October

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150 junior high youths participate
in rally that’s ‘Out of this World’

(Oct. 31) About 150 youths from 19 churches gathered at Clock Tower Resort in Rockford Oct. 17 and 18 to participate in the Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) Junior High Youth Rally. Youngsters took part in small group Bible studies, team-building exercises and had lots of fun, according to participants.

Theme of this year’s rally, sponsored by the NIC Council on Youth Ministries (CCYM) for kids in sixth to eighth grades, was “It’s Out of This World.” Workshops emphasized what it is like to be an alien in a strange land, and focused on biblical stories such as Noah and Moses. Members of each workshop were called upon to contribute something they learned to worship services led by the Rev. Anne Utterbach, Mokena UMC pastor.

Charles Gardiner, age 12, from Hemenway UMC, Evanston, called the event fun. “I am learning a lot more from the Bible and how to trust God,” he said.

Kelly Leung, 13, also from Hemenway, attended the junior high rally before and gave this event thumbs up. “I’m learning what God expects of us,” she said.

The Rev. Lisa Telomen, Hemenway pastor, brought a group of six kids and three adults from her congregation. She has been bringing kids to the event for several years. “It’s good to see kids in large groups,” she said. “It’s good to see kids from elsewhere and learn what they’re doing. The speakers and music here present God in different ways than we can, and the event does more with team building and large groups.”

Sam Brown, 14, from Norway UMC said he liked the point the rally’s organizers were trying to get across about being aliens not just in other lands, but at times in our lives. “I’ve thought about that a lot lately,” he said.

“This is really fun,” said Shawna Parker, 12, from Grace UMC, Joliet. “They know how to explain things to you on your level. I’ve learned some of these things before, but they’ve explained it to me so well.”

Shawna performed enthusiastically as back-up drummer to NIC evangelist, the Rev. Rich Rubietta, who provided music for the event. Shawna admitted that she had no experience on the African drum, but she volunteered nonetheless.

Team-building activities included working together to pass someone through a rope maze without touching the sides and trying to walk as a group with everyone’s feet strapped to two wood beams. Other activities ran the gamut from performing Bible stories with ordinary household items, such as plastic wrap and aluminum foil, to making get-well cards for hospitalized youths.

Taryn Smith, 15, was one of eight from a cooperative youth ministry including Norway, Sheridan and Serena UMCs. Smith, from Serena, described the event as great fun. “I’m involved in doing a lot of singing and dancing,” she said.

Miranda Murley, 14, from Sheridan UMC, said the event is “something to bring the kids closer.” She said it was fun learning the games they played with other youths.

Adults that accompanied kids to the rally didn’t just stand around watching the fun, according to the Rev. Paul “Nick” Nicholas, youth minister at First UMC, Downers Grove. “We put them to work leading workshops and helping with team building,” he said.

Ana Kelsey-Powell, youth leader at Bethany of Fox Valley UMC, Aurora, brought two kids. She was put to work in the get-well card area. “This is a great event,” she said. “The kids are having so much fun.”

Nicholas said NIC’s Outdoor and Retreat Ministries (ORM) provided “a lot of support.” He said ORM’s Lisa Thompson directed the team building exercises, and she and Bruce Nelson, ORM director, helped with logistics and event design.

Junior High Rally is part of a four-pronged program CCYM intends to implement in Northern Illinois. The plan is to sponsor a major event each quarter. Youth Mission Outreach will take place in the fall, late September or early October. Junior High Rally will be held in the winter: The next event is scheduled for February 2005. Super Rally for high school youths will be in the spring, usually late April. In the summer, CCYM wants to hold training for persons who work with youths.

CCYM is looking for design team members, especially for the youth worker event, for 2004-2005. Anyone interested can contact Nelson, (800) 642-2267. CCYM is also looking for members to work on the next junior high rally. Anyone interested should contact, Rachel Birkhahn-Rommelfanger, (773) 506-7406.

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110 years of deaf ministry celebrated Christians

(Oct. 31) At the invitation of the Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) Director of Connectional Ministries, United Methodists from around the United States gathered in the NIC Oct. 16-18 for a three-day celebration of the Church’s 110 years of ministry with the deaf and hard of hearing.

That ministry was founded in 1893 at First UMC of Chicago, The Chicago Temple, in 1893 by Dr. Phillip Hasenstab, the first deaf person to be ordained an Elder in the Methodist Church.

On Saturday, Oct. 18, Hasenstab’s ministry was celebrated at The Chicago Temple. With Hasenstab’s grandchildren and great grandchildren watching, Dr. Kent Olney, professor of sociology at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, told the story, through sign language, of Hasenstab’s ministry.

“All the deaf would gather every Sunday afternoon at 3 o’clock on the third floor of the First Methodist Church building that was on this corner,” Olney said, noting that more than 200 people attended each service, most of whom were deaf. On Easter Sundays, Olney said, the congregation often grew to more than 450.

Hasenstab was full-time pastor of Chicago Mission for the Deaf from 1893 until his death in 1941.

The celebration of the denomination’s ministry with the deaf began Oct. 16 with a music presentation by the choir from Christ UMC of the Deaf in Baltimore, Md., and a workshop on “What do you do if a deaf person comes to your church?” at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston. On Oct. 17, workshops were held at Centennial UMC in Rockford, followed by a choir concert.

“It is important for United Methodists to recognize that deaf people are gifted and graced for ministry,” said the Rev. Peggy Johnson, pastor of Christ UMC of the Deaf in Baltimore, Md., and consultant for the United Methodist National Committee on Ministries with Deaf, Late-Deafened, Hard of Hearing and Deaf-Blind People. “We must empower deaf people for ministry and not just try to service them. The empowerment model is the harder one, but it is the right one.”

Catherine Vaccarino, member of the Christ UMC of the Deaf choir, signed that the conference was important to her because “it is important for me to learn about our history.”

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GBGM Senegal Mission consultation is Nov. 14-15

(Oct. 31) Community UMC, 20 N. Center St., Naperville, will host the first Consultation on the Senegal Mission Initiative, sponsored by the General Board of Global Ministries (GBGM) Friday and Saturday, Nov. 14 and 15. The consultation is intended to develop support among churches in the U.S. for the fledgling congregations in Senegal.

The Rev. Al and Mavis Strey-ffeler, North Central Jurisdiction mission interpreters in residence, are spearheading the Senegal Mission Initiative, which is part of a program by GBGM to start churches in 11 nations.

The Streyffelers spent seven years in Senegal, a predominantly Muslim country in West Africa. They were part of the first GBGM team of six missionaries — which included the Rev. Bill and Roberta Smith, also of the Northern Illinois Conference — invited into the country to do economic development and to establish churches. When the Streyffelers left early this year, 13 United Methodist churches had been founded with more than 600 people in worship where previously were none.

The consultation is expected to draw people from across the country to discuss how to support the new congregations financially and spiritually through partnerships between U.S. and Senegalese churches and visits by Volunteers in Mission teams.

GBGM missionary the Rev. Nkemba Ndjungu, head of the Senegal Mission, will attend the consultation along with the Rev. David Wu, head of GBGM’s mission initiatives, and the Rev. Robert Harman, retired GBGM executive and former NIC clergy member. For more details, call (630) 357-0170.

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Children need tools to succeed as Christians

(Oct. 24) “We need to take a hard look at how children are included in all aspects of our church — or not,” the Rev. Mary Alice Gran, staff member of the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship, told participants at the Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) “Children and Church” conference sponsored by the NIC Children’s Ministries Council.

Keynote speaker for the event held Oct. 4 at Grace UMC in Naperville, Gran said the task of churches is to make disciples for Jesus Christ. And, she noted, those disciples should include children.

“We must give kids the tools,” Gran said, “not just to survive . . . but to succeed as Christians.”

Gran reminded participants that churches should offer expressions of welcome to children as well as adults, and noted that children must have their basic physiological needs met before they can think about being disciples. “A child who is hungry can’t think about the symbolism of taking Holy Communion,” she said.

Gran also pointed out that children who must sit with their feet not touching the floor often have a hard time being attentive.

“I’d love to see a plan for appropriate seating for children in church where they can still sit with their families,” Gran said. “You must consider all that happens to and for children in your church.”

Following opening worship and the keynote address, workshops on Relating to Children, Music for Churches with Limited Resources, Children and Grief, Intergenerational Activities, Movement and Dance, Children with Special Needs, Small Groups for Children and Service Projects for Children, were held for participants.

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Bishop’s last bus tour goes from west to east

(Oct. 24) More than 30 people, including the current class of probationary clergy, participated in Bishop C. Joseph Sprague’s last Bishop’s Mission Bus Tour, which visited ministry sites across the Conference.

On Oct. 5, the first night of the four-day tour, participants visited North Central College (NCC) in Naperville where they heard about the college’s campus ministry and UMC mission initiatives around the world.

“This is a place where people are making lifelong decisions,” the Rev. Lynn Pries, NCC chaplain, told the group, “and we are in a position where we are able to be a part of that.”

The tour visited Winfield Community UMC where they heard about that church’s partnership with Gary Memorial UMC in Wheaton, the Russia Initiative, South Asian Fellowship UMC,Winfield, and India Reconnect.

Other stops included the Wesley Foundation at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb where tour members learned about United Campus Ministries, Centro Mi Pueblo in LaSalle and the DeKalb District’s Hispanic ministries; Poplar Grove UMC where tour members heard about the North Boone cooperative ministry; and Rockford where the itinerary included Brooke Road UMC, Rockford Urban Ministries and Rockford New Hope.

In Chicago, the bus tour visited First Vietnamese UMC, United Church of Rogers Park, Broadway UMC, East Side UMC and First Wesleyan Academy UMC in Harvey.

Stops in Aurora included Wesley UMC, Hesed House homeless shelter and Nueva Vida UMC. Presentations covered cross-cultural appointments, leadership development and children’s issues.

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NIC joins Vision UMC in suit against Long Grove

(Oct. 17) The Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) is attempting to join Vision UMC as a co-plaintiff in its lawsuit against the Village of Long Grove. The $5 million federal lawsuit, filed by Vision UMC in August, charges that the village violated the Korean-American congregation’s constitutional rights by “maliciously” preventing it from building a new church (shown in the rendering) on its property.

On Oct. 7, Sam Witwer, NIC counselor, filed a motion with the U.S. District Court in Chicago requesting permission for the NIC to intervene as an additional co-plaintiff in the case. The court has taken the request under consideration.

“We’re saying that we want to be involved in this lawsuit because we are the basic unit of United Methodism operating in northern Illinois,” Witwer said. “Vision UMC is a member congregation. Any injury experienced by Vision Church as a result of the violation of their constitutional rights is also, by necessity, experienced at the Annual Conference level because we all have a common mission. Any damage to Vision Church’s real estate interest is also experienced at the Conference level because we have an interest in the local church’s real estate through the trust clause.”

Bought 28 acres

In June 1999, Vision UMC signed a contract to buy 28 acres of land in unincorporated Lake County on the condition that the Village of Long Grove would agree to annex the land and approve the church’s plans to construct a worship facility. In September 2000, after receiving an informal go-ahead from Long Grove’s Plan Commission, the congregation purchased the land at the corner of Gilmer (Rte. 83) and North Kruger roads for $1.115 million. After more than a year of negotiations, protests by residents, expensive revisions to architectural plans, presentations and hearings, the Village of Long Grove rejected the church’s request for annexation and approval.

The congregation then applied to Lake County for a building permit. Just as Lake County officials were finalizing approval of the church’s development plans, Long Grove began a forced annexation of the church property.

“They did all kinds of hurried steps that are needed to be done in order to make possible an involuntary annexation,” Witwer said, “including cooperating with a developer on neighboring property to do a project so they could say the church land was contiguous to the village limits.”

Witwer said the Village completed in 80 or 90 days development approvals that normally take 1˝ to 2 years.

“Long Grove, having resumed power over Vision Church, then took steps that made it impossible for Vision Church to build a facility that would comply with [the village’s] criteria,” Witwer said, including amending zoning codes to require any church owning more than 20 acres of land to front a state highway.

“This was a requirement that was designed to and guaranteed to exclude Vision Church,” Witwer said, “because Vision Church’s property is not on a state road, it’s on a county road.”

Violated Constitution Amendments

Vision UMC’s lawsuit charges that Long Grove violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and the Religious Land Use and Institutional Persons Act of 2000.

“Not only is the behavior of Long Grove unconstitutional,” said Bishop C. Joseph Sprague, “it has been extremely hurtful to Vision Church both financially and emotionally — financially, because of the thousands of dollars they have had to waste in this process and emotionally in terms of the energy that has been dissipated from ministry in order to pursue these legalisms.

“This is just another indication of how disrespectfully the church is increasingly being treated in some settings, despite the United Methodist Church’s sterling record of community involvement and partnership with the broader society.

“We simply cannot sit by and either allow a congregation to be so mistreated or allow a precedent to be set that will allow other congregations in other settings to be treated in this way.”

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21 Lay Criers commissioned by Chicago Northwestern District

(Oct. 10) In a service filled with music, dance, drama, scripture reading, preaching and laughter, 21 certified Lay Speakers from the Chicago Northwestern District were commissioned as “Lay Criers” assigned to help and encourage local churches within the District and help churches in the District “connect” with each other.

Unique to the Chicago Northwestern District, the Lay Criers program was established three years ago after the Rev. Dr. Marti Scott became the Northwestern District’s superintendent.

“I kept visiting churches and hearing certified Lay Speakers complaining that nobody used them, that they didn’t have anything to do,” Scott said. “So, together, we’ve created the Lay Criers program.”

Each lay crier is assigned to one or two churches in the District and promises to fulfill 11 duties:

“Their actions carry a powerful message of community and caring,” said Roger Curless, Northern Illinois Conference Lay Leader and preacher for the commissioning service. “They are going to bless the congregations with which they connect, and they will receive blessings in return.”

The Rev. Cecelia Harris serves as coordinator of the program.

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500 protest O’Hare seizure of cemeteries

(Oct. 10) United Methodists from Bensenville, Itasca and Elk Grove Village joined more than 500 other area residents Sept. 21 to protest the planned expansion of O’Hare Airport that will pave over two cemeteries, one of which is affiliated with the United Methodist Church of Itasca and holds the remains of many of the founders of the area’s existing United Methodist congregations.

Founded in 1840, Rest Haven Cemetery is operated by an association established by the United Methodist Church of Itasca and Emmanuel First Evangelical Church of Elk Grove in 1919. It is still in use.

Rest Haven and St. Johannes Cemetery, owned and operated by St. John’s United Church of Christ (UCC) in Bensenville, were stripped of their protection under the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) by the Illinois legislature as part of a bill allowing O’Hare to expand.

The Illinois Conference of Churches and religious groups throughout Illinois have objected to the legislature’s action, noting that weakening RFRA threatens every church, temple and mosque in the state.

“The fear is that this action will open the door for local governments to get exemptions to this act whenever a religious organization stands in the way of a public project,” said the Rev. Gary Hougen, chair of the Northern Illinois Conference Board of Church and Society. “It is an issue that affects religious institutions of all faiths.”

St. John’s UCC and Rest Haven Cemetery Association have filed a federal lawsuit charging that excluding the two cemeteries from protection under RFRA violates the U.S. Constitution and a host of federal laws.

“The cemeteries are an extension of the church’s ministry,” said the Rev. Luis Reyes, pastor of Bensenville UMC and one of the leaders of the protest. “This [threat to destroy the cemeteries] is affecting the church’s ministry.”

“I think this is terrible,” said Alice Beine, member of Bethany UMC in Itasca, as she laid flowers on the graves of her parents, Fred and Carrie Ollmann, and grandparents, Caroline and Albert Ollmann. “You put them here to rest and you figure that’s it. You’re never going to have to worry about it again. But that’s not the way it works, I guess.”

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NIC churches to celebrate ministry
of laity on Sunday, Oct. 19

(Oct. 10) Laity Sunday will be observed Sunday, Oct. 19. This year’s theme is “Partners in Ministry, Telling God’s Story.”

Roger Curless, Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) Lay Leader, urges all NIC United Methodists to celebrate the day by telling someone else the story of how you know God loves you and how you know God loves them.

“When was the last time you shared with anyone in your family, or neighborhood, or at work what God has done for you lately?” Curless asked. “I know we feel the presence of God every day. God touches, heals, comforts and demonstrates the power of the Holy Spirit day in and day out. So who tells God’s story? Who is there to give God the credit for all God is doing.”

We must tell the story, Curless said, noting that if previous generations had not told God’s story, we would have no Christian faith today.

“People all around us need to hear how God lives and works in our lives,” Curless said. “They need to hear from us how we see God in our everyday working and living and how we see the miracles that speak of God’s love for all creation. They need to hear others affirm that God’s love is unlimited and available for all. They need to see how the love of God through Jesus Christ changes lives, works for justice, advocates for peace and continues to be a force for healing in this difficult and troubled world. What wonderful stories we have to tell.”

Resources for Laity Sunday can be found on the United Methodist General Board of Discipleship web site, www.gbod.org/worship.

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654 take part in Youth Outreach

(Oct. 3) Setting a new record for attendance, 654 junior and senior high youths and their adult leaders from 64 Northern Illinois Conference (NIC) churches participated in this year’s Youth Outreach, an annual event that offers youths the opportunity to worship and sing together and then go out into the community to do hands-on mission projects to help others.

Meeting Saturday, Sept. 20, in Pfeiffer Hall at North Central College in Naperville, the youths began the day with a spirited praise and worship service. Music was led by Mark Andrew Miller and his band. Miller, director of music and instructor of Church Music at Drew Theological School in Madison, N.J., was music director of Youth 2003, an international gathering of 12,000 United Methodist youths held last July in Knoxville, Tenn.

Preacher was Dr. Tony Campolo, founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education and media commentator on religious, social and political matters.

Campolo challenged his young listeners to “stay in school,” not so they can get a job and earn money and acquire “stuff,” but so they can be educated and develop a passion to help the poor and the oppressed and “change the world.”

After worship and lunch, the youths spread out to more than 40 work sites to put their faith into action. They visited nursing homes to entertain residents, baked cookies for Public Action to Deliver Shelter (PADS) overnight shelters for the homeless, made cards for terminally ill children, cleaned a church building and washed cars.

In an offering taken during the morning worship service, the youths collected $1,220 for Society of St. Andrew, a hunger ministry.

Started in 1997 by the Rev. James Preston and the Rev. Wendy Hardin, Youth Outreach has grown from about 100 participants the first year to become one of the largest and most popular events for United Methodists of any age in the NIC.

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Data explain impact of faith on finances

by the Rev. Arlene Christopherson,
Elgin District
Superintendent

(Oct. 3) My attention was drawn to the radio commentator, who had been little more than background noise while driving about the District. It was the story of a newly released study pointing to the relationship between number of siblings and adult financial well being. Having grown up with five siblings, I did not need an extensive study to know that family size limits resources.

The study by Lisa Keister, associate professor of sociology at Ohio State University, found that those raised in small families gained attention, education and resources during their childhood that benefited them financially as adults.

What I could never have predicted was the next fact shared in the report: Children raised with corporate worship as part of their formative years skewed the test results showing more financial stability regardless of family size.

Fascinating empirical data

Wow! What fascinating empirical data about the influences of faith on finance. Keister explained the results as an outgrowth of religious instructions that focus on hard work and clean living. My experience tells me that the influence of faith on finance goes much deeper than input on lifestyle choices gleaned from sermons.

Growing up in the Reformed Church of America, the congregation that influenced my understanding of stewardship modeled an expectation of tithing. That model carried over into our home. The church offering envelopes had a permanent place on my parents’ dresser and each week the family tithe was the first obligation fulfilled. No matter what other financial needs or recreational opportunities presented themselves, the church tithe was never considered “disposable.”

The modeling I experienced in childhood was consistent and clear. As my parents remained committed to the church’s message, we learned that our financial resources were a matter of sacred trust.

Murky modeling at best

Our modeling as United Methodists has been murky at best. As congregations we frequently redefine our priorities, easily influenced by “more pressing needs.” As individuals we see our offering or pledge as a personal safety net more then a sacred obligation. What if we could learn from Keister’s study to model more consistency and commitment to the connection? Could we model a sense of pride in using our resources — even when they are strained — as a sharing of God’s generosity with others?

Last year one of the churches on the Elgin District was in deep distress. Faithful stewards of their apportionment connection, they found themselves falling woefully behind. A nearby congregation noticed their distress. Rather than take pleasure in their neighbor’s struggle, or moaning about their faithfulness in the face of another’s failure, the church’s members down the road — even smaller than the one falling behind — took up a special offering and made an anonymous contribution to the struggling church’s apportionment.

We do not need to look hard for the reasons it hurts to meet our commitments to the connectional church. We should be looking prayerfully, however, at what it means to give witness to our faith by placing Christ first, modeling faithful stewardship as a conference, as congregations and as individuals.

In the past few months you have read about the many ways in which our apportionment giving touches lives. Apportionment giving also makes a powerful statement about our commitment, our expectations and our faith.

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