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Quick Links
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2013 Charge Conference Forms
Forms needed for your 2013 Church or Charge Conference are now available to download from the conference website. Click here.
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Communicator's Corner
EcuFilm will close
United Methodist Communications has announced that EcuFilm, which provides multimedia resources for small groups and churches, will close at the end of 2013. Read the press release.
Advent Prayers
Pray these prayers from Alive Now on your own or with your faith community beginning the first Sunday of Advent, December 1. Click here.
Join the Reclaim Campaign - Fight mandatory sentences
Join others in calling on members of the Illinois General Assembly to oppose SB1342 and any legislation that expands mandatory minimums.
SB1342 imposes mandatory sentences for possessing an unloaded gun without a valid FOID (Firearms Owner Identification) card. Click here for information on how you can take action.
Read NIC Dir. of Connectional Ministries Chris Pierson's blog on why mandatory sentences do more harm. Click here.
New technology will connect United Methodist churches globally
Find-A-Church, the online directory of United Methodist churches, is going global. A mapping project is expanding Find-A-Church to include information on churches outside the U.S. for the first time. Read more.
Peace with Justice grants deadline approaching
Jan. 10 is the deadline to apply for a Peace with Justice grant from the United Methodist General Board of Church & Society (GBCS). Click here for more info.
Deadlines to apply for a 2014 Ethnic Young Adult (EYA) Summer Internship in social justice placements in the U.S. capital are Jan. 11 for applicants outside the U.S. and Feb. 1 for applicants within the U.S. Click here for more info.GBCS Grants for racial/ethnic ministries
Applications for grants up to $10,000 to help local United Methodist churches build ministries that strengthen and support racial and ethnic church concerns are due on Jan. 15. Click here for info.
Young clergy initiative grants
Applications for Young Clergy Initiative grants to develop innovative projects of all sizes that could attract young people to ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church are now open through Feb. 1, 2014. Click here for info.
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SAVE THE DATE for the Church Planters Bootcamp!
The Church Planters Bootcamp with Jim Griffith will be held April 2-4, 2014. Save the date now!
If you support, lead, or are thinking of launching a new church or ministry, this bootcamp will teach you what you need to survive and succeed in the first year of planting. This is event led by Jim Griffith, a nationally known author and church-planting consultant.
More details coming soon. For more information, contact Judy Siaba at 312-346-9766 ext. 724 or jsiaba@umcnic.org.
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Imagine No Malaria -
A Child Shall Lead Them
 All over the Northern Illinois Conference Children are leading the way in the fight against Malaria.
Hailey Noll heard about Imagine No Malaria as a part of Vacation Bible School at St Andrews in Carol Stream. All the children made church banks to collect money for treated mosquito nets for families in Africa whose children have a small chance to live to adulthood if bitten by an infected mosquito. Weeks after the VBS presentation during the "Time for Young Christians", Hailey Noll turned in $31.05 from her bank. She singlehandedly raised enough money to buy three mosquito nets. Thank you Hailey for being God's hands reaching out to three families in Africa.
Hailey is not the only young person leading our churches. At Earlville UMC young people trick or treated for the cause and raised $170!
The Chicago Northwest District Youth are holding a Dodgeball fundraiser Feb 23rd 3-6 pm at Glenview UMC.Questions? Contact hmreyes2002@yahoo.com
This advent season as we await the birth of a child who changed the world, I am amazed by the way children and youth and leading our effort to save lives. Just as all those years ago a baby was born to help save the world.
Won't you join the movement this advent season?
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Martin Luther King Jr.
Remembrance - Speaker Announced
Rev. Dr. Harold Dean Trulear, Healing Communities National Director is our special guest speaker for the Northern Illinois Conference annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Service on Jan. 19 at St. Mark UMC in C
 | | Rev. Dr. Harold Dean Trulear |
hicago. Harold Dean Trulear is Director of the Healing Communities Prison Ministry and Prisoner Reentry Project of the Philadelphia Leadership Foundation. Designed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Healing Communities has been implemented in over 20 sites nationally in partnership with several organizations including; the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the Christian Association for Prisoner Aftercare and most recently the UMC General Board of Church and Society. Read more. Click here to read Trulear's bio.
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Illinois Tornado Relief
Four ways we can help now:* The Illinois Great Rivers Conference disaster advance fund. Send money to: IGRC Disaster Response Fund Advance #6800 - United Methodist Center P.O. Box 19207 Springfield, IL 62794-9207 or donate online by visiting IGRC.org. * Give to UMCOR Advance Special #901670, Disaster Response, United States and then designate it for "Tornadoes 2013." Visit umcor.org and click on donate. * The Midwest Mission Distribution Center needs, in order of priority, money, items for kits, and assembled kits. Visit www.midwestmissiondc.org and click on donate for information on what's needed. * The Northern Illinois Food Bank taking donations by visiting www.SolveHungerToday.org/HelpNow or by texting FOOD to 52000.
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Concealed Carry Posting
Efforts to amend the Illinois State Concealed Carry Law to include places of worship will not be addressed by the state legislature until the spring of 2014. If this amendment passes, churches will be added to a short list of places that are automatically protected in the Concealed Carry joining schools, libraries and others. Meanwhile, permits for concealed carry will begin to be issued in early 2014.
The United Methodist Church in the 2012 Book of Resolutions #3426 concludes with the statement: "Reflecting the traditional role of The United Methodist Church that has been one of safety and sanctuary, every United Methodist Church is officially declared a weapon-free zone."  The Illinois Concealed Carry Law requires signage for those places that wish to be weapon-free. The signage is simple and can be downloaded by clicking here. NOTE: When printing the sign, please ensure the black borders surrounding the "no firearms" symbol measure 4 inches from top to bottom and 6 inches from left to right. Click here for more info. While schools are exempt in the law, churches that house children's programming are not and must post the no weapons sign at all entrances. Persons who work in law enforcement are exempt from the concealed carry law and may continue to carry their weapon in places that are gun free zones.
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The Clergy Retirement Security Program (CRSP) is Changing
General Conference changes to the Clergy Retirement Security Program (CRSP) go into effect January 1, 2014. Both components of CRSP - the Defined Benefit (DB) and the Defined Contribution (DC) - will be modified. Your retirement benefits will be reduced unless you increase your personal contributions to UMPIP to offset the CRSP reductions. To learn more about this change you can go to the GBOPHB website at: http://www.gbophb.org/assets/1/7/4562.pdf You can download a UMPIP agreement and instructions from our Benefits Coordinator, Shirley Burkhart here.
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Grant Applications Due Dec. 30
The NIC Board of Church and Society is currently accepting grant applications for 2014 in two different categories: Emerging Ministries and Peace with Justice.
Use the same application, entitled Universal Grant, to apply in either of these two categories. Please specify which category your program falls under. The form can be downloaded by clicking here. All applications are to be submitted to by Dec. 30, 2013: Rev. Wendy A. Witt 1st UMC/Chicago Temple 77 W. Washington St., FL 2 Chicago, IL 60602 Email: wendy@chicagotemple.org
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Host a Spanish as a Second Language Class
 Applications are currently being accepted for those congregations that wish to host a class for the next 6-week term of introductory Spanish classes. The dates of the term are between February 2 and April 11, allowing a congregation to choose any 6 weeks in this time frame that would best fit their schedule. Would your church like to host a class? Deadline to apply is Jan. 8. Email: ssl@umcnic.org
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 Application Opportunities for New Conference Academy (Hispanic/Latino)!
Do you know someone who is passionate about ministering in the Hispanic/Latino community?
The Office of Congregational Development and Redevelopment has extended the deadline for applying to the new class of the Conference Academy (Hispanic/Latino) for Faith Community Development! This is your opportunity to join a select group of pastors and lay persons who will train together for starting new churches and ministries in a Hispanic/Latino setting that are reaching religious "nones."
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 Rainbow Covenant Open for New Applicants The Rainbow Covenant is a giving program of the Northern Illinois Conference where a local church or individual may choose to give to a specific ministry or program. For ministries wishing to be added to the list of Rainbow Covenant Advances, please use this application. The deadline is Jan. 31, 2014. For those already in the Rainbow Covenant, you do not need to re-apply. Questions? Contact Rev. Shirley Pulgar Hughes, the Conference Mission Secretary at shirleympg@outlook.com or Rev. Michael Mann, Conference staff, at mmann@umcnic.org. Note: Being a Rainbow Covenant Advance will also allow a ministry to have a display table at the Annual Conference. |
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