News

Bishop Hill designated historic site

Bishop Hill UMC was recently designated as a United Methodist historic site. A marker, issued by the General Commission on Archives and History of The United Methodist Church was dedicated in an Aug. 22 service. Bishop Hill is historic site 450 among United Methodist historic sites.   The Aug. 22 ceremony marks the end of a process that included application by the church, recommendation by the Conference Commission on Archives and History, approval by a majority of the Annual...

Compassionate care: diverse group of parish nurses graduate

  By D.W. Norris The Southern   CARTERVILLE — It took about a dozen years for it to happen, but everything finally came together for nurse and respiratory therapist Steve Rhodes to become a parish nurse with Southern Illinois Healthcare.   Rhodes said he helped start a home visitation program with SIH 12 years ago. This summer was his first chance to take the next step and become a parish nurse. Rhodes was one of a dozen nurses who took part in a graduation...

First Thursdays: Cabinet's call resonates with IGRC United Methodists

The idea was simple enough: What would happen if 140,000 United Methodists in the southern two-thirds of Illinois set aside a day a month to fast and pray for a common need or dream? And so, when Cabinet co-chairs Randy Reese and Janice Griffith stood before the 2010 IGRC Annual Conference, they issued the invitation for folks to join them on the first Thursday of the month for First Thursdays: A Call to Prayer and Fasting. And while the initial invitation was not met with as much...

O'Fallon First UMC partners with Polish congregation

If you have ever met Pastor Janusz Daszuta you would never forget his big booming voice, his energy, or his visionary spirit. There is no doubt he is a “Man of God” by his actions and his speech. Pastor Daszuta is the lead pastor of  Kielce UMC in Kielce, Poland and conducts a huge   Vacation Bible School Day Camp in the rural community of Zaborze, Poland.   In June seven members from O’Fallon, First UMC departed for Poland full of enthusiasm and...

Dates needed for 2011 Program Calendar

Groups, committees, task forces and other conference entities that wish to have their events included in the 2011 IGRC Program Calendar are asked to submit those events by Thursday, Sept. 30. Due to rising production costs, the 2011 Program calendar will not be printed this year but will be available for download for anyone free of charge. Persons can download the PDF and print the pages they desire. The PDF calendar will not be updated throughout the year so any changes will only be updated...

M2LIVE Conference coming to Chicago

Church leaders or volunteers interested in learning to develop an effective social media strategy, create a more appealing and usable church website or would like to grow ministry using web technology are invited to participate in M2Live Chicago Oct. 8-9 at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. Online registration is available at: www.m2live.org   M2LIVE training events feature insight from many of today’s brightest church web evangelists.   Kem Meyer, Communication...

Honduras Summit slated for Oct. 6-9

The General Board of Global Ministries’ Annual Honduras Summit will be held at Alton Main Street UMC Oct. 6-9. Representatives from the General Board of Global Ministries, missionaries from Honduras, work team members from around the country, and leaders from our Annual Conference will be attending this summit. Bishop Palmer will be preaching Friday night, Oct. 8.     IGRC is pursuing a relationship with Honduras and this summit will be an easy opportunity to get acquainted...

The Well youth worker's event to be held at eight sites

The Well, a seminar for youth ministry leaders, is a three hour, close to home meeting for the purpose of connecting, equipping and encouraging youth ministry leaders. The morning includes a session, discussion... and lunch with area youth leaders. The event is open to all youth workers - staff or volunteer from all sizes of congregations. There are eight scheduled Wells around Illinois in the fall of 2010. You must register for this event by clicking the hyperlink that is a part of the...

Cunningham Home celebrates 115 years of ministry

URBANA -- Cunningham Children’s Home alumni representing every decade from the 1930’s to the early 2000’s came home to reminisce and reconnect on July 25, 2010. In celebration of the Home’s 115th Anniversary, Cunningham opened its campus to more than 300 former residents, staff, and guests. Visitors were invited to tour the schools, cottages, recreational facility, and most other buildings. The Heritage Room was filled with photo albums for alumni to sift through...

Arson suspected in Midland UMC fire

KINCAID – Arson is suspected in an Aug. 1 fire that damaged the Midland UMC and community leaders have called in federal authorities to investigate the matter. The church, located in this Christian County community, sustained damage throughout the building and sidelined the community food pantry. The fire was discovered about 4:45 a.m. as firefighters and deputies had just put out a fire of a van located not far from the church. That fire has also been termed “suspicious.&rdquo...

Inside Out Young Adult Conference Sept. 24-25

Living the Adventure Ministries presents the Inside Out Young Adult Conference Sept. 24-25 at Edwardsville St. John’s United Methodist Church. This conference is geared to young adults (ages 18-35) featuring The Great Romance leading the worship experiences and Matt Henson speaking. Inside Out provides opportunities for Young Adults to come together for worship, learning, community, and missions. Friday night will feature a worship experience and coffeehouse. On Saturday,...

Information on Pakistan flood relief

There are many petitions for flood relief in Pakistan circulating.  Some of these are patently bogus, but others may or may not be legitimate.  Below is some information from Melissa Crutchfield of UMCOR relative to relief for Pakistan. All donations can be given to UMCOR International Disaster Response, Pakistan Flooding: #982450 at the following link: http://secure.gbgm-umc.org/donations/umcor/donate.cfm?code=982450&id=3019041 (use drop-down box for designation to...

Bishop to visit with local church leaders

Bishop Gregory V. Palmer will be visiting with local church leaders -- lay leaders, lay members to annual conference, chairs of church council, trustees and staff-parish relations committees; worship leaders, Sunday School leaders and leadership -- in a series of district gatherings this fall. The purpose of the events is to build relationships and equip and empower laity for the disciple-making task. In each gathering, Bishop Palmer will have an opening devotion and discuss the...

Advocacy for Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House

Lessie Bates Davis Neighborhood House is owed more than $1.4 million from the State of Illinois for services that the agency has provided over the past six months. The serious delay in payments from the state has been going on now for more than 18 months. In 2009, the hundreds of United Methodist Churches throughout the Illinois Great Rivers Conference provided support to the Neighborhood House to help it keep its doors opened. Now again, because of the delay in payments from the state,...

Beulah Holiness campers tackle Habitat projects during Mission Blitz 2010

ELDORADO — Campers from Beulah Holiness Campground are directing their mission blitz this year at Habitat For Humanity houses in Saline County. "This year we are teaming up with Habitat for Humanity, junior high, high school and college youth at the camp," said the Rev. Stephen King, pastor at Mason City and San Jose UMC's. On July 27, the blitz team worked on renovating the Habitat house in Eldorado, which was left in a state of disrepair by the previous inhabitants. The...

Conference approves 2011 budget with less than 1 percent increase

PEORIA -- Members of the annual conference approved a budget for 2011, created a committee to address disability concerns, amended a resolution concerning immigration reform prior to its approval and while voting not to recommend shortening the annual conference session by a day, recommended that budgetary matters be put on the front burner and dealt with earlier. 2011 budget The 2011 conference budget (LI 103) approved by the 2010 Annual Conference will have a different impact for...

Saturday at annual conference

The final day of Annual Conference will focus on the praise aspect of passionate worship. Bishop Gregory V. Palmer will preach the third and final Morning Manna session at 8:30 a.m., followed by a visit from the children of the Annual Conference. The conference will honor two individuals who have made valuable contributions to Scouting with the awarding of Torch Awards. A video will highlight other award recipents for a variety of efforts, including scholarships, church growth and evangelism...

Commission on Religion and Race Monitoriing Report

The Commission team has attempted to offer some sense of the inclusivity of our annual conference attendees. Indeed, every event has not been monitored, thus we offer this summary as a snapshot. Did you know that? The Conference Nominations Report reflects that ·         581 members across are serving on Conference level committees and among these 75 ethnic members are represented. ·         The...

God's call: being trustworthy prophets

Listen to Bishop Palmer's sermon PEORIA – Bishop Gregory V. Palmer said the call to be trustworthy prophets is not exclusive to clergy but is a call to “get with God’s program.” Palmer said that such prophets learn to listen, develop skills to deeply listen and tell the truth.   “May it be said that when God looks for trustworthy prophets, God will say, ‘I found them in central and southern Illinois,” Palmer said. “God doesn’t need...

Cabinet calls for streamlined assessments, day of prayer and fasting

Listen to the Cabinet Address Download and read the Cabinet Address PEORIA – While the 2010 Cabinet address may have resembled a coach’s speech, it was also a call for renewed commitment to the vision and mission of the church. Cabinet co-chairs Randy Reese and Janice Griffith shared reflections of the past year and challenged those gathered for the 2010 Annual Conference to a time of prayer and fasting.   “Over the past several years, the Cabinet and conference...