November

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4-church cooperative ministry adds G-GANG

(November 29) An experiment by four United Methodist churches to provide a cooperative youth ministry is proving to be superior to anything any one of the churches could offer alone. The United Methodist Cooperative Youth Ministry serving Sterling, Rock Falls and Coleta started its second year by expanding its program to include grades four to six.

Originally targeting grades six to 12 with a weekly youth program, the ministry has now added a monthly program for the younger group. (In the photo, some of the G-GANG [God's Guys and Girls] participate in a lesson on unity buiding with the Rev. Polly Klimson, cooperative youth pastor.)

The youth ministry, a cooperative effort of First and Wesley UMCs in Sterling, Rock Falls UMC and Coleta UMC, received financial support to get started from the United Methodist Foundation, Northern Illinois Conference Town and Rural Center, and the Martin Keagy Trust.

The Martin Keagy Advisory Committee made a grant of $5,000 to the ministry. The Keagy Trust was established to support rural ministry, and “the Advisory Committee thinks Martin Keagy would be pleased to see some of his funds used for youth promotion,” said Mabel Balk of Chadwick, who presented the check to the Rev. Polly Klimson, pastor of Coleta UMC and youth pastor for the cooperative.

Grant money from Keagy was targeted for sound equipment, video projector and scholarships for youth events, according to Klimson.

Last fall, the program also received a $3,000 grant from the United Methodist Foundation. That grant funded purchase of musical instruments, sports equipment, resource materials, training for adult and youth leaders and scholarships to attend work camps.

“The Youth Cooperative has been very busy in its first year,” said Klimson. “Besides meeting on our regular Sunday evenings, we took part in Youth Outreach and Souper Bowl Sunday collecting more than $600 for charities, staffed the local homeless shelter after school one week per month and served at a nursing home’s ice cream shop.

The grant from the Town and Rural Center enabled members of the Youth Cooperative to participate in a mission work trip to the United Methodist Midwest Mission Distribution Center in Chatham. The team - seven youths and three adults - packed and loaded school kits and various other supplies to be shipped to Haiti and other Third World countries. They also took cleaning supplies to various homeless shelters and mission sites in the Springfield area.

Prior to leaving for the distribution center, team members worked together to sew 35 school bags and collect supplies to go in them. “Sewing the bags was an intergenerational experience,” Klimson said. “We had an 80-year-old woman working hand in hand with a seven-year-old she had never met before. We had four generations of one family from Coleta sewing, also.”

Other members of the churches donated fabric for the bags, which the team carried to Chatham as a donation to the center.

“The kids were really excited about helping someone else and learning what it means to be homeless,” said Klimson. “They started talking about what it must be like to receive the bags.” She plans to take the youths back to Chatham next year and hopes to stay longer than the two days of the first trip.

Klimson said the four churches support the program in a variety of ways. First, they share in paying her salary as youth minister for the cooperative. Second, they each host the ministry on a rotating basis during the month. Third, each church provides an adult member of the ministry team that encourages children and youths within their respective congregations to participate. Adult members also host the group, providing food when their church hosts the meeting.

The Foundation, Keagy and the Town and Rural Center grants enabled the cooperative to get off the ground more quickly than it might have otherwise. Klimson said that in addition to equipment, grants have paid for scholarships to church camps at both Wesley Woods on Lake Geneva, Wis., and Reynoldswood in Dixon, both of which are run by NIC Outdoor and Retreat Ministries.

The youth group also has provided worship experiences for Rock Falls and Wesley UMCs, and plans to eventually travel to all of the churches to share “their style of worship,” as Klimson describes it.

It wasn’t all work, either, according to Klimson. The group went Christmas caroling last year visiting shut-ins in each congregation. It also traveled to the Quad Cities to watch a Mallard ice hockey game at which a survivor of 9/11 spoke during pre-game activities. There has been an overnight lock-in, a youth rally featuring Peter Eide and a hayrack ride through a corn maze. (In the photo, Elvis groupies perform at a sock hop complete with poodle skirts. Behind the performers is the junior and senior high students' attempt at the world's largest pile of shoes and socks. More than 200 pairs of socks and 100 paris of shoes will be sent to varioius mission sites in northern Illinois.)

The core group, grades six to 12, averages about 15 each week, drawn from a group of 35 who participate regularly.

The new group, God’s Guys and Girls (G-GANG), meets once a month with each church taking turns hosting the meeting. It averages about 12 kids per meeting.

“This has been a learning experience for me and everyone else,” Klimson said. “I’m happy to see the community that’s developing. It was slow at first, but it is happening.”

Klimson said a goal is to foster a program that can become a priority for kids in an environment when their time is already in such demand.

“That’s why we don’t have any juniors or seniors in the program,” she said. “They’re already all scheduled. But we think we’re making headway because a number of the kids in the younger group are brothers and sisters of those in the older group.”

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Broadway receives Open Hearts disabilities award

(November 29) Broadway UMC, 3338 N. Broadway St., Chicago, has been awarded the 2002 Open Hearts Award by Pathways Awareness Foundation recognizing the congregation’s leadership in welcoming persons with disabilities into all aspects and activities of faith life. This award comes with a $1,000 donation to the church.

Keeping with Broadway’s commitment to being a fully inclusive church, building facilities are wheelchair accessible. In addition, hearing enhancement aids, large-print hymnals and bulletins are available.

The award was granted in conjunction with Pathways Awareness Foundation’s Inclusion Awareness Day on Sept. 29.

Broadway’s Nurture Committee, mainly through efforts of Mark Van Hyning, with critical input from Randall Roberts and Fran Markwardt, applied for this award by describing Broadway’s efforts at opening the congregation’s hearts, minds and doors for all of God’s people.

Established in 1988, Pathways Awareness Foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to education for and about children with movement and physical challenges and their families. Activities of the foundation are based on the expertise of the Pathways Medical Round Table that comprises physicians, clinicians and lay advisers.

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South Suburban Korean consecrates facility

(November 22) With their sparkling new sanctuary filled with members and guests, on Sunday, Nov. 3, the congregation of Korean UMC of South Suburban Chicago celebrated its 24th anniversary by consecrating its new 22,750 square foot building addition and commissioning a bevy of laity to serve in leadership positions for the church. (The new addition is shown at left in the photo.)

Dr. Ted Campbell, president of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, preached the sermon for the consecration service and praised the church for its vision.

The $3 million addition includes a 500-seat sanctuary with built-inaudio-visual systems, viewing room for parents with babies, fellowship hall, kitchen, offices, parlor, nursery, eight classrooms or meeting rooms, three individual prayer rooms and 240 new parking spaces.

The addition doubles the size of the original church building at 19320 Kedzie Ave. in Flossmoor. The old sanctuary will be used for the church’s English-speaking congregation, and the old gymnasium is now freed up for recreational activities for children and youths.

Dr. Churl-Soo Suk, chair of the building committee, said the new sanctuary will actually seat 504 people or “556 if we squeeze ourselves close.” Space is available to add chairs to increase seating to 600.

Suk said the church had been talking about expansion for years but took no action until mid-1997 when the Rev. Sung Sang Park, current pastor, was appointed to the church.

In May 1998, a church charge conference approved the expansion plan. Three acres of adjoining land were purchased for $250,000. Plans were developed; ground was broken to begin construction on March 26, 2000. Throughout the process the congregation was raising money - nearly $1.3 million in pledges from its members.

The Rev. Duk Kyu Kwon, superintendent of the North Central Jurisdiction Korean Mission Ministry, said the South Suburban congregation is the first Korean-American congregation in the Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) to construct its own building. He noted that of the 19 Korean-American United Methodist churches in the NIC, only four own their own buildings. (In the photo, the congregation listens to one of the anthems performed by the church's choir during the consecration service.)

“You are leaders in this Conference,” Kwon told the congregation. “Please share your knowledge with other churches.”

South Suburban Korean traces its origins to 1978 when a group of Flossmoor parents started weekend classes to teach the Korean language to children. Classes became a school for Korean-American children meeting in Homewood Baptist Church. In Sept. 1978, 19 of the parents began holding worship services in homes in the Homewood-Flossmoor area. These services moved to Homewood Baptist Church and were held there until Sept. 1979 when the fledgling congregation moved to Olympia Fields UMC and became a United Methodist Mission Church. They acquired the building on Kedzie Ave. in Flossmoor in March 1987. Today the church has about 300 members and an average worship attendance of 250.

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Upper Room, Foundation become ministry partners

(November 22) The Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) United Methodist Foundation and Upper Room Ministries have entered a partnership to provide more opportunities for United Methodists to share in the work and ministry of Upper Room Ministries. The agreement allows NIC United Methodists to make donations to The Upper Room through trusts or gift annuities managed by the Foundation.

“The Upper Room is a valuable resource that nurtures the lives of United Methodists throughout the Conference and around the world,” said the Rev. Richard Heiss, Foundation president, when announcing the partnership. “We look forward to assisting those who want to support this important ministry.”

Since its founding in 1935, URM resources have helped millions of people grow spiritually.

“Many United Methodists are not aware of the depth and breadth of this ministry,” Heiss said. “Many of us also are under the impression that Upper Room Ministries receives significant Church funding. In fact, Upper Room Ministries relies only on income from product sales and fundraising to cover all its costs.”

In addition to The Upper Room magazine, URM provides a telephone prayer ministry that receives approximately 20,000 calls monthly. URM also has a rapidly expanding ministry among young people and is nurturing the life of local congregations through Companions in Christ, a small-group resource used by more than 4,000 groups in local churches.

“One of the best known ministries is the Walk to Emmaus,” said the Rev. John Brown, URM director of development. “With approximately 350 Emmaus communities in this country and internationally, it has touched the spiritual lives of hundreds of thousands of people.”

Brown said it is important to work closely with United Methodist foundations around the country. “We are particularly excited about the planned gift opportunities and the professional expertise available to potential donors who want to support our ministry through their area’s United Methodist Foundation,” he said.

“Given the growing need to expand our ministry both in this country and around the world,” Brown added, “we feel compelled to enter new partnerships with United Methodists and others whose lives have been touched by our ministry.”

Heiss noted, “United Methodists in our region can now support Upper Room Ministries through gifts to the Foundation.”

For more information about gift opportunities available through the Foundation, contact Heiss at the Foundation offices, (312) 346-9766, ext. 103, or send him e-mail at leeheiss@cs.com.

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ChildServ seeks helpers to wrap Christmas gifts

(November 22) ChildServ, a nonprofit child and family well-being agency affiliated with the United Methodist Church, is seeking volunteers to sort and wrap gifts during its annual gift-giving event. Every year ChildServ collects more than 5,000 gifts for children in its programs who live in communities with fewer social and economic resources throughout the Chicagoland area.

Churches, corporations and civic organizations will deliver donated gifts to a sorting center, located at 25 S. Northwest Highway in downtown Park Ridge (the former Walter E. Smithe furniture store).

Volunteers are needed to sort and wrap gifts Dec. 2-11 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and Saturday, Dec. 7, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Individuals and groups are welcome.

For more information or to volunteer, call the Rev. Martha Ross-Mockaitis, director of Church Relations, at (773) 693-0300, ext. 129.

ChildServ also needs department store gift certificates in $20 and $25 amounts. These certificates will be given to children and families who enter our services just before Christmas and throughout January. These children will not otherwise receive Christmas gifts, according to Ross-Mockaitis. New children’s books in Spanish and English are also being sought.

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43 pastors enlist in new Institute
for Congregational Development

(November 15) Forty-three Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) pastors are participating in a three-year training program as part of the newly established NIC Institute for Congregational Development.

Bishop C. Joseph Sprague led a worship service at the first session of the Institute held Oct. 23 at First UMC in LaGrange.

“I celebrate the formation of this Institute,” Sprague said, “not because of institutional survival” but because “at its best it will be about our being further empowered to point to God’s goodness and graciousness and mercy” and to guide to God “those who are wanting the depths of their souls fed.”

2 purposes

The new Institute has two purposes, according to the Rev. J. Martin Lee, NIC director of Congregational Development and Redevelopment. It is to provide support and professional growth opportunities for pastors serving new and developing congregations in the Conference; and it will provide a ready pool of clergy prepared to start new churches and to lead in redeveloping existing churches.

Participants were nominated by their District Superintendents and entered into signed covenants agreeing to full participation in the program.

Participants agreed to read in advance and discuss three books at each of the quarterly meetings of the Institute, or 12 books per year for two years, Lee said. Readings will focus on three areas: new church development, redevelopment of existing churches and leadership development.

Institute participants will visit “teaching churches” in the NIC to learn from pastors and staff what has and has not worked well in their particular settings. Guest speakers will lead seminars, and an annual field trip will take participants outside the Conference to see and experience what outstanding churches in other areas are doing.

High commitment required

“The commitment required of the participants in this program is pretty high,” said the Rev. Gates Vrooman, coordinator of the Institute and member of the NIC Congregational Development and Redevelopment Committee, “but there is a big payoff. Martin and I had thought we would have 14 to begin with, and now we have 43.”

“I had originally planned to have 14 pastors in the first class,” Lee said. “That’s what we had budgeted for. Now I have 43 participants. So, I’m trying to arrange for funding everywhere we go. But it’s very exciting.”

As part of the first session, the Rev. Dennis Buwalda, director of Congregational Development in the West Michigan Conference, led a one-day workshop focusing on “Spiritual Gifts.”

Lee arranged for Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary (G-ETS) in Evanston to subsidize the program by providing room and board for the second session, a two-day retreat held Nov. 5-6 on the G-ETS campus. Dr. Craig Miller, director of Congregational Development for the United Methodist Board of Discipleship, led the two-day seminar based on his book Next Church. Now.

Optimism about future

Participants expressed excitement about the opportunities the Institute has already provided and optimism about the plans for the future.

“It’s a wonderful program,” said the Rev. Christopher Druce Jones, associate pastor of Court Street UMC in Rockford. He said the sessions have been “very insightful and motivating.”

Druce Jones said he expects the perspectives of seminar leaders, experiences of other pastors, knowledge acquired from reading the required texts, and visits to teaching churches to “provide a grounding and a foundation on which to go forth and revitalize an existing church or start a new church.”

“It is another way in which to strengthen the connection of the United Methodist Church by having us as clergy come together from various parts of the annual conference representing various types of congregations,” Druce Jones said. “Struggling and sharing and visioning together as colleagues is just a wonderful thing that this institute provides.”

Insightful questions

The Rev. Dawn Chesser, pastor of Church of the Three Crosses UMC in Chicago, also expressed excitement about the opportunity to meet in intensive sessions with colleagues for three years. “That’s probably the most exciting thing to me about it,” she said. “I’m really impressed with the quality of my colleagues and their creativity and the insightful questions they ask. I’m excited about the opportunity to get to know some of them better.”

But Chesser also expressed excitement about the prospect of developing some expertise in how to revitalize existing congregations. “The thrust of this thing is pretty much on new church development,” she said, “and all the people who participate in this are going to come out of this knowing how to start a church. That’s something you don’t get when you’re a seminary student.”

Chesser surmised that most pastors don’t really know how to do that. She said the NIC will have 43 pastors who are going to be able to take the lead in developing new congregations.

“But those skills will also apply to revitalizing existing congregations and transitioning congregations,” Chesser added. “This will enable us all to help congregations transition much more smoothly from type of worship or group or culture. Because that’s just the reality that we live in. All of us are living in changing communities, and having some expertise in how to respond to the communities changing around us is a very different approach from what we’ve done before.”

“I’m really excited about participating in the whole thing,” Chesser said.

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United Methodists oppose Chicago casino plan

(November 15) United Methodists are speaking out against Mayor Richard M. Daley’s proposal to establish a municipally owned gambling casino in Chicago.

“Not Chicago,” said Bishop C. Joseph Sprague in a press conference held at First UMC/The Chicago Temple. “Not a city of class, culture and community. Not a casino, with all of its slimy connotations. Not a short-term economic windfall instead of solid, long-term funding not only to fill the gaps in the present budget but to meet equitably the pressing needs of our most deprived citizens.”

“This is a world-class city,” Sprague said. “Surely we do not want to step backwards into the gaudiness of casino sleaze in which the rich are mollified while the poor and addicted are manipulated and exploited, once again. We are better than that!”

Sprague called the casino proposal a “cynical, quick and seemingly easy short-term fix that will further line the pockets of the well-placed and well-heeled.”

The bishop called on Mayor Daley to, instead, develop a “long-term strategy for viable economic growth based on the time-tested virtues of the American Dream in which businesses produce valued goods and needed services, workers receive just rewards for dignified and meaningful work and all of us pay our fair share in taxes to benefit the common good.”

Also participating in the press conference were the Rev. Phil Blackwell, senior pastor of The Chicago Temple; Nancy Duel, chair of the Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) Anti-Gambling Task Force; and the Rev. Oscar Carrasco, NIC Director of Connectional Ministries. (In the photo: The Rev. Oscar Carrasco, NIC Director of Connectional Ministries, speaks out against Mayor Richard Daley's proposal for a municipally owned casino in Chicago. Looking on are, left to right, Bishop C. Joseph Sprague; the Rev. Calvin Morris, Community Renewal Society; the Rev. Paul Jakes, Christian Council on Urban Affairs; and the Rev. Philip Blackwell, senior pastor of First UMC/The Chicago Temple.)

Carrasco expressed concern about the “truly devastating” effect a casino would have on the city’s Hispanic community. He noted that gambling has the most heavy impact on minorities and quoted statistics showing that 4.2% of Hispanic-Americans are pathological gamblers; 3.7% of African-Americans are pathological gamblers; and only .5% of Caucasians are classified as such.

“More suffering would come to the 2 million Hispanics in Chicago,” Carrasco said. “So, please, Mr. Mayor, no more casinos.”

Carrasco said gambling would add an “extra layer of suffering” to a group that already suffers from poverty and unemployment. “Gambling would take the money away from milk and food for the children,” he said.

Other participants in the press conference included representatives of Illinois Church Action on Alcohol and Addiction Problems (ILLCAP), Community Renewal Society, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Presbyterian Church U.S.A., Americans for Democratic Action, Independent Voters of Illinois, Neighborhood Capital Budget Group, Chicago Metro Ethics Coalition, Christian Council on Urban Affairs, and Family - PAC.

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22 from Northbrook work at Sioux reservation

(November 15) This summer, 17 senior high youths and five adults from Northbrook UMC rehabbed homes badly damaged by harsh winters and flooding on the reservation of the Dakota Sioux in Fort Totten, N.D.

During the days, the group painted exteriors, cleaned out homes damaged by flooding, built wheelchair ramps and decks, and performed other general carpentry. (In the photo: Members of the youhg group build a deck on a home damaged by harsh winters and flooding. From left are Alex Braden, Halley Bonoma, Taylor McCleneghan, Alvara Zegarra and Tom Nixon.)

On one occasion the youths helped with the emotional healing of a Native American. The students were surprised to be painting a house a different color when it did not appear to need any new paint. Later, they learned that the new color had been chosen by the homeowner’s wife shortly before her death and her husband wanted to honor her choice.

Karen Preusch, a senior at Glenbrook North, said that although they went out to be of service, the trip also proved to be an extraordinary cultural exchange. “None of us had ever experienced the Native American culture,” she said. “It was a whole different world.”

The work team lived in the Tribal High School on the reservation during the stay.

One of the special moments was the community powwow. The Northbrook group learned traditional dances and their meaning.

The group members were also invited to participate by dancing and by beating a ceremonial drum. In the Native American culture, a powwow combines a social event for the community with spiritual enrichment through traditional rituals and individual reflection.

Darrell Ebert, an adult member of the group, said the event was held to raise money and awareness for the treatment of diabetes. He said it was “a truly moving and spiritual experience.” The powwow ended by a closing candlelit ceremony in which all prayed and remembered and honored those who have passed.

This was the third annual mission trip by the senior youths at Northbrook UMC. The student-run group plans its trips a year in advance and raises funds to help pay for the trip.

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59 from Northern Illinois get financial assistance in 2002

Celebrate United Methodist Student Day on Nov. 24

(November 15) More than $8.4 million was awarded to 5,561 students in 2001 through the United Methodist loan fund and scholarship program. That figure will drop considerably in the immediate future due to a major reduction of reserve funds and the volatility of financial markets, said Angella Current-Felder, top executive with the denomination’s Office of Loans and Scholarships, General Board of Higher Education & Ministry, Nashville.

During the past three years, an average of 1,100 students received loans annually through the United Methodist Student Day Offering. “We project that unless the United Methodist Student Day Offering increases, this number will drop to an average of 760 student loans per year,” Current-Felder said.

Current-Felder is encouraging United Methodist congregations to challenge the odds by increasing their collective giving through the Student Day Offering, “so that by the end of the quadrennium, we would have achieved the goal of $1 million a year.”

The United Methodist Student Day is one of the six churchwide Special Sunday offerings. The offering supports the United Methodist Scholarships and Student Loan Fund that helps United Methodist students meet higher education costs. Through this program, United Methodists attending United Methodist-supported schools are eligible for financial assistance. United Methodists attending non-United Methodist schools are also eligible to apply for assistance.

In 2001, the Student Day offering brought in $622,596. Current-Felder also said that in 2001, annual conferences received more in rebated funds than ever before.

Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) raised $12,864 for the Student Day Offering, which will be Nov. 24 this year. Coupled with the World Communion Sunday Offering, NIC provided $35,521 toward loans and scholarships in 2001.

Eighty-five students related to the NIC received loans and scholarships in 2001 totaling $113,158.30.

Fifteen of the students received loans totaling $35,000; 38 received United Methodist Scholarships in the amount of $37,058.30; 12 received financial assistance through wills, annuities, etc. totaling $16,000; nine received ethnic-related scholarships for $8,200; and 11 received Hispanic-American and Native American scholarships amounting to $16,900.

Financial assistance is raised through several channels, including United Methodist Student Day, World Communion Sunday, Native American Ministries Sunday, World Service Funds and the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation.

For 2002, 59 students related to NIC are receiving financial assistance. (See box following this article.)

The Gift of Hope: 21st Century Scholars Program provided an additional $1.2 million in scholarships to 1,200 student leaders for service to their local church, campus ministry, annual conference or on the general church level. Current-Felder said the scholarship program, established for four years from reserve loan funds in 1998, will end this year. “We hope to identify new funding sources that will enable this program to continue for the next quadrennium,” she said.

Scholarship and loan applications for the year 2003 will be available in January, according to Current-Felder.

Name	College or University	Church Affiliation
Solagne Acero	North Park College and Theological Seminary	El Divino Redentor, Chicago
Whitney Baker	North Central College	Trinity, Carpentersville
Sarah Beechler	North Central College	First, Plainfield
Tammy Biltgen	Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary	First, Lockport
Kristine Book	North Central College	First, Dixon
Jacob Bremer	North Central College	Durand
Kendra Bullmer	North Central College	Lena
William Burford	Kendall College	Ivanhoe, Riverdale
Grant Carey	Kendall College	First, Hinckley
Aaron Carter	Illinois Wesleyan	Crete
Shirley Christian	North Central College	Emmanuel, Evanston
Shipra Dass	Northeastern Illinois	Ravenswood Fellowship, Chicago
Lori Ewald	Ohio Northern University	Court Street, Rockford
Zachary Frazer	Cornell College	First, Belvidere
Tanrenita Frazier	Illinois State University	Neighborhood, Maywood
Sarah George	Wartburg College	First, Lockport
Tyler Hansen	North Central College	St. Andrew, Carol Stream
Ashley Harris	North Central College	Wheatland Salem, Naperville
Jedtha Holdeman	North Central College	Grace, Naperville
Susan Hong	Illinois-Urbana/Champaign	First Korean, Chicago
Brian Horst	North Central College	Sycamore
Felicia Howell	Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary	Mandell, Chicago
Eunice Jang	Illinois-Urbana/Champaign	Vision, Mundelein
Hanna Jueng	Missouri - Columbia	Libertyville
Joseph Jueng	Emory	Libertyville
Sam Seung Kim	Trinity International	Asbury Korean, Villa Park
Emily Kingery	Illinois Wesleyan University	Pecatonica
Annamarie Knapp	Central Methodist College	Bethalto
Sarah Kwon	Bryn Mawr College	St. Luke, Bryn Mawr, PA
Emily Lauher	Michigan State	Court St., Rockford
Nathaniel Leung	Carnegie-Mellon University	Hemenway, Evanston
Shannon Lightfoot	Tennessee State University	St. Mark, Chicago
Stacy Lindley	North Central College	Albany
Shanta Loecker	UCLA	First, Evanston
Cheryl Magrini	Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary	Glenview
Peter Maiko	Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary	First, Evanston
Robert Mapes	Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Justin McCoy	Ohio Wesleyan	St. Mark, Chicago
Sarah Merritt	Augustana College - Illinois	Faith, Genoa
Meghan Mikels	North Central College	First, Arlington Heights
Jordan Miller	Vincennes University	First, Vincennes
Wanda Moore	Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary	Engelwood, Chicago
Sarah Nieves-Bodque	University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign	Lincoln, Chicago
Traci Norman	Clark Atlanta	Hartzell, Chicago
Myung-Jin Oh	University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign	Wesley, Urbana
Doha Park	University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign	Sam Mool, Bensenville
Mayra Perez	Northern Illinois	El Divino Redentor, Chicago
Michelle Rabon	Illinois Wesleyan	Grace, Blue Island
Jennifer Roloff	Iowa Wesleyan	Erie
Dana Scotti	Bradley	Maple Park, Chicago
Patricia Scrutchions	Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Nathan Sincock	Cornell College	Galena
Karen Sliozis	Evansville	Libertyville
Gwen Smith	Dominican	Thomson
Katherine Stukel	North Central College	Grace, Joliet
Megan Taber	Westminster College	First, Ottawa
Erin Taylor	American University	Geneva
Neal Thomson	Illinois Wesleyan University	Rock Falls
Veronica Tucker	Northern Illinois	Greater Englewood Parish, Chicago
John Tymonko	Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Kathleen Voigt	Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Sarah Wickets	Kendall College	Memorial, Zion
Massiel Wingeier-Rayo	Guilford College	Peace, Chicago
Naomi Woosnam	Ohio Northern	Albany

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Prisoner Release Ministry requested
to expand service area to southern Cook

(November 15) Prisoner Release Ministry (PRM), a Joliet faith-based organization, has been asked by the Illinois Depts. of Corrections and Human Services to expand its service area to include southern Cook County and the Dixmoor Adult Transition Center.

PRM has been providing employment-related services to help returning offenders find employment for the past 26 years. PRM has found jobs for more than 11,000 people.

“Goal of PRM is to find jobs in southern Cook County for approximately 250 people per year, said Roger Logue, executive director. “To accomplish this goal we will need financial support and employment opportunities from the community’s businesses, churches and individuals.”

For more information, contact Logue at (815) 723-8998.

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West Chicago poised to build new
structure at more visible location

(November 1) First UMC, a congregation that has been in West Chicago for 167 years, is poised to begin work on its sixth construction project, but at a location that is on one of the most heavily traveled roads in the area.

“Our current building, erected in 1902, has slowly but surely become invisible to the community as traffic patterns changed along with new housing developments,” said the Rev. David Haley, pastor. “Now it is time for us to build at a new location if we are to be able to continue our ministry into the future.”

The current church building at 204 Church St. is 100 years old with an educational wing that was added in 1958. The sanctuary seats about 200 people.

“We need more space in all ways,” said Burt Andrews, lay leader. “We need more worship space and more Sunday school space. And we need space that is usable for 21st century people, rather than 20th century people.”

Little noise control

Andrews said the existing multipurpose space used for Sunday school classes “is open so we could use it for a banquet or for a classroom. Consequently, there is very little noise control for that kind of space.”

The existing building isn’t handicapped accessible, has limited parking and is “not on a main thoroughfare,” Andrews said. “Unless you know West Chicago it’s hard for people to find us.”

Five years ago the members of First UMC began working on plans to build a bigger church building in a more visible location. They raised money, bought property, completed site preparation and worked with an architect to design the new building. They plan to raise even more money and hope to begin construction next spring. They think they are about a year and a half away from moving into their new church home.

Third Church Builders Call

To help them fund this major endeavor, First UMC has been named the third Church Builders Call for 2002.

The new site, described as a “windfall” by Haley, is at a busy intersection that people could find easily. “Unless you know West Chicago it’s hard for people to find us,” Andrews said. “This new location is at a major intersection, Rte. 59 and Washington St., and consists of 5.5 acres.”

The new building (shown in the rendering), designed by Oppermann Bilsland Architects, Naperville, will double First UMC’s sanctuary capacity to 400 and include a large gathering area. “One of our keys was to be able to have a central gathering area,” Andrews said. “That will be really nice space.”

“We will have about 18,000 sq. ft. of usable space,” Andrews said, “as opposed to our current 12,000 sq. ft., some of which is in the basement, plagued with mildew and water damage, and not usable for anything except storage.”

The 5.5-acre site will also afford parking for 125 vehicles as opposed to the 25 off-street sites the congregation currently jockeys to occupy each morning.”

First UMC averages about 125 in worship, and within the past two years it began a Saturday evening worship service. In addition, two Hispanic congregations use the facility: 7th Day Adventists on Saturday and Nazarenes at 1 p.m. Sunday. The church has been serving for 17 years as a Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS) site one day a week, and also hosts Moms in School, a day-care service for teenage mothers who want to finish their high school education. Haley said First UMC intends to continue providing space to these ministries.

Needed more space in all ways

“We needed more space in all ways,” Andrews emphasized. The new building will include six classrooms, a gymnasium-sized multipurpose space with kitchen and offices.

First UMC acquired the 5.5 acres at half its market value, thanks to the seller, a former member, getting a tax credit for selling to the church. “Coincidentally, about that same time, we received a gift of stock from the son-in-law of members of our church back in the early 1900s. It paid about a third of the property cost of $200,000,” Andrews said. “The rest was raised within the congregation, so the property is paid for now.”

A pledge drive about 2½ years ago raised $500,000, which has helped the congregation pay as it goes for costs incurred in developing the new building. “We’ll hold a new pledge drive next spring to take us forward,” Andrews said. “We think the cost of the building itself, not counting site work should be around $1.6 million. Site work is figured at about $200,000.”

Sale of the current church building will provide another source of income. Haley said the congregation has already been approached by three organizations interested in acquiring the property. One would establish a community resource center with English as second language courses, health screenings and legal aid for new residents. Another, the Islamic Association of Carol Stream, has sent a letter of interest, and the last is the neighboring West Chicago High School.

“The word is out that First UMC is planning a big move,” Haley said. “The Church Builders Call spreads that word from West Chicago to the rest of the Northern Illinois Conference. We’ve done a lot here through the years, but it has been a well-kept secret. Now we want everyone to know that our congregation, founded in 1835, is moving our facilities and programs into the new century.”

You can help build churches!

Individuals throughout Northern lllinois pledge $25 or more per call — usually three each year.

Funds help purchase land and construct new buildings and parsonages.

Deteriorating buildings have been restored and those damaged by natural disaster have been repaired or replaced.

Conference Board of Global Ministries pays administrative costs, enabling all donations, plus interest, to go to designated churches.

For more about Church Builders and how you may join: contact the Northern Illinois Conference, (773) 380-5060, ext. 223; Dick Roberts, Church Builders chairperson, (847) 823-7267; or Nancy Duel, treasurer, (847) 259-3793.

CCFA to propose $8.15m
budget at Special Session

(November 1) On Saturday, Nov. 23, at a Special Session of the Northern Illinois Annual Conference (NIC), the Conference Council on Finance and Administration (CCFA) will propose a budget for 2003. The proposed budget of $8,156,785 represents a 1.5% increase over the 2002 budget of $8,037,749. The Special Session of Annual Conference will be at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb.

The Conference budget is organized according to the NIC’s four priorities. Priorities and the percentage of the proposed budget they represent are: Developing Leaders for the Church (24%); Developing and Redeveloping the Church (14%); Reconnecting the Connection (28%); and Claiming Christ on the Margins (20%). Conference Administration is 14% of the budget.

This is the second year in a row the NIC has budgeted in excess of $8 million. Meeting the $8,156,786 proposed 2003 budget is predicated on local churches paying 89% of their apportionments, which were set by the Annual Conference in June. That would result in $7,630,452 in apportionment income which would be augmented by $97,759 in District apportionments, $11,000 in estimated interest income, $18,300 in estimated Special Sundays offerings, use of $150,000 from Operation Commitment, $100,000 from restricted Congregational Development funds and $75,274 from other restricted funds.

In the proposed budget, more than 50 local churches and their programs will receive funds as either “Critical Ministries” or “Mission Sites.” In addition, a new church start is planned in Shorewood for 2003 on donated land, and financial assistance is included for African-American, Hispanic, Asian and Native American ministries.

More than 18 line items under the “Caring Communities of Justice” section of Claiming Christ on the Margins address programs dealing with HIV/Aids, disabilities, refugee resettlement, affordable housing development, prisoner release, anti-gambling and support for Rockford Urban Ministries.

Ministries for children and seniors include funds for ChildServ, Marcy-Newberry Association, Rosecrance Health Network, United Voices for Children and United Adult Services.

Developing Leaders for the Church includes support for several programs working with young people. These include Super Rally, Youth Outreach, Junior High Rally, the Pembroke Institute and Outdoor and Retreat Ministries.

An amount of $120,000 is in the recommended budget for the relatively new Institute for Congregational Development and training grants for two churches per District to be enrolled in the program. The Institute itself was budgeted for the first time in 2002 at $12,500 to cover start-up costs. Its first meeting was held last month in LaGrange with more than 40 clergy in attendance. The grants, totaling $100,000 of the total, are up from $10,000 in 2002.

The Board of Pensions is budgeted to receive $150,000 to support health benefits and pension liabilities. That’s up from $100,000 in the 2002 budget and $68,544 actually spent in 2001.

To balance the proposed budget, the Conference Council on Ministries (CCOM) cut its Emerging Ministries fund, which supports innovative and new ministries created during the fiscal year, from $40,000 in 2002 to $15,000 for 2003. CCOM also cut the Igniting Ministry budget, which pays for regional television advertising to support the denomination’s national cable TV evangelism campaign, from $50,000 in 2002 to 0 for 2003. But the NIC Communications Commission reinstated $20,000 for Igniting Ministry by rebudgeting $20,000 approved by CCOM to conduct a Conference Communications Audit.

The Communications Commission plans to replace the audit with a one-day Communications Consultation and visioning session on Saturday, Dec. 7, conducted by staff from United Methodist Communications who will share what they have learned from conducting audits in annual conferences across the country.

The recent move of Conference program and Administrative offices out of the Lutheran Building on Higgins Road is projected to save nearly $20,000 from the 2002 budget amount.

CCFA arrived at the proposed 2003 budget through consultation meetings with CCOM and other organizations that requested funding. The original requests for funding came in at nearly $1 million higher than the final document that will be presented to Annual Conference.

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Kingston Friendship Center living up
to promise to be bridge

(November 1) The Friendship Center opened a year ago in Kingston as a venture by Kingston UMC to build a bridge connecting the old to the young and as a facility where residents could meet in an atmosphere of respect for each other. One year later, the one-story building at 120 Main St. seems to be living up to Kingston UMC’s vision.

It is the meeting place for the Boy Scouts and the American Legion, and houses other community organizations and hosts holiday festivities and special events.

According to Sue Weber, a member of Kingston UMC, The Friendship Center has been attracting a wider variety of groups from Genoa and Kirkland, as well.

The vision for the center began to take shape four years ago when the American Legion donated it to the church because the Legion could no longer maintain the building as its post. Kingston UMC accepted the building and began remodeling it into a multipurpose structure that can accommodate activities from small meetings to large family gatherings.

Kingston UMC rehabbed the building, which had dirt for half of its floor, into a structure with carpet and tile for the floor, and a kitchen, complete with dishes, tables and chairs. Restrooms and showers are available and the remodeled building is accessible to the handicapped.

Weber said the church originally accepted the building as a location to develop a teen center and an after-school program for tutoring.

Weber said it is hoped that eventually the center will pay for itself, but in the meantime a variety of fund-raising activities, including a garage sale on the premises, are helping to pay off the construction loans.

For more information about the center, contact Kingston UMC, (815) 784-2010.

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Rosecrance opens new home

(November 1) This fall, Rosecrance Health Network, Rockford, celebrated opening Hillman House, a Monarch Recovery Home Program located at 2415 E. State St. The home is named in honor of the Swan Hillman family, who lived in the home for many years.

“Sometimes the primary treatment experience stabilizes a young person, but only gets that teen halfway to where he or she needs to be,” said Rosecrance President/CEO Philip Eaton, who participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony with Mayor Doug Scott and other dignitaries. “Our two Monarch Recovery Homes programmatically respond to this need for female adolescents. In fact, these are the only two licensed recovery homes for girls in the state of Illinois.”

Hillman House, built in the late 1920s and recently restored, has a capacity to serve 12 girls, ages 15-18, who have completed a primary substance abuse treatment program.

Monarch Recovery Homes offer services that focus on developing the skills and personal characteristics needed for these young women to live independently in the community and/or effectively reintegrate with their families or caregivers. The homes provide 24-hour supervision by qualified professionals in a drug-free environment.

The other Monarch Recovery Home is Sullivan House, which is located in a turn-of-the-century Victorian home on the near northeast side of Rockford. Capacity for it is also 12.

Founded in 1916, Rosecrance provides substance abuse treatment services for children, youths, adults and families. Affiliates include Rosecrance on Alpine, Rosecrance on Harrison and The Rosecrance Foundation. For more information, contact Lynne Vass, CFRE, vice president of development for The Rosecrance Foundation, (815) 391-0100, ext. 413.

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