| September 1, 2011 |
Please send emails about e-news or the Reporter to Anne Marie Gerhardt, Dir. of Communications at communications@umcnic.org. All submissions for e-news must be received, in writing no later than 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday each week. The deadline for the October Reporter is September 15. |
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Bishop on Renewal Leave
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Bishop Hee-Soo Jung will be on Renewal Leave this fall beginning September 1 and concluding December 15. Every four years, Bishops in the United Methodist Church are required to take a three month renewal.
Bishop Jung will spend much of his renewal time in Seoul, South Korea as a guest lecturer at Methodist Theological Seminary as well as visiting family and friends.
Bishop Jung will return to Northern Illinois for two weeks in mid-October to participate in the China Bible Exhibition. In addition the Bishop will travel to Japan in November on a Disaster Relief mission.
Our prayers are with the Bishop that he might experience a time of spiritual renewal and physical refreshment.
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Quick Links
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Justice For Our Neighbors Northern Illinois Conference (JFON-NIC), a program offering free, high-quality immigration legal services, is now online. Visit www.jfonnic.org 
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Now Available: Annual Conference 2011 DVDs
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Annual Conference
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Several DVDs are now available from Annual Conference sessions including the Ray Buckley Bible Study. Some are available to view on-line or download, others may be borrowed or purchased from the NIC Media Resource Center. More to come soon...To view the videos online click here... |
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Upcoming Events
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Plumbline registration is now past due. Any applications received at this time will be added to the names already on the wait list. Names will be added in the order they are received.
Pan-African Rural Health & Social Services (PRHeSS) Annual Banquet - Sept. 10
Hopefest 2011
Retirement Seminar
Aurora Shalom Ministries -Kids Club
Registration open
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Alert the Senate and Congress - Horn of Africa Refugee Assistance
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See attached 'faith leaders letter' requesting increased funding to support refugees and displaced populations.
The letter will be sent to members of Congress and the Senate, and we hope you will sign on.
Please forward to others you feel should be informed as well.
PLEASE NOTE: Send all sign-ons, with the name of the signer, faith affiliation, and city and state, to awhite@episcopalchurch.org by Tuesday, September 6.
Faith Leaders Letter
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UMCOR Responds to Hurricane Irene
|  The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) is in contact with annual conferences up and down the East Coast that were affected by Hurricane Irene. Initial assessments reveal a range of damage, with New England, particularly in Vermont, and Greater New Jersey reporting very heavy damages due to flooding. In some conferences, such as Upper New York, Greater New Jersey, and Eastern Pennsylvania, rivers have not yet crested, and flooding is expected to continue over the next few days. UMCOR already has responded to grant requests for emergency funding from five of the conferences. Read more. UMCOR also is in contact with Puerto Rico and Bahamas Methodist Habitat (BMH), a disaster relief and emergency home-repair outreach of the Bahamas Conference of the Methodist Church. Both are assessing damages, and UMCOR is prepared to respond. To learn how you can provide cleaning buckets for communities affected by the storm, click here. To support Hurricane Irene recovery, please give to US Disaster Response, UMCOR Advance #901670 and earmark your check for Hurricanes 2011. Give now >> |
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Hyatt Boycott Update-
Demand Hyatt Reinstate Mario Morfin
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 | | Mario Morfin at Annual Conference |
Mario Morfin, a server at the Park Hyatt Hotel in Chicago was unjustly fired by Hyatt management on Tuesday August 23, 2011, according to Unite Here, Local 1.
Mario is an active union member and strong advocate for all hotel workers. He is a leader of the Hyatt boycott, in which workers at 18 Hyatt hotels have called for boycotts of their hotels, seeking fair treatment by Hyatt. As part of his advocacy, on June 9 he spoke at the Northern Illinois Annual Conference in favor of the Hyatt boycott resolution. Send a message to Park Hyatt General Manager Walter Brindell Hyatt and CEO Mark Hoplamazian to immediately reinstate Mario Morfin and to treat all of its workers with justice. Click here. |
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9/11 Worship Resources
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Credit: Jeff Kubina
Creative Commons License 2.0.
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As we prepare to remember and mark the 10th Anniversary of 9/11, many worship resources-- preaching, worship elements, and songs-- are available on the GBOD website, especially in a Remembering 9-11 section. Also available is a resource to guide leaders and parents as they journey with children who have no remembrance of September 11, 2001, but who will see images and hear stories of the devastating loss of that day. Click here for the 40 days of prayers for children. Several Northern Illinois Churches are participating in community service events on 9/11. Click here for more information.
On the evening of Saturday, September 10, 2011, The Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago (CRLMC), in cooperation with the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC), will be hosting An Evening of Remembrance: 10th Anniversary of September 11, 2001. The event will be held at Daley Plaza, 50 West Washington in Chicago, from 8:30 to 9:30pm. Click here for more information.
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Support DREAM Sabbath
|  Interfaith communities across the country are asked to choose a Sunday between September 16 and October 9 to conduct a conversation about the DREAM Act. A free downloadable toolkit is available to help congregations participate in the DREAM Sabbath. Click here to download. Congregations are urged to Sign up for a Sunday online to ensure sponsors and others in their area are aware of your church's participation. For more info click here. *A recent statement on immigration by President Obama clarified how immigration laws will be enforced, especially for 300,000 people currently detained. However, this statement does not end the need for a DREAM Act. It does not provide a path to earned status for these DREAMers, and it changes no immigration laws. Justice For Our Neighbors (JFONNIC) has more information about the recent statement by the Obama Administration. See jfonnic.org for details. Alabama immigration law put on hold read more>> |
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Safe Sanctuary Training -September 17
|  Participants will be trained in safe and appropriate procedures for keeping children, youth and vulnerable adults safe in all church environments. Saturday, September 17 9am-3pm
Location: First UMC Elgin 216 E. Highland, Elgin A $20 registration fee will cover the training, a box lunch, your $5 background check and training materials.
Individuals or church groups are encouraged to register by calling the Outdoor and Retreat Ministries office at 800-642-2267 or email Connie Colon at orm@niccamp.org. or download the form to mail in. |
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New Rainbow Covenant Book
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The NEW and updated 2012-2015 Rainbow Covenant book is now available on-line. This book includes all advances approved at the 2011 Annual Conference.
You may access your copy immediately at by clicking here or visiting www.umcnic.org and click on global ministires.
Print copies will be available in limited quantities (due to printing costs) by September 15.
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UM Missionaries Visit the NIC
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The Rev. Nkemba and Mbwizu Ndjungu, UM missionaries to Cameroon, with their children.
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Long-time UM missionaries, Nkemba and Mbwizu Ndjungu, will be itinerating within the Northern Illinois Conference from September 21 through October 14, 2011. While in Illinois, Nkemba and Mbwizu are available for visiting churches and discribing their work in Cameroon. The NIC Board of Global Ministies is accepting invitations for the Ndjungus. If your church or small group would like to meet with Nkemba and Mbwizu during their itineration, please contact Wally Calaway at 630-910-1179; wcalaway@sbcglobal.net to make arrangments.
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Summer Mission Trip Highlights
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11 youth and 5 adults from the Dundee United Methodist church traveled to Rochester, NY to spend the week of July 5th with other youth groups from Florida, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, and other states to work on homes in the urban areas of Rochester.
Work crews scraped and painted homes, built wheelchair access ramps, repaired decks and stairs, and spent time with their residents. The group participated in daily devotions and nightly worship celebrations learning how to better connect God and other people.
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Local Church Events
| Local church events are posted on the web.
Read about August Events Read about September Events |
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