2010 NIC Report

The 171st Northern Illinois Annual Conference gathering took place June 13 through 16. The report made to the congregation on the weekend of June 26-27 is presented here. This report was originally prepared by Carl Gilmore, one of the conference delegates. Click on the links at left for the sections.

Introduction

The 171st Northern Illinois Annual Conference gathering took place June 13-16 with the theme, "Bold Disciples - Abundant Fruit." Community UMC was represented by clergy Mark Jacobs, Melissa Hood and Beth Elders, and lay members Ollie Taylor, George Groves, Dottie Van Marter, Mary Markwell, Carl Gilmore and David Hollander.

They were our eyes and ears and, perhaps most importantly, voices, as United Methodists across the Northern Illinois area gathered to renew our connection, worship together, transact conference business, celebrate some milestones, and engage in earnest discussions about the future of our conference.

For several of us, this was our first time at Annual Conference, but it was agreed by both new and returning members that this year was an excellent experience on many fronts. Each day opened and closed with song and fellowship, and in between we worked and worshipped, prayed and praised, as we moved the Northern Illinois Conference forward.

Celebrations

There were several celebrations that were shared by this year's participants. For the first time, a concurrent Youth Rally was held during Sunday's opening day events as clergy and laity held orientation sessions. The day culminated in a Youth Celebration and Opening Worship with Bishop Hee-Soo Jung and Delia Ramirez of Humbolt Park UMC presiding and emphasizing that "Young people are not the future of the church; they are the present." On Monday, a memorial service was held for clergy, spouses and lay members to Annual Conference who had died in the previous year.

Tuesday morning was a celebration of clergy and conference staff retiring from the Northern Illinois Conference this year, but as the saying goes, "in with the new," for Tuesday night was an Ordination Ceremony for six Deacons, including our own Beth Elders, and thirteen Elders. Also on Tuesday was a celebration of our relationship with the Seoul South Conference of the Korean Methodist Church, whose Bishop Young Hun Lim was a special guest at that evening's Ordination.

We celebrated all the appointed clergy on Wednesday, including the reappointment of Mark Jacobs, Melissa Hood, and Beth Elders to Community UMC.

Ordination

Beth Elders, Director of Christian Education at Community UMC, was ordained a Deacon at the 2010 Northern Illinois Conference. Above, Beth is surrounded by her friends and well-wishers.

Legislation

Locally, the main "business" of each Annual Conference is to review, discuss, amend (if the group sees necessary), and vote on the legislation that various groups and individuals propose throughout the year.

This year we returned to the use of Legislative Sections, to categorize and break up the proposed documents for discussion and preapproval (or rejection) before they were given a final vote before the entire body. The sections were Church and Society, Discipleship, Global Ministries, Administration (which included the conference budget), and Order, with both clergy and laity assigned at random to one section.

There were 34 documents submitted, and the overwhelming majority of them were approved. The documents that were not passed were mostly centered on the relationships between the United Methodist Church and other Methodist bodies throughout the world.

There was a strong spirit of inclusion in much of the approved legislation, specifically regarding how to move the church's focus outward in service and ministry and addressing how congregations welcome those with adaptive needs and the GLBT community into participation and membership. We debated, and continue to deliberate, about how to be fully inclusive and connectional as Methodists while continuing to recognize that churches that minister in many varied areas of the world will have local concerns and customs that are specific to them.

Sadly, but unfortunately necessarily, two of the pieces of legislation that passed were regarding the discontinuation of UMC congregations in Ohio, Illinois, and nearby at Oswego Prairie. We memorialized and prayed for them, even as we celebrated the plans that have already sprung up for their members' renewal.

We received summary reports of the 2008 Constitutional Amendments that were proposed at General Conference; several of the failed Amendments were on similar topics.

Harvest 2020

One of the pieces of legislation that was particularly lifted up was the continuation of the Harvest 2020 Initiative through a Special Sunday recognition and dedicated Harvest 2020 Fundraising. Additionally, a special session of the Conference was dedicated to the Harvest 2020 experience and the ways in which it is a mindshift in how we do ministry. We heard from congregations that are a part of this initiative, either as Redeveloped Communities or as New Church Plants.

Pastor Chris Coon of Urban Village Church in Chicago (who visited Community last fall) spoke of how he and Pastor Trey Hall have planted and are continuing to grow. Former Community Associate Pastor Jamie Geiger talked about the partnership between his congregation at Libertyville UMC and Word of Life. New plant Shorewood UMC and its partnership with Sharon UMC in Plainfield were also recognized.

Again and again, we heard witness of how we must go to the places where the people are, echoing John Wesley:

"I look on all the world as my parish, ... in whatever part of it I am ."

Rev. Gil Rendle

To a person, your clergy and lay members agreed that the presentations and discussions led by Rev. Gil Rendle were an inspiring and challenging call to look in new ways and then address issues that have been percolating around Community Church for some time. He called on us to make "deep change," and admonished us not to come back to you thinking that we had answers, but to be better able to ask good questions. He reminded us that the work we are about is not changing other people, but being reformed ourselves for the work of the church.

Rendle often approaches his presentational ministry from a business perspective, and he provided several interesting models to think about and work from. In one instance, he highlighted the tension between the Moses model of leadership, which asks "Are we doing the right things?" and Aaron's process of management that wants to know, "Are we doing things right?"

From a systems approach, he asked us to transform our traditional "outputs" of satisfied clergy and a happy congregation into inputs whose new goal (or outcome) is disciples. He also pointed out that hope is not a passive activity; it must be engaged in the attainment of the goal that is hoped for.

Followup

This was a truly inspiring event, and your representatives have been charged to bring its insights to the congregation. Your Conference team has met once already to share impressions and brainstorm ways in which we can carry the questions to various ministries at Community. If you are inspired to further participate in this important conversation, or are at least curious for more information, please feel free to contact any of the team members.

Let us all continue our "Traveling Together," in love and fellowship, as we "make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world."