The Annual Conference took place over a month ago. I apologize that this summary took so long to complete. I came home with Covid so it took a while to get my thoughts together. I was pleased to represent our congregation along with Pastor Sherry, Pastor Dick, and Judy Sharar. The theme this year was “Yield.” Bishop Schwerin and retired Bishop Dyck both provided food for thought with their interpretations on the theme. I provided a short summary of both sermons below.
There was joy following the news that the General Conference lifted 52 years of discriminatory policies against the LGBTQIA+ community. Restrictions against LGBTQIA+ clergy were lifted. In addition, ALL marriages may be celebrated. In a sobering statement the Queer Clergy Caucus cautioned that these policies only move us to a neutral position. There were no apologies for harm done and no recognition of LGBTQIA+ contributions to our denomination. They cautioned, “Ending legislated exclusion does not mean true inclusion.” Conferences and congregations will make different choices about implementing these changes. The decision to delete restrictions against LGBTQIA+ individuals is an important first step on a journey to becoming a fully inclusive denomination. As the members of the Queer Clergy Caucus stated, “The UMC must continue the work of ensuring our hearts, minds and doors are as open as we say they are.”
As members of PUMC, let us continue this journey together.
We passed resolutions and sadly approved the closure of nine congregations.
On a positive note, we collected over $35,000 for the Bishop’s Appeal. The funds will benefit United Voices for Children. Thank you to everyone who donated to this wonderful cause.
Another great cause that benefited from your generous donations was Midwest Mission. Before the Annual Conference we asked you to provide items for personal dignity kits. You brought in toothbrushes, shampoo, and hand towels. We had several boxes of items we were able to bring to the conference. Midwest Mission filled two trucks with over 5,000 pounds of supplies and collected $2,100. These critical supplies have already been distributed and they are now working on disaster relief kits for areas struck by flooding and tornadoes. Their work never ends and thankfully the generosity of congregations like ours never ends either.
Make sure you read this post to the end. You’ll find a great photo of Pastor Sherry taking part in a very important part of the conference.
Bishop Sally Dyck, who had recently served Northern Illinois Conference until her retirement, preached at the ordination service. She elaborated on the theme of “yield” in her sermon on Jesus’s parable of the sower (Luke 8:5ff): “A sower went out to sow.” She compared the uncertainty in the idea of yielding to what God might have in store, even if that is yet unknown, to farming. Much of a harvest’s yield is dependent on conditions that the farmer cannot control, like weather, pests, and other factors. Yet every year, the farmer goes out to sow. “Ministry is the same,” Bishop Dyck said. “You have to get up every morning like farmers. But ministry is not all about you. Sometimes you don’t know what is making a difference in people’s lives or remember that you did it.” Nevertheless, she urged, “Be a sower who goes out to sow.”
So, when we feel discouraged, when the pews aren’t full, or our message seems to fall on deaf ears…let’s keep sowing. It may make a difference in someone’s life.
Bishop Dan Schwerin addressed the conference and his message never fails to inspire us. “Yield” was the theme for the week. The bishop asked us to yield our traditional approach to church and become more relational. “Now is the time to answer that knock at the door”, he urged. “It is a time for churches to take risks and experiment in reaching out to neighbors.”
“We don’t have 330 churches; we have 330 experiments,” he said of the conference’s constituent congregations. “Experiment, serve, give, teach and serve together. We are missional incubators.”
“It won’t be one experiment that will defines a new missional prototype; rather, there will a thousand of them coming from many new ministries around the conference”, he said.
I think our focus sessions at PUMC “yielded” some new approaches to our existing programs. We are part of a great experiment!
Conference Outcomes
Apology for abuse
Following a General Conference mandate, Northern Illinois apologized to those who suffered sexual abuse in churches and/or at the hands of lay and clergy leaders.
“The United Methodist Church apologizes for the times we allowed our desire to protect the Church to outweigh our desire to care for victims and survivors of sexual misconduct,” the statement reads in part. “We have allowed polity and protection of the institutional Church to prevent us from holding persons accountable, thus perpetuating harm within our local churches and other ministry settings and damaging the whole United Methodist connection.
“We apologize for the times we have not listened to you, doubted your stories, ignored your wounds, and have not tended to your pain.”
The apology includes actions the UMC will take to prevent abuse in the future.
Resolutions passed:
to be active peacemakers as articulated by Jesus, Isaiah, and Micah to urge United Methodists to call on Congress and the president to support steps for establishing a peace based on justice for all peoples in Israel and Palestine
to condemn the harm caused by the Israeli national government’s political and military occupation and the resulting apartheid conditions imposed on Palestinians in the Occupied Territories
to encourage every NIC church to name at least one Creation Care Advocate who will strengthen the church’s existing green actions
to address gun violence by advocating for the passage of red-flag laws, study a relevant curriculum recommended in the proposed resolution, and advocate for laws that prevent or reduce gun violence
to urge all United Methodists and U.S. citizens to use personal courtesy in political conversations
Our own Pastor Sherry assisted Bishop Schwerin in the ordination ceremony. We were so proud of her!
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