Illinois Conference Anti-Racism Task Force, many of whom had participated in last year’s Civil Rights Pilgrimage, boarded a bus or piled into cars to descend on Springfield to speak to state legislators about issues of racial injustice that concern us—with a focus on environmental justice, the school to prison pipeline, and immigration.
Read MoreIn a time of uncertainty about what the future of The United Methodist Church—and most denominations—will look like, Fresh Expressions brings some hopeful direction. You may have heard of “church” taking place in some unusual places in some unusual ways, such as dinner church and pub hymn-sings. These are examples of Fresh Expressions, an intentional, interdenominational creative movement of Christians who bring the gospel to those who would probably never come to a traditional church setting.
Read More