Over 65 youth and adult youth leaders came together the weekend of Sept. 23 - 25 for a fall youth retreat in Lake Geneva. The retreat theme was JOY (Jesus, Others, and You) with a focus on joy in fellowship as reflected in scriptures in Philippians 1—2 and Psalm 133. Rev. Josiah Montgomery, Pastor of East Side UMC in Chicago and Asst. Director of Faith and Action at North Central College (Naperville) was the retreat's guest speaker.
Read MoreThis year’s Laity Sunday falls on Oct. 16. The theme is RISE UP! - and Reveal God’s grace (2 Tim 1:8-12). Under the call to Rise Up, laity in the current quadrennium will continue to echo the invitation of this passage: to Rise Up and revive God’s gift of faith.
Read MoreThis fall, the United Methodist Church will elect new bishops. In the past, bishops were elected following a General Conference and assigned to their Episcopal Areas on September 1 of that same year. Due to the delay in holding a General Conference, special attention was required to care for this vital component of our UM structure. Over the past two years, bishops have retired or gone on medical leave. Sixteen active bishops and four retired bishops are now filling in the gap, serving multiple conferences or returning from retirement, as is the case for Northern Illinois with Bishop John L. Hopkins.
Read MoreIn 1996 I was only in my sixth year in the South Indiana Conference and pastor of The Methodist Temple in Evansville when the delegation selected me as a candidate for bishop. The Rev. Susan Ruach led the delegation through a discernment process to see if anyone should be recommended from South Indiana, where Leroy Hodapp and David Lawson had been elected as bishops by previous jurisdictional conferences. I did not offer myself; they prayed and asked me!
Read MoreThe Discipleship Task Force is excited about the Fall 2022 NIC Book Club selection, Soul Reset by the late Junius Dotson. You may read it on your own, gather a small group of your own together, or join one of the opportunities in place.
Read MoreA Normalizing Next™ Cohort is a six-month group of clergy meeting together once each month in person or virtually to focus on subjects from the cohort curriculum: Normalizing Next™: A Post-COVID-19 Resource for Church Leaders.
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