2025aprilcurrent

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPCOMING EVENTS

C H R I S T I AN CONVERSATIONS

Free to a good home Jacksonville Grace UMC has the fol- lowing items FREE to a good home: • Choir robes (33 adult-size dark blue with dark red trim; 27 kids/ youth sized, ivory with a cross and flame (UM symbol) trim; 4 solid burgundy adult-size; and 6 solid ivory adult-size) • 2-3 octave set of Schulmerick handbells • 2+ octaves of Malmark Chines (flat-bar style chimes) • Plus music, cushions for tables, table covers, variety of worship bell music, gloves • Praise band music: Hymns for Praise and Worship (has a green cover) and Volumes 2, 3 and 4 More Songs for Praise & Worship – vocal and various instruments • Approx 2 dozen copies of The Oxford Easy Anthem Book (A Col- lection of Fifty Anthems) in good condition Interested parties would be respon- sible for pickup from the church. Phone or text Becky McGinnis, (217) 473-3832.

‘...For All the People You Can…’

Bishop Kennetha's Lenten Bible Study

Kennetha and ask questions. The day's schedule will have the bishop preaching at a church in the morning followed by the District Town Hall Meeting in the afternoon. District Town Halls were held Feb. 2 in the Central District, Feb. 23 in the East District and March 23 in the North District. • West District – Sunday, April 6, Preaching at Macomb: Wesley, 11 a.m. Town Hall at Monmouth UMC, 3 p.m. • South District – Sunday, May 4. Preaching at Mt. Vernon: First UMC, 10 a.m. Town Hall Meeting at Carbondale: First UMC, 2:30 p.m. NOTE TIME CHANGE! 21st Annual Festival of Quilts April 4-5 Cunningham Children’s Home will host the 21st Annual Festival of Quilts, April 4 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and April 5 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Cunningham’s Spiritual Life Center in Urbana. Cunningham’s signature fundraiser, the Festival honors the tradition of the United Women in Faith, and the quilts they, and quilters throughout Illinois, have created and donated for Cunningham youth since 1895. Each child at Cunningham receives a quilt of their own to wrap them in warmth, safety and love. The Festival, which will be in-person and online, includes a collection of show quilts that creatively blur the lines between

conventional quilt making and fine art. Quilts of all sizes will be available for purchase. Participants may also enjoy homemade baked goods from the Bake Sale; handcrafted items from the Gift Shop, home décor from Centerpieces & Such and more! Last year, 108 United Women in Faith units, churches and individuals helped raise more than $6,300 to make the United Women in Faith the presenting sponsor and were showcased by name on a digital Tribute Quilt. Cunningham is again asking for support to continue to celebrate the legacy of the UWFaith with the quilting tradition and Cunningham’s signature fundraiser. If all 350 Illinois Great Rivers Conference UWFaith units participate by again making a tribute gift of at least $20, a total of $7,000 will be raised to underwrite the expenses of the Festival of Quilts for the second year in a row. Admission to the Festival is a suggested donation of $10 per person (youth 12 years and under free with purchased adult ticket) and raises thousands of dollars to help bring hope to the 977 youth, adults and families Cunningham serves. Learn more at https://cunningham.org/get- involved/events/festival-of-quilts/ Northern Illinois, IGRC join forces for Lobby Day at the State Capitol SPRINGFIELD – The Northern Illinois and the Illinois Great Rivers conferences are planning a Lobby Day in Springfield on Wednesday, May 7. The day will be used for advocacy for just policies around the environment, education, and immigration. Specific legislative asks are still being worked out. To indicate your interest and to help us sort you into legislative districts, please complete an interest form by visiting: https://docs.google.com/ forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdMe82X5hyC _ mFr7t3N4SNBlPqzTCIU _ leIeHuKYph-b _ OIDg/ viewform More details are coming soon! If you have any questions, email christina. krost@gmail.com . Information for the April 26 Lobby Day Training Session from 9 to 10:30 a.m. will be shared to the email address with which you use to register. The session will be recorded and will be shared with registrants. Disaster Response Training Basic ERT June 4, 2025 Training for new Early Response Team members. Full-day, in-person training covering fundamental early response skills and protocols. • Time: 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. • Location: Peoria, IL (Site location TBA) • Contact: Curt Franklin, cfranklin@igrc.org Basic ERT, Sept. 6, 2025 Training for new Early Response Team members. Full-day, in-person training covering fundamental early response skills and protocols. • Time: 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. • Location: East Bay Camp, Hudson • Contact: Curt Franklin, cfranklin@igrc.org ERT Recertification, Oct. 28 and 30, 2025 Join us for ERT recertification training delivered via Zoom. Recertification requires attendance at both dates. These interactive virtual sessions will refresh your ERT knowledge, update you on new procedures,

Guided by the Gospel’s call to “love your neighbor as yourself,” Bishop Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai will examine how the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision of beloved community can be a counterpoint to Christian nationalism and reflect on the lectionary passages for the Lenten season and the call of the church as we approach the season of resurrection. In this three-part study, she will explore the theological concept of grace and discuss how love, service, and solidarity can help churches expand their impact and reach. Bishop Bigham-Tsai will share her experiences building a beloved community within and beyond the Church. Tuesday evenings, April 1, April 8, and April 15 at 7:00 p.m. on Zoom. These will be recorded and available soon after for your small group studies. Register today by clicking the button below. You will be emailed a ZOOM link soon after. Register for the Bible Study by visiting: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ Yh _ tXYctRRavPB9w-0WCHA#/registration Bishop Kennetha’s District Town Hall meetings SPRINGFIELD – Bishop Kennetha J. Bigham- Tsai has two Town Hall Meetings remaining in the upcoming weeks. This will be an opportunity to meet Bishop

PASTOR SHARES OF THE WORK, ADVOCACY OF BREAD FOR THE WORLD (Editor’s note: Bread for the World is a Christian advocacy organization that works to end hunger, and it has strong ties to the United Methodist Church, with many United Methodists involved in its work and the church advocating for policies that address hunger. In recent years, the IGRC Board of Church and Society has taken a leadership role for IGRC in Bread for the World’s Offering of Letters which usually occur during Lent each year.)

enough food gets produced to feed 10 billion (Gabriel Ferraro). Yet, between 1 and 2 billion human beings live in extreme hunger and face daily malnutrition. Bread focuses on legislative issues around both domestic and global hunger, poverty, domestic and global food development programs, maternal and childhood nutrition, climate change, international assistance, food security and smallholder agriculture ( www.bread.org ). They look at what policies work in our government, and what needs improvement, and they view everything through a Christian lens. When I first went to D.C. in June, it was part of their annual Advocacy Day. They brought together more than 250 faith leaders from around the country, and the goal was to meet with as many members of the United States Congress and Senate as possible. The meetings each lasted about 15 minutes and were focused around four specific parts of the proposed 2024 Farm Bill negotiations that were ongoing last summer. I met with aides to both U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and

in our communities fighting to bring God’s kingdom to light. Congressman Jim McGovern said “Hunger is a political condition, domestically and globally. We have the resources, we have the food, we know what we have to do to end it, what we lack is the political will.” There is a reason that the prophets of the Old Testament spoke to kings and nations. Because living out God’s will for humanity requires political solutions. We’re witnessing drastic cuts to programs, both foreign and domestic, that threaten to leave behind millions of mothers, children and other displaced people. This is as important a time as ever to speak out. You and your local church can get involved. We can collectively use our voices across the state of Illinois to urge our political representatives to act justly and show mercy. Though the federal government is being dragged for being wasteful and incompetent, it is important to recognize very real critical successes. In 2021, during the height of Covid, Congress

BY WILL MEACHUM, Prairie River Parish When preaching, I occasionally do the delicate work of asking hard questions. Questions we often know the answer too, but don’t want to confront. One in particular that has stuck with me and I ask it often, because it reveals

frustration in the modern church, and our avoidable path toward irrelevance in the world. Jesus stood up in his hometown synagogue and read from the scrolls of Isaiah that he “had been sent to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 18b-19). In light of his politically-driven mission, a mission calling for drastic, overwhelming change to the way the world works; I asked my six rural congregations: Could we, if we wanted to, if we committed every resource and amount of energy we have at our disposal; Could we completely solve the issues of poverty in our town? My churches’ average worship attendance is somewhere between 10 and 30 on any given Sunday, and the sizes of my communities are anywhere from about 700 to 3000. I went further in my questioning, by asking: “If we were able to bring together all of the churches in our respective communities, and all of their collective resources, could we completely solve the issues of poverty? Could we even completely eradicate poverty for one family in our community?” Everyone knows the answers to these questions. And even if we turned back to self-assuring Christian hyperbole like saying “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” the reality is, our declining churches are deeply limited in their potential for missional effectiveness. It has become harder than ever to do all the good we can for all the people we can. This hard to accept reality frustrates me, but it also reminds us that while local mission is still essential, and part of our DNA as United Methodists, it is also just one part of the work we are called to do as disciples of Jesus Christ. I got the opportunity to go to Washington D.C. in June of 2024 to do advocacy work on behalf of an organization called Bread for the World. They are a non-partisan, Christian advocacy group founded by the Rev. Arthur Simon back in 1975. Art was the brother of former Illinois Senator Paul Simon, and after working with his brother on his political campaigns, he learned the impact religious leaders can have on a global scale when organized and willing to use their prophetic voices to members of Congress and other world leaders. In the 50 years since their founding, Bread for the World has mobilized clergy leaders and disciples to speak prophetic words in our national and local halls of power. Matt Gross is the Director of Organizing and Faith Engagement for the Washington D.C.-based organization, and he also lives in our Conference in Dunlap. And he shared a simple principle that Bread uses strategically. He told me that one pastor, or one small church cannot have influence on a member of Congress; and they likely can’t even get into the room with one. But if you can get 10 pastors, and multiple congregations involved in advocacy, members of Congress cannot ignore you. Bread’s primary focus is feeding the world. Not through food pantries and food drives, but by fighting to change laws, protect current programs, or enhance programs that work to get food where it needs to go. Though we have about 7 billion people in this world,

and maintain your certification status. • Oct. 28, 6 to 8 p.m. (via Zoom) • Oct. 30, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (via Zoom) • Contact: Curt Franklin, cfranklin@igrc.org Civil rights trip traces the historic struggle IGRC Missions and Outreach, in cooperation with Normal: First UMC, will be hosting the trip Oct. 2-10. The trip will explore key historic sites in Tennessee and Alabama. Through guided tours, group discussions and personal reflection, participants will engage with this crucial history and its contemporary relevance. Cost for the trip is $1,850 based upon double occupancy, $2,450 for single occupancy. The cost includes transportation and hotel accommodations. A deposit of $600 is due upon registration before June 30. The balance is due Aug. 18. Read more by visiting: https://www.igrc. org/calendardetail/18995126 Living Into My Yes sessions explore calls into ministry SPRINGFIELD – The Living Into My Yes online inquiry session is designed for people of any age or life stage who are beginning to discern a call to some form of vocational ministry but who have not yet officially begun the process toward ordination or licensing. Pastors and other leaders are welcome to attend to learn more about the process. Upcoming events in the Living Into My Yes series include: • Tuesday, April 29 , 6 to 7:30 p.m., Living Into My Yes for Supply. This session is especially for laity currently assigned to a church as Supply to learn their options. • Thursday, June 12 , 6 to 7:30 p.m. Living Into My Yes online inquiry session. This session is for anyone discerning how God might be calling you. Read more by visiting: https://www.igrc. org/living-into-my-yes

expanded the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and that single policy cut child poverty in half, the largest drop ever. It was a truly remarkable achievement. Yet, a year later, child poverty skyrocketed because Congress failed to extend the fully refundable CTC. This rollback hit rural communities like those I pastor especially hard. Rural incomes are lower in these communities and the CTC is tied directly to income. 1 in 3 children in rural areas under 17 receive less than the full credit compared to 1 in 4 children in metro areas (Center for Poverty and Social Policy). Kids I coach in high school basketball and baseball often don’t

Tammy Duckworth, and I met with Congressmen Darin LaHood (R-16th District) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-8th District), as well as Congressional aides of Eric Sorensen (D-17th District). While these meetings were brief, they were an opportunity to share stories and experiences from our local communities, and the very human struggles I see in my everyday ministry. While the farm bill negotiations got “punted” for another year, I believe that I succeeded in planting a seed where my voice can be heard again in Washington. On Feb 6, I returned to Washington D.C. Bread rolled out a new advocacy initiation called “Nourish our Future.” It is a two-year campaign that “partly

know if they will eat when they get home from practice, or during summer breaks. When we invest our tax dollars in nutrition, we get a greater return on the kingdom of God than just about anything else we can invest in. Every $1 invested in WIC saves about $2.48 in medical, educational and productivity costs (National WIC Association). Investments to scale up high-impact nutrition interventions could avert 6.2 million deaths in children under age 5 and 980,000 stillbirths over the next decade. In addition, the scale-up of nutrition interventions is estimated to generate $2.4 trillion in economic benefits. For every dollar invested in addressing undernutrition, a return of $23 is expected. These economic benefits far outweigh the costs of inaction which run at around $41 trillion over 10 years (World Bank). “Alleviating hunger and improving agricultural livelihoods means that people are less likely to immigrate, turn toward criminal activity or fall prey to radicalized groups,” (Texas A & M Program on Conflict and Development). Nearly half of all preventable deaths among children under age 5 are attributable to malnutrition. Yet we’ve just seen a catastrophic freeze on USAID, the single largest supplier of global food aid in the world. WIC provides nutrition for over seven million pregnant women, mothers and children up to age 5. In 2023, the program

comprises expanding the Child Tax Credit, addressing college hunger, fully funding and strengthening the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and robustly funding global nutrition” ( https://www.bread.org/article/ bread-for-the-world-launches-nourish-our-future- campaign-focused-on-child-hunger ). I once again spoke to Congressman LaHood -- this time introducing him to a gathering of over 1,300 anti- hunger advocates joining the meeting on Zoom or in person in the US Capitol. After my introduction, he said. “I promise to continue advocating for a stronger child tax credit that reaches a greater number of families and provides additional support for those who need it most.” Bread was able to bring not just Congressman LaHood, but Congresswoman Alma S. Adams (D-N.C.), Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-Ala.), Congressman Don Bacon (R-Neb.), Congresswoman Jahana Hayes (D-Conn.), Pablo José Hernández, Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, and Congressman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.). Leaders of our faith were able to call together members from both parties of Congress and ask for their commitment to feeding the poor and the marginalized. Those leaders responded. What I’ve learned so far in these experiences, is that while churches can’t solve these problems completely and all by themselves, we need to be the leading voices

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