October 2024 Current

Stories on the 200th anniversary of Methodism in Illinois

OCT 2024 | VOL. 29 • NO. 2

THE current The history of Illinois Methodism

Celebrating

Years

NEWS FROM THE EPISCOPAL OFFICE

Inside

River Ramblings PUTTING ON THE LOVE OF GOD…BY VOTING

THIS ISSUE 1 News from the Episcopal Office

heart – the heroic Samaritan, the healing of the Syro- Phoenician woman, the strong words of the prophets. Yet when the voting is done, and the office holders are elected, remember that the real work begins.” I would share this word again with you. Vote. If you are able and so inclined, volunteer to be an election worker. Our voting system depends on people willing to give their time at the polls. In risking this gentle wade into political waters, I am following in the tradition of Peter Cartwright, characterized in a history of Methodism in America as “a lion of the frontier” and “the hero of Illinois.” (Frederick Norwood, The Story of American Methodism , 151). While serving as a presiding elder in the Illinois Conference, Cartwright also held public office, being elected to the Illinois state legislature in 1828 and 1832 as a Jacksonian Democrat with a deep opposition to slavery. One of his opponents in 1832 was Abraham Lincoln, who later bested Cartwright in an 1846 election for the United State House of Representatives. In his autobiography, Cartwright wrote of his entry into politics: “I very freely entered the lists to oppose slavery in this way, and without any fore-thought of mind, went into the agitated waters of political strife.” Cartwright understood something very important, something of which we need to keep reminding ourselves. There are moral concerns which are also political concerns, political in the broad

One of the unique coincidences between our United Methodist church calendar and national calendar is that bishops are elected and assigned in the same year as our presidential elections. It can mean that a bishop may want to say a word about an election even as the bishop is just getting to know you. That feels a little awkward and fraught. Nevertheless, just a few months into my time as bishop in Michigan I wrote the following (2016): “We have an election on the horizon and I encourage each of you to go to the polls and vote. Vote with Christian principles in mind – justice, freedom, peace, concern for those on the margins, deep hospitality. Vote with biblical stories echoing in your

sense of having to do with our life together as a country, not necessarily political in the narrow sense of partisan politics. One of the challenges of our time, though, is that anything that has a

6-7 Photo courtesy of findagrave.com The gravestone of Lizzie Johnson is found in East Washington Cemetery in Casey, in recognition of the young woman's support of Methodist missions worldwide.

2 Announcements & Events 3 Christian Conversations 4 Local Church News 5-9 Historical Messenger 10 Local Church News 11-12 Conference News 13 National / Global News

BISHOP David Alan Bard

Photos courtesy of Erin Totten-Jones

Bartonville UMC congregation gathers for its first Sunday in a new location Sept. 8. Among those that attended the Deconsecration Service were former pastors, from left: Alan Newhall (1992- 1997), Linda Richard (2005-2014) and Carol Edman (seated, 2002-2005); present pastor, Erin Totten-Jones and North District Superintendent Mike Crawford.

broad political dimension is forced quickly into narrow partisan politics. Nevertheless, we cannot let our concern that others may quickly label us politically keep us from speaking to moral issues which are also political issues and speak out of our prophetic tradition. One of the descriptions of the role of bishop in The Book of Discipline is that a bishop will have “a prophetic commitment for the transformation of the Church and the world. The role of the bishop is to be a prophetic voice for justice in a suffering and conflicted world through the tradition of social holiness.” So let me wade a little more deeply into political waters. We are moving toward another presidential election, as well as elections for multiple offices. Again, I encourage you to go and vote, vote with the principles of our Christian faith in your minds and the biblical stories in your hearts.

APPOINTMENTS In consultation with the Cabinet of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference, Bishops David Bard and Kennetha Bigham-Tsai appoint the following: Kimberly Woods to Sam’s Food Pantry of Tuscola First UMC, East District, ½ time, effective July 29. This appointment is in addition to the ½ time appointment to Tuscola First UMC as Director of Children and Youth Ministries. Sheila Kelly to Mt. Carmel: Evangelical-Zion (Carmi), South District, effective Sept. 1. Hope Kobbert to Mt. Vernon: First, Director of Children’s Ministries-Mt. Vernon: Epworth- Wayne City: First-Zion, South District, effective Sept. 1. Regina Ellis to Mt. Vernon: First (Associate)-Mt. Vernon: Epworth, Wayne City: First- Zion, South District, effective Sept. 1. This is in addition to her appointment to Spero Family Services. Change of status Rocio Williams , discontinuation of appointment as a part-time

local pastor, South District, effective July 29. The ministry, Greater Marion Hispanic-Anglo Faith Community (Churros and Chocolate Faith Community has ceased its ministry. Allen Williams to New Baden, Central District, ½ time, effective Sept. 1. This is a change of status to part-time local pastor from supply. David Zanton to Salem (Toledo), East District, ¼ time, effective Sept. 1. This is a change of status to part-time local pastor from supply. Lindsey Young to Midland UMC, Central District, ¼ time, effective Sept. 1. This is a change of status to part-time local pastor from supply. Tim Cook to Carmi: First, South District, effective Sept. 1. This is a change of status to full-time local pastor from supply. Matthew Woodcock , discontinuation of appointment, effective July 1. He was previously serving Eldorado: First-Wesley Chapel, South District. He returns to his previous status on Honorable Location.

T H E current OCT 2024 | VOL. 29 • NO. 2

Photo courtesy of Terry Evans, Robinson First

RIVER RAMBLINGS CONTINUED ON ADJACENT PAGE

The Best Day ever! Robinson First UMC's NOW (Nutrition on

IGRC participates in onboarding process

Weekends) program began in 2013 and continues to respond to the growing need of at-risk students.

BY CYNTHIA ASTLE Each year, 30 to 40 percent of United Methodist churches receive new pastors through the process known as “appointment.” Unlike other Protestant churches

RIVER RAMBLINGS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

given full voice? Aren’t we being hypocritical when we don’t express what we are feeling? I am reminded of the image used in Colossians 3. “As God’s choice, holy and loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Be tolerant with each other…. And over all these things put on love” (v. 12-14, Common English Bible). I appreciate Eugene Peterson’s rendering: “So chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered…. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic all purpose garment. Never be without it.” The language of “putting on” and “wearing” is a wonderful description of demeanor. To encourage a certain kind of demeanor means acknowledging that we may not feel as warmly toward someone as we are displaying. There is an important distinction to be made here. On the one hand, there may be an incongruity wherein one appears in one way but acts in another way that undermines one’s appearance. One says kind things to someone but works quietly to undermine and hurt. This is unacceptable. On the other hand, one may have powerful feelings about something and choose to express those feelings judiciously. There are more constructive and destructive ways to express one’s anger about injustice or thoughts about issues, and to attend to demeanor is to search for the more constructive expressions. One may disagree strongly with the political position of a friend or family member; yet remain courteous toward them. Certainly Jesus is about the transformation of our heart. And sometimes our hearts are transformed in the process of displaying a demeanor that may be just a little bit ahead of how we are feeling. As followers of Jesus, we are invited to dress in the wardrobe God picked out for us: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. We are encouraged to be even-tempered. And regardless of what else we put on, we are to wear love. It’s our basic all purpose garment. And it just so happens that such a demeanor nurtures and nourishes a healthy democracy. Go vote. Work to make the world better. Show up with a demeanor that enhances democracy and, more importantly, reflects who we are as God’s beloved in Jesus Christ. Putting on Love in this River Rambling, Bishop David

Vote, and continue to work for a better world, kinder, more just, more compassionate, less violent. In a democracy, it is the people who help determine the direction of the country and the tone of our political culture. We help determine the tone of our political culture. That brings to mind a word that may not always find its way into our civic conversations, but perhaps should. Demeanor. As followers of Jesus, we are encouraged to bring together demeanor and democracy. Demeanor is the way in which one behaves, their deportment, how one “carries” oneself, how one shows up and presents oneself. Demeanor is how our attitude toward others is reflected in outward behavior. AI offers these adjectives to accompany demeanor: calm, cool, gentle, confident, decisive, easy, haughty, folksy, sweet. I could add others: courteous, dignified, condescending, demeaning. I recently got to thinking about demeanor while reading a history of the Civil War by Bruce Catton. Catton grew up in a small town in Michigan. In This Hallowed Ground , Catton describes the political culture of the mid-1850s. “Angry words were about the only kind anyone cared to use these days. Men seemed tired of the reasoning process. Instead of trying to convert one’s opponents it was simpler just to denounce them, no matter what unmeasured denunciation might lead to.” This suggests a certain kind of demeanor displayed by many in that divisive time. It was not a sign of a healthy democracy. Healthy democracy is nurtured and nourished by habits and practices and certain ways of showing up that I would call demeanor. If our demeanor is characterized by anger, rancor, disrespect, absolute self-righteousness, injudicious use of language, it erodes democracy. Democracy thrives when our demeanor is marked by curiosity, listening, respect rooted in a sense of shared humanity, mutual learning, humility when one’s side prevails in a vote or election, graciousness when one’s side loses a vote or election, attention to how we use our words. On this last point, a healthy democratic demeanor works to call out injustice and express our heartbreak in the face of violence in ways that offer hope and do not demean others. We can call out unjust actions or the demeaning behavior of others without demonizing others. Healthy democracy thrives when we show up displaying a constructive demeanor. This may sound superficial. Shouldn’t we express what we are feeling? Shouldn’t anger at injustice be

that “call” their own pastors, United Methodist clergy are “appointed” by a bishop to a church in an annual conference. Many pastor changes occur because of retirements. Sometimes a change in pastors occurs because a congregation has asked for a better fit for their DNA. Often, a change is made because a bishop and his or her cabinet, who act as the conference’s personnel committee, try to match a clergyperson’s skills with a church’s ministerial needs. However a pastoral change comes about, a new pastor and a church typically spend their first year building enough partnership to move forward together in ministry. “Onboarding” uncovers the unspoken aspects of a congregation’s and a pastor’s identities. Now a process known as “onboarding,” created by a United Methodist laywoman experienced in human resources, speeds up that process while it uncovers the unspoken aspects of a congregation’s and a pastor’s identities so they can fit together better from the start. A video for the Candler Center for Christian Leadership where the program is housed describes onboarding’s two goals: • A church gains “deep knowledge” about its new pastor • An incoming pastor receives “early information” about the church’s culture, hopes and dreams Members of the IGRC Extended Cabinet and 35 IGRC clergy participated Sept. 3 and 4 in an onboarding process with Bishops David Bard and Kennetha Bigham-Tsai at the Conference Center as part of introducing the conference to its new bishops and its bishops to a new conference they will oversee in the next quadrennium. United Methodist-style “onboarding” is the inspiration of lifelong church member Claire Bowen of Atlanta. As a human resources professional, she spent more than 30 years in the corporate world helping newly hired top executives connect

with their staffs more quickly by honestly identifying mutual expectations, work- culture quirks and other details. Bowen grew up in Statesboro, Ga., at First UMC, and later, after college, moved to Peachtree Road UMC in Atlanta. After a 20-year pastor retired at her church, the

The Current (USPS 014-964) is published monthly by the Illinois Great Rivers Conference of The UMC, 5900 South Second Street, Springfield, IL 62711 An individual subscription is $15 per year. The opinions expressed in viewpoints are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Current, The IGRC, or The UMC . Communications Team Leader: Paul E. Black Team members: Kim Halusan, Michele Willson Send materials to: P.O. Box 19207, Springfield, IL 62794-9207 or tel. 217.529.2040 or fax 217.529.4155 thecurrent@igrc.org , website www.igrc.org Periodical postage paid at Peoria, IL, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to The Current , Illinois Great Rivers Conference, P.O. Box 19207, Springfield, IL 62794-9207

DEATHS

BOWEN

IGRC retired pastor, the Rev. Donald R. Riley , 89, died Sept. 18 in Macomb. Rev. Riley began his ministry in the former Western Wisconsin Conference and

new pastor, Bill Britt, discovered Bowen’s corporate work but too late for his early years. So Bowen offered to conduct an onboarding for one of his pastor friends. That’s how Bowen ended up in 2013 “onboarding” Davis Chappell at Brentwood UMC in Nashville, Tenn., one of the city’s most thriving congregations. That experiment went so well that as she drove home to Atlanta from Nashville, she remembers thinking: “God, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.” UMC unique personnel process In the 10 years since her revelation, Bowen perfected onboarding for the unique United Methodist personnel process, which she acknowledges “has challenging pieces for including everyone in the UMC structure.” The process now works like this: When a new appointment is set, the conference helps the incoming pastor issue an invitation to the congregation’s lay leaders to meet with a certified onboarding facilitator about their hopes and concerns for the new pastor. If the church has a large staff, a separate session is set up to hear the staff’s questions and advice so they can educate the new pastor about their church and community.

transferred into the former Southern Illinois Conference, serving churches in Southern and Central Illinois for 33 years. Hee retired in 1998 from Port Byron: First-Fairfield. Cremation rites will be accorded. A Memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11, at Clugston-Tibbitts Funeral Home in Macomb. Visitation will be held from 1 to 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11, at the funeral home. Private burial of cremains will be in Oakland Cemetery in Meredosia at a later date. Condolences may be sent to his wife, Trudie Ann Riley, P. O. Box 148, Colchester, IL 62326-0148. IGRC retired pastor, the Rev. Donald L. DeJarnett , 75, died Sept. 3. Rev. DeJarnett served 30 years of active ministry, retiring in 2015. Cremation rites have been accorded. A Memorial Page has been established online at: https://www.echovita.com/us/obituaries/mo/saint-louis/ donald-dejarnett-18592468 where condolences may be left for the family.

ONBOARDING CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE CURRENT | OCTOBER 2024 | 1

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND UPCOMING EVENTS Don't hesitate to contact us at mission@igrc.org if you have any questions or need additional details. Contact Sharon Monroe at; smonroe50@yahoo.com Cunningham’s Be a Hero 5K URBANA – Be a hero in the eyes of Cunningham kids! Join them Saturday, Sept. 28, for Cun- ningham Children’s Home’s 4th Annual Be a Hero 5K . There are several ways to participate! 1. Register to walk/run on Sept. 28. This year, the race is on Cunningham’s campus in Urbana! Registration fee includes some Cunningham swag. 2. Register to participate and upgrade yourself to “Superhero” status by raising $100 or more. Your registration fee is included in your total and you also get a 5K superhero cape. 3. Give Cunningham youth a chance to participate by donating $10 for their registration. Donating $20 gives two youth a chance to participate. And so on. Join in this FUNdraiser from your own community and register as a “Tag Along” and organize your own 5K walk/run this fall. Contact Brooke Buzard Watson by by calling (217) 337-9073 by Sept. 27. Online registration is available at: https://runsignup. com/Race/IL/Urbana/Cunningham- BeaHero5k Embrace Resilience workshops for clergy, laity SPRINGFIELD – Are you ready to embark on a journey towards

C H R I S T I AN CONVERSATIONS

time for pastors, laity, history fans, confirmation classes, new Methodists, and anyone looking to ground a vision for the future of Methodism in the spirit of our heritage. If you have questions, feel free to contact Curtis Brown in the Illinois Great Rivers Conference Office of Connectional Ministries, cbrown@ igrc.org . Bishops' Installation Service slated for Sept. 28 NORMAL – Bishops David Alan Bard and Kennetha J. Bigham- Tsai will be installed as presiding bishops of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2:30 p.m. at Normal Calvary UMC. Both bishops began serving the Illinois Area on Sept. 1. Bishops Bard and Bigham-Tsai will also have additional oversight respon- sibilities. Bishop Bard also serves as bishop of the Michigan Area and Bishop Bigham-Tsai serves as bishop of the Iowa Area. The Installation Service is a worship experience and the public is invited to attend. Disaster Response training events ERT Recertification Oct. 14-15: Training will take place online on October 14 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm and October 15th from 1 to 3 p.m. Contact Sharon Monroe at smonroe50@yahoo.com Connecting Neighbors Training Nov 12: This session is set for Nov.12 and will take place online from 1 to 5 p.m.

healing and resilience? Join us for a groundbreaking two-day workshop designed to empower pastors, clergy, and laity with the tools and understanding necessary to navigate the complexities of life’s traumas and embrace a resilient life through Christ. The IGRC Congregational Development Office is hosting workshops for both clergy and laity, Embrace Resilience: A Transformative Workshop on Trauma Healing. The two-day clergy workshop will be Oct. 9-10. The laity work- shop will be Oct. 11-12. Links for registering for either session can be found in the listing on: https://www.igrc.org/register The Embrace Resilience Workshop provides a safe, educated space for pastors and parishioners to engage in trauma healing and resilience. This workshop will help you recognize the beauty and pain in every individual, equipping you with the knowledge and practices needed to foster a resilient life. Bishop Bard to preach Cartwright Memorial Sermon PLEASANT PLAINS – Bishop David Alan Bard will be the Memorial Ser- mon, which will be delivered on Sunday, Oct. 13, at 10:30 a.m. at Peter Cartwright UMC in Pleas- ant Plains. This year’s celebration is a preacher for the 2024 Cartwright

Celebrating

REGIONALIZATION: PUTTING HOPE IN THE ‘HARDER THING’

Organist/Pianist JOB OPENING FOR ORGANIST / PIANIST at Evangelical UMC in Washington, IL. Please go https://evanumc. org/organist-opening to view requirements, responsibilities and how to apply for the position.

hours debating U.S. clergy pension plans — but delegates from the U.S. are the only ones who should have to do so. The strong vote for regionalization at the postponed 2020 General Conference reveals a desire for each region of the church to be able to order their shared life and ministry in ways that are contextually appropriate, make disciples and give life and hope to those in their local communities. As each regional conference takes up the necessary work of ordering the life of the church, there will — by God’s grace! — also be opportunities to address pressing regional issues. A United States Regional Conference, for example, could choose to finally place front and center the development of concrete strategies to acknowledge and address our denomination’s racist history and the toll it has taken on the Black church, or the pandemic of loneliness in our country, or the scourge of gun violence, or the crisis of faith and the growth of the “nones” (those who identify with no religious tradition). United Methodists are known to be a “get it done” kind of people. When we decide to move together toward a goal, we know how to mobilize and move the needle on things that matter. Regionalization provides opportunities for all of us — not just those outside the U.S. — to do just that. Finally, a benefit of worldwide regionalization is that General Conference gatherings can focus on the things that matter most of all, the core tenets of our faith and the human concerns we share across all the places and cultures in which we live and serve. Imagine holy conferencing that isn’t mostly about legislative process with a little worship thrown in but is, rather, about learning together, forging new relationships, delighting in our different cultures, collaborating to be in mission together, reflecting together about the call of the Gospel for the days we are living, creatively focusing on and setting priorities for concerns that affect us all, such as climate change, violence, disease, and poverty. Another of our United Methodist refrains is that we can do more together than on our own. Imagine a United Methodist General Conference working together, filled with the Holy Spirit, making decisions and creating strategies that truly participate in the transformation of the world! Structures and conferences aren’t the salvation of the world. We leave that to the Holy One in Three. But how we live and serve together, how we honor one another across all our differences through holy conferencing and connection is part of how we — even we! — are incorporated into God’s mighty acts of salvation. I rejoice in the hope that the steps taken toward a new connectionalism through regionalization will be fully realized, bearing the fruits of growth in all the ways that matter. (Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli is senior pastor of Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington and was a General Conference delegate from the Baltimore- Washington Annual Conference.) enough positive results that conference leaders want to expand the program over the next few years to include all full-time appointments among the 522 churches in the annual conference. Johnson said onboarding proved highly instructive to Iowa church leaders because the new pastor and church members “address all the things that came up that are on the flip chart as they go through the process.” “If one person says it, there are 10 people thinking it,” Johnson said. “The process allows us to have a really good conversation about questions that people have.” (Cynthia B. Astle has reported on The United Methodist Church at all levels since 1988. She serves as editor of United Methodist Insight, an online journal she founded in 2011. The original article which was adapted to include IGRC was published Sept. 9 at www.baptistnewsglobal.com Paul Black, IGRC Director of Communication Ministries, contributed to this report.)

Methodist and a new zeal for sharing the good news of God’s love, grace, justice and mercy for a world crying out in need. There is a reclamation of our Wesleyan heritage, the spaciousness of grace and the power of God to help us do the hard work of being the church that is needed for this time in human history. But, as one colleague said to me recently, “As a large church, we’re very good at wishful thinking.” If we are to do more than engage in wishful thinking and experience less rancorous — and even joyful! — annual conferences, then some things have to really change. Worldwide regionalization, supported by 78 percent of General Conference delegates, is not the answer to all the issues needing to be meaningfully addressed as we move into the future. But it provides the framework to accomplish several important things. First, it allows the worldwide church — including the 75 percent of U.S. churches who did not leave the denomi- nation — to remain United Methodist in a new connec- tional way. My “home church” in small-town Oklahoma was a great example of the Wesley sentiment: “Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike?” Growing up in a sea of “check the belief-boxes to get your ticket to heaven” churches, I was always proud of the United Methodist commitment to question, to debate, to think deeply and to stay in relationship with God and one another. “Big Tent” or “Big Table” church is biblical; it is countercultural; it is profoundly Wesleyan. It is doing the harder thing — the Gospel thing. The going trend in the church and in the world is to jump into polarized bubbles, to discount or discard people who make us uncomfortable or angry. But regionalization keeps us meaningfully connected across differences and invites us to remain on the journey together as we all seek growth in holiness and love. Not every person or congregation or even annual conference will want to do the hard work of being United Methodist if it means that we are in the Body of Christ with those who interpret Scripture differently or who don’t agree theologically. That has always been the case, and there will continue to be ways for those who need to depart to do so with grace. I believe that as one wise colleague said to me, “We may become smaller in size, but will grow bigger in deepened relationships.” Second, regionalization also assures greater self- determination for all regions within the connection and decentralizes the United States in General Conference deliberations. Conferences outside the U.S. currently have provisions allowing for regional decision-making, based on their context. Issues of property, ordering of ministries, financial issues and more can be determined within the region based on local laws and culture. The U.S. has nowhere to take those concerns except to the General Conference. Many might agree that no one really wants to spend He said his first experience with the onboarding process was the assignment of Bishop Kennetha Bigham-Tsai after her election in November 2022. Johnson said he’s found, as with Graves’ experience, that a bishop who benefits from onboarding wants to provide it for all pastors going to new appointments. “We use a congregational assessment tool to make appointments with all our churches,” Johnson said. “About 47 percent of our churches score what we call ‘clergy focused,’ which means that they’re not dominated by clergy, the church thinks well of itself (no matter who’s appointed their pastor). “We know from the (assessment) that once the relationship between the pastor and that kind of congregation starts to go downhill, it’s nearly impossible for it to go back uphill,” Johnson said. “So, it’s really critical in those churches to start well and continue that relationship well.” Johnson said Iowa has conducted 10 onboarding sessions with these critical churches this year. He said they’ve had

BY REV. GINGER GAINES-CIRELLI

My first-ever General Conference was

Years

in Portland in 2016.

I’ll never forget those first preparatory delegation meetings in which I found both the legislative process and

200th anniversary celebration

the content of the legislation mystifying. I wondered: In a time when so much is broken in our world, when so many hunger for bread and for justice, for safety, shelter and sustainable wages, for access to health care and clean water, and for an end to warfare between nations, tribes and gangs, was legislation about committee process or non-binding resolutions really what would occupy the energies of the highest decision-making body of the denomination for two weeks? After serving as a delegate to the 2019 special called General Conference and the postponed 2020 General Conference held in Charlotte earlier this year, I am less mystified by the process, and I can even appreciate some of the legislative minutiae. But more than that, following our most recent General Conference, I am hopeful for what these worldwide gatherings might be like in the future. I caught a glimpse of that in Charlotte as I served on the leadership team of a legislative committee with colleagues from the Philippines, Nigeria and the U.S. and as delegates from across the connection who held differing views spoke in committee and on the plenary floor. They spoke with occasionally a little “edge,” but with care. The beautiful diversity of voices, races, cultures, genders, gender identities, orientations, abilities and ages engaging in holy conferencing as a worldwide body was inspiring. It was an unexpected joy to work with a common purpose for worldwide regionalization alongside new friends from Africa who are committed to remain United Methodist. I was blessed to learn about them and their ministries, and to learn from them as we served together. We understood that our contexts lead us to different stances on some key issues, that our countries are at different places culturally, theologically and legally related to ministry with and for LGBTQ+ siblings and allies. Yet even in this deep tension, we found ways to make space for our different contextual needs and to stay United Methodist together. Because we know we are all part of the Body of Christ, called to be in mission together and to love one another. Part of the experience in Charlotte — and in annual conferences across the U.S. these past weeks — is the strangely heart-warming feeling of the people in the room actually wanting to be there. I had the opportunity to experience not only my Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, but also to spend time with the Michigan Annual Conference in May. In these gatherings and in reports from friends and colleagues all over the United States, there is a fresh wind of Spirit blowing through the people called United

of Illinois Methodism BELLEVILLE – A conference- wide celebration, commemorating the 200th anniversary of the first Annual Conference session of the Illinois Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church will be held on Saturday, Oct. 26, from 10 a.m. to noon at Belleville: Signal Hill UMC. Methodists from throughout Illinois are welcome to join in the celebration of that first meeting of the Illinois Methodist Conference, which was held Oct. 23, 1824 in St. Clair County, and marked the launching point for the development of thousands of churches and hundreds of thousands of Methodists throughout the State of Illinois. We’ll gather for an old- fashioned Methodist hymn sing, be introduced to our 200th Anniversary commemorative historic sites, hear a message from Illinois Great Rivers Conference United Methodist Church Bishop David Bard, and join in a re-covenanting service as we look forward to the future for Methodists in Illinois. The celebration will be a great

significant one as it marks the 200th anniversary of the first class meeting held in Peter Cartwright’s cabin in Pleasant Plains – a predecessor to the Peter Cartwright Church, which is a United Methodist historic site. Following the worship, there will be a catered meal to follow. Contact the church’s pastor, Mark Milhouse at me.milhouse@ gmail.com or by calling (217) 720-5464 if you plan to be pres- ent for the noon meal. The Cartwright Sermon is usu- ally observed on a Sunday in October and serves to remind persons of the contribution of the Rev. Peter Cartwright, who was a leader in the formation of the church in the State of Illinois. This sermon series, along with the Prentice Sermon, which is given in various locations throughout the conference, are co-hosted by the IGRC Com- mission on Archives and History and the IGRC Historical Society.

ONBOARDING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

A gift for Candler In January 2023, Bowen took her program to a member of her church, Jan Love, then dean of UMC-related Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta. She gave Candler the copyrighted program and agreed to create more opportunities to certify conference UMC leaders in team building models and strategic vision work. By September 2023, Love, who recently retired after 17 years as dean, set up the Candler Center for Christian Leadership, complete with initial funding. Celeste Eubanks, a human resource professional from the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference, joined Candler as the center’s director at the same time. Since she began the process for pastors, Bowen estimates she’s personally conducted at least 150 onboarding sessions, and the program has trained at least 230 facilitators to guide the “new leader” process throughout all five U.S. jurisdictions of The United Methodist Church. One of those first “new leaders” was Bishop David Graves, who in 2016 was headed for his first assignment as a bishop in the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference. Bowen said Bishop Graves — who moved to lead Kentucky, Tennessee-Western Kentucky and Central Appalachian Missionary

The new pastor welcomes the laity to the session, invites them to be completely honest about their concerns, and then leaves, turning the meeting over to the facilitator. In turn, the facilitator asks participants a set of 12 pre-determined questions such as: • How would you describe your church’s DNA? • Where are the “landmines,” the “sacred cows” of the congregation? • What do you already know about your new pastor? • What do you wish to know about your new pastor? “On this question, they can ask anything,” Bowen said. Questions, which often are adapted to each congregation’s identity, aren’t published in advance so there’s no possibility of one perspective dominating the conversation. Answers are written on a flip chart, and cellphone photos are taken of each sheet and sent to the waiting pastor. When the facilitator’s conversation with laypeople is complete, the facilitator coaches the pastor to see if there are any issues needing clarification. The pastor returns to the group and the facilitator sits in the back allowing the pastor to be in charge now. The give- and-take of the meeting ends with a group prayer for the leadership of the new pastor.

ONBOARDING CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2

conferences Sept. 1 — found onboarding so successful he’s now the advising bishop for the Candler Center for Christian Leadership. “Once the relationship between the pastor and that kind of congregation starts to go downhill, it’s nearly impossible for it to go back uphill.” Now the Candler-housed process can train more UMC conference facilitators to conduct these onboardings with Eubanks’ guidance. Eubanks’ administration allows Bowen to train more conference staff to deliver onboarding because trained clergy who serve on the regional unit often go back into local pastorates, requiring others to be certified to take their place. Iowa’s experience Iowa Annual Conference used onboarding to great success this summer, said Jaye Johnston, conference superintendent for congregational excellence and new communities of faith.

ONBOARDING CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

2 | OCTOBER 2024 | THE CURRENT

THE CURRENT | OCTOBER 2024 | 3

LOCAL CHURCH NEWS

SPEC I AL HISTORICAL MESSENGER

We were able to touch history BY KENT KING-NOBLES Normal First UMC We were able to touch history. We stood on the banks of the river where slave ships unloaded human beings to be marched up to holding cages until they could be sold with the cattle. We heard the echo of crying mothers and fathers whose children were sold away to a life of brutality and abuse. We stood by the capital where Jefferson Davis was inaugurated and where Governor George Wallace declared, “Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, Segregation Forever.” We stood in the church where a young Martin Luther King Jr. had once been pastor, and where former Governor George Wallace came by to say that he had been wrong. We stood by a statue of Rosa Parks, shorter than expected, and thought about the strength that allowed her to keep from getting up from a segregated bus seat. We stood by the walls of the 16th Street Baptist Church, and shed tears for young, innocent girls whose lives were taken when a church was bombed on a Sunday morning. We gathered where Monday night meetings of prayer and singing gave a tired people the strength to keep on walking to work and boycotting the busses. We walked the Edmund Pettus Bridge with John Lewis, thinking of angry state troopers, posse men and white thugs waiting to shed blood to preserve the status quo of injustice. We sat in the church where Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth gave sanctuary to beaten Freedom Riders and told old Bull Connor that no one was going to be arrested that day. We stood in the kitchen of the parsonage of Martin Luther King Jr., where the late-night phone call brought another death threat. King found the peace of Christ and the courage to go on. We touched history. Now we are home from our trip, and history is touching us.

Celebrating

Years

Members of the 2024 Civil Rights Tour sponsored by Normal First UMC stand outside the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., the site of the Sept. 15, 1963, bombing by the Ku Klux Klan that killed four African-American girls.

Photo courtesy of Kathy King-Nobles

NORMAL FIRST HOSTS ITS SECOND CIVIL RIGHTS TRIP

On Oct. 23-28, 1824, Methodists in Illinois gathered for its first Illinois Annual Conference session in St. Clair County on what would be a predecessor to the Illinois Great Rivers Conference. At that time, the eastern part of Indiana also was a part of the Illinois Conference from 1825 to 1831 at which time it was united with the rest of Indiana. The Illinois Conference’s predecessor conferences had been the Missouri Conference from 1816-1824; the Tennessee Conference from 1813-1816; and the Western Conference from 1807 to 1812, the same year the first churches were built in St. Clair County. In observance of the 200th anniversary, IGRC Communications, in cooperation with the IGRC Commission on Archives and History, is producing the four-page Historical Messenger, with some of the stories of people and ministries within Illinois of which one may not be aware. It is the goal of this joint project to provide a monthly story over the next year highlighting many more stories that have done much to shape the history of the church and transform the world.

preparation was immensely important for two reasons. It prepared us for the stories and history that we would be encountering. And we were a stronger, more cohesive group, better able to offer care and support to one another. Here are some reflections from a few of our group members: “What I can tell you is that this experience has shifted my internal compass. And I look forward to finding ways to transform that shift into meaningful action.” – Liz, Bloomington Wesley UMC “Two significant factors that stood out for me, in the struggle for Civil Rights, was the importance of the churches both as places to meet and providing the leadership that stepped up. It’s hard to imagine how the laws would have changed without both of them. The second factor was the focus on non-violence as the strategy of demonstration, including practicing before demonstrations. The possibility of death to a demonstrator was taken so seriously, that individuals were encouraged to make their wills and other arrangements. People of God can make a difference!” – Bess, Mennonite Church Proverbs 22, emphasizing the importance of a legacy rooted in integrity, faith, and wisdom. Reflecting on Proverbs 22:1—“A good name is more desirable than great riches”— the pastor urged everyone to appreciate the invaluable legacy grandparents leave, one far surpassing material wealth. Rev. Esguerra deepened this reflection by quoting the late, well-known evangelist Billy Graham: “The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things, but a legacy of character and faith.” Drawing a parallel to sports icons like Michael Jordan and Steph Curry, he emphasized that true legacy comes from a life lived in dedication to family and faith, much like these grandparents. A special ceremony honored grandparents with medals, representing their role as life’s MVPs, the medals served as tangible reminders of their significant contributions to their families and communities. As a further gesture of appreciation, each grandparent was also given a gold chocolate coin, representing both the sweetness of their love and the wealth of wisdom they impart to future generations. In a moving moment, the congregation joined in a prayer of gratitude, led by the Rev. Esguerra. They gave thanks for their beloved grandparents and asked for God’s continued blessings on their lives. A group photo captured the joy and smiles shared in the sanctuary, preserving the memories of this special day. GRANDPARENTS' DAY CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

BY KATHY KING-NOBLES Normal First UMC

NORMAL– In April, Normal 1st UMC sponsored their second Civil Rights trip. Our group of 43 was comprised of members from four United Methodist congregations (including Peoria 1st), Moses Montefiore Temple, Unitarian Universalists, Mennonite Church, 1st Presbyterian, and Grace Episcopal. Our trip included the following sites on the US Civil Rights Trail ( https://civilrightstrail.com/ ): Memphis’ Civil Rights Museum and “I Am a Man” Plaza; Birmingham’s 16th St Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Civil Rights Institute, and Bethel Baptist Church; Montgomery’s Rosa Parks Museum, Freedom Ride Museum, Dexter Ave Baptist Church, and Legacy Museum sites; Selma’s Brown Chapel AME and Edmund Pettus Bridge; and Tuskegee’s Airmen Museum and University. Our journey together began six months before the trip with bi-monthly meetings in order to get to know another, learn about the sites we were visiting, and studying together The 1619 Project by Nicole Hannah Jones. Our KANKAKEE — In a heartfelt celebration of love and wisdom, Saint Mark United Methodist Church in Kankakee and Bradley Wesley UMC’s honored grandparents on Grandparents’ Day. The event paid tribute to the "MVPs of Life"—grandparents whose enduring love, guidance, and wisdom continue to shape their families and communities. The day’s celebration featured heartfelt recognition, prayers, and an inspiring sermon on the theme, A Legacy of Wisdom and Love . Grandparents, revered as the pillars of their families, were honored for their vital role in nurturing future generations with faith and love. The atmosphere was filled with warmth and reverence as grandparents were celebrated for their profound impact. Each grandparent received a medal, symbolizing their role as life’s “Most Valuable Players,” and gold chocolate coins as a sweet reminder of the love and wisdom they’ve passed down through the years. Rev. Dr. Enrico R. Esguerra highlighted grandparents’ vital role in shaping faith, character, and family unity. “Today, we honor you not only for what you’ve done but for who you are—beacons of love and faith to all of us,” he shared during the tribute. The heart of the celebration was a sermon inspired by

CIVIL RIGHTS TRIP CONTINUED ON PAGE 10 Kankakee St. Mark, Bradley Wesley celebrate Grandparents’ Day BY ENRICO ESGUERRA

4 | OCTOBER 2024 | THE CURRENT

THE CURRENT | OCTOBER 2024 | 5

SPECIAL HISTORICAL ME SSENGER

Celebrating

Years

LIZZIE, THE MISSIONARY WORKER (Editor’s note: The following first appeared in the April 1997 issue of Methodist History, a publication of the General Commission on Archives and History. It is reprinted with permission.)

sell. No one bought it. For the next 14 years, in fact, it stayed folded in a corner of the room. But fortunately, and one is almost inclined to say, miraculously, that was not the end of the story of the quilt. In 1904, Bishop Francis Wesley Warne, who had been elected to the episcopacy in 1900 with an assignment to Illinois, as well as India, was besieged by a number of people to visit a totally bedridden woman in Casey by the name of Lizzie Johnson, who had a great LIZZIE CONTINUED......

small occasional enterprise that Lizzie did at her leisure. From the very beginning, she saw it as a daily business. It became an enterprise of no small proportions. Over the years, she raised a profit of over $25,000 for the cause

Lizzie, taken probably in her later teens, reflects a pleasant and very attractive young woman. In January 1882, a few months before her 13th birthday, Lizzie was suddenly seized with an illness, spinal in nature, that was to render her an invalid by the time she was 20. According to records, she was never able to raise her head from her pillow after 1890. In that condition, for the remaining 19 years, she lived confined to one room, never again to be free of pain. Neither Lizzie nor her family easily accepted her condition. The very best in medical attention was sought. In the hope that a change of climate might be helpful, they took a trip to Florida one winter with the family physician. All such efforts were to end, however, on a disappointing note. Some of her deep feelings and struggles during these years of declining health are captured in these words from her journal, For many years my bed stood by the window through which I could see the school grounds and buildings, where I began my school life. Day after day, from the beginning to the close of school terms, I watched the scholars and keenly regretted my inability to be one of their number. My parents had always taught their children that education was very essential. It was painful to me to realize my youth was slipping away and time and opportunity were passing. When I was a child long before my illness, my mother often told me. that when I became old enough she expected to place me in one of the best schools of music and keep me there till graduation. I was fairly aflame with ambition to continue my music when I became ill. Mother knew of my eagerness and during the first few years of my illness, she would cheer me when I was discouraged by referring to the musical education which she hoped awaited me. As time passed and prospects of recovery diminished, the subject was mentioned less frequently and finally not at all,. but the fond ambition would not die and lurked in my bosom for years; and the love of music yet lives in my soul. 4 Continuing, she wrote: ''The thought of never being more than an invalid caused me to shudder and

two things happened that renewed her spirit and gave her a purpose for living. First, through the ministry at that time of the presiding elder of the Mattoon District of the Central Illinois Conference, the Reverend James T. Orr, she was introduced to the work of missions, t1nder the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in particular to the life and work of Bishop William Taylor who was at that time assigned to Africa. The second thing that happened was an experience that changed her attitude forever. It came at a time when she was continuing to struggle with the acceptance of her condition. Her great longing to be free from suffering persisted and was almost overwhelming at times. In the midst of that struggle she wrote, Vivid in my mind is the memory of a night when weariness, nervousness, and headache prevented sleep. I felt as I had on previous occasions, a sincere sorrow of soul, a keen sense of sin, a need of Jesus as my personal Savior. As I prayed, this question came, 'Are you willing to consent to a life of suffering?' The question was a trying one. At that moment my desire was to be released from suffering, to be strong and independent was fairly consuming. Must I consent to such a lot? My heart cried out, 'Are you Willing?' carne the answer clear and strong. The struggle was hard indeed, but my heart yielded and I was able to say, 'Yes, Lord, if it be thy will.' Rebellion fled from my heart, joy filled my soul, sweet sleep came. When I woke in the morning, everything and everybody looked different to me. My soul was light in the Lord, my heart had in it a new hope, my life a new purpose. From that night in May 1890, the night I answered 'yes' to God, I date my conversion. 6 Those two things, a growing interest in missions, centering on Bishop Taylor's efforts to place little girls in Africa into missions, and her "consecration" experience led to the making of her now well-known quilt. Desiring so much to fill someone else's life with, as she put it, "sunshine" and thinking specifically in her words of "the little black girls in Africa bound down by the superstition of heathenism," the thought came to her mind, "Make a quilt, sell it and give the proceeds to missions. It may be the means of redeeming one of the girls." 7 So for the next six months, she with the assistance of her mother, who held the patches while Lizzie sewed, the quilt, a "crazy quilt" it was called because of its many oddly shaped patterns, took shape. The work, by her own account was not easy: Some days I almost fainted into insensibility under the amount of work that fell into my hands. I was often very ill from overexertion. On recovery I would press on with new courage. I worked until sheer exhaustion compelled me to stop. Many times I worked until my hands were so sore and stiffened at the close of my day's work that I did not have proper use of them. Evening after evening mother bathed my hands in hot water and applied hamamelis to relieve the condition and thereby render my fingers sufficiently nimble to resume work the following morning. 8 That quilt hangs today in a protective case in the First United Methodist Church of Casey. When one takes note of the thousands of stitches that it took to make it, one cannot help but think of all the pain and suffering that went irtto.it with the hope that it might bring some "sunshine" into someone's life. But for all of the effort and pain, the quilt did not

BY JACK L. NEWSOME Every region has had its heroes of the faith who lived their lives in such a way that they not only served their own age, but continued to capture the imaginations of people long after their earthly lives were ended. Two such persons who came readily to mind for United Methodists in Illinois are Peter Cartwright and Bishop Joseph Hartzell, However,

of missions. (When one remembers that this was at the tum of the century when the New York Times sold for 1 cent, the equivalent of that in today's money would be many times that amount.) Keeping in mind that she sold the bookmarks for 10¢, 15¢, and 25¢ each, and remembering also the cost of having the ribbons printed, the bookmarks made and mailed, it is estimated that, with her sister's (Alice) assistance, she had to make at least 250,000 bookmarks to realize the profit for missions. In addition to the work of the bookmarks, there were the increasing number of letters that had to be written. As the awareness of Lizzie Johnson increased, so did the number of letters she received. She insisted on responding to all of them personally at first, two to three hundred a month. Only later, when the load became too great, did she consider using the assistance of someone else with the correspondence. She was fortunate to secure the services of Mabel Kennedy, a childhood friend. It was a good match. As Lizzie wrote in her journal, "She [Mabel] was delighted to render any assistance she could and was quick, quiet, competent. She wrote as I dictated and accomplished much, so long as I could endure the labor, for dictating was new work for me. I was not accustomed to having anyone in my room any great length of time." After her visits, Lizzie continued, "I would, if strength permitted, spend hours in sorting, listing, and wrapping bookmarks to accompany the letters written during the afternoon. I worked until late and did not dare pause to ask myself whether I was too weary to work longer. Self was subordinate to my thoughts. Had it not been so the work could never have been accomplished." 10 "I have," she wrote, "sent bookmarks to every state in the union, also to Mexico, Canada, Scotland, England, Italy, Sweden, Austria, India, Madeira, Turkey, Africa, South America, New Zealand, Hawaii, China, and Japan. I began this work a little more than fourteen years ago and have worked very hard as I lie upon my bed of pain and am thankful to God for the opportunity _of so doing. The profits resulting from my bookmarks go to maintain native workers in foreign lands. The work overtaxes my strength, yet I am anxious to toil on and do all I can to enable these native pastors and Bible women to continue their work of soul saving." 11 A page out of her account book for 1906 provides a good summary of her work and its results: Account for 1906 Received�� $2,333.99 Disbursement: For support of (7) pastor teachers in India, at $60 each per annum��420.00 Support of pastor-teachers in India per annum��100.00 Two Bible Women in India at $50 each per annum��100.00 Support of Bible Women in India per annum��40.00 Support (2) Bible women in China at $20 each per annum��40.00 Support of native pastor in Africa, per annum��50.00 Support of (3) scholarships in Japan at $15.00 each per annum��45.00 Support of Bible-readers in Maderia Island per annum�� 100.00 Bookmarks purchased................#15074 Cost of bookmarks��514.80 Letters written 931......... Cards written 290 Bookmarks in stock Dec. 31st...........12,883 Cash in bank��$3827.30 12

There are countless stories that have their inception from the life of Lizzie Johnson. Each life that she touched stood ripe for the possibility for new stories to arise. Like the ripple caused by a pebble thrown into the water, the influence from her life continued to spread. One such story will have to suffice. Takuo Matsumato of Japan in early boyhood was taken into the Methodist mission schools of Japan and educated by the funds from the sale of the bookmarks made by Lizzie Johnson. He was an outstanding pupil. He came to the United States and took higher college degrees in this country. He became president of a Methodist mission school located in Nagasaki, where 1, 700 girls were enrolled. When the atom bomb destroyed the city, 350 girls in that school were killed. Matsumato himself was severely injured and his wife killed. After the Second World War, Mr. Matsumato, in the interest of reconciliation and peace, visited in this country. His itinerary happened to bring him to Champaign, Illinois, where quite by coincidence Lizzie's sister, Alice, was in attendance. Discovering who she was and learning that she was the sister of his early benefactor, Mr. Matsumato was overcome. He asked if he could go to Casey and place flowers on Lizzie's grave. At her grave site he found a simple stone marker with these words engraved upon it: "Lizzie, The Missionary Worker.'' 13 Takuo Matsumato was just one of many whose life had been significantly touched by that "Missionary Worker," who somehow managed to bring a great amount of "sunshine" into a world while confined to a darkened room. How far the ripples from that one life have spread! (Rev. Jack L. Newsome was a clergy member of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference, serving local congregations as well as Mattoon District Superintendent and Assistant to Bishop David Lawson before retiring in November 1997. He died May 23, 2020.) Works cited 1 Charles W. Jacobs, From Pillow to Throne , 1910 by M. Alice Johnson. No publisher recorded in the volume. It is available from the Archives, Illinois Great Rivers Conference. 2 Lizzie Johnson's journal is now extinct. All quotes from her journal are taken from the book by Charles W. Jacobs, From Pillow to Throne . 3 Francis Wesley Warne, The Story of Lizzie L. Johnson (New York and Cincinnati: Abingdon Press, 1927). 4 Jacobs, no page number.

love for missions. In his book about Lizzie, Bishop Warne described the day he took a train from Chicago to Casey and walked down Main Street until he came to the little house where Lizzie lived. What impact Bishop Warne had on Lizzie we do not know, but there is no question as to her life and influence on his.

one in the state, who is not so popularly known and yet whose life has continued 'to inspire those who know about her, is Lizzie Johnson who lived more than a century ago and who died in 1909. For the greater part of her life, Johnson was

confined to her bed in her family's home in Casey. The illness that placed her there and the global impact she was to make in those years of confinement are a story that bears retelling. Two early books were written by Johnson. The first, From Pillow to Throne 1 , was the work of C. W. Jacobs, a former pastor and friend to the family. Six months before her death, Lizzie placed her journal into the hands of this beloved pastor, saying to him at the time, "Do what you think best with it. It includes no personal history of myself from 1900 to the present. I am too weak and worn to finish the last nine or ten years" 2 The first section of the book contains excerpts from Lizzie's journal, interwoven with personal commentary by Jacobs. The second section, rather than continuing with her life's story, focuses, through letters of appreciation, on the impact that her life up until that time had already had upon others. The second source is The Story of Lizzie L. Johnson , written by Bishop Francis Wesley Warne of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 3 Coming to know her in 1904, only some five years before her death, Bishop Warne did much to make her name known literally around the world. Lizzie Johnson's story begins in the middle of the last century. In 1859 just before the Civil War began, John W. Johnson and Mary C. Johnson, the parents of Lizzie Johnson, arrived in Terre Haute, Indiana, along with Mrs. Johnson's brother. With a baby daughter, the family crossed the Wabash River by ferry and made their way to a large, two-room log cabin belonging to Mrs. Johnson's brother, who resided some eight miles south of Casey, Illinois. There the Johnsons lived for a few months until they could build their own house. They lived in that house for nine years, during which time three children were born. The farm on which they lived was not located within easy access for the children to attend school, so in the autumn of 1868 the Johnson family moved to Casey. On May 22, 1869, another child was born, Lizzie Louvira. Later, Alice, a younger sister, was born. The whole family consisted of four daughters and one son. The father became a lumber merchant and the youngest daughter, Alice, devoted a significant part of her life to the care of her sister, as well as her mother and father in the latter years of their lives. There is every indication that the first 13 years of Lizzie Johnson's life were happy and normal. The loves of her life were music, nature, and education. A picture of

That day changed Bishop Warne's life. Before departing he saw the quilt and inquired about it. Learning its story and why Lizzie made it, he asked if he might borrow it. A book could be written about that quilt. For over the next 20 years, it circled the world three times, and the story of Lizzie Johnson was told on every continent of the globe. Bishop Warne estimated that $100,000 was raised during that time through the quilt for the cause of missions [one of which was the construction of the Lizzie Johnson Church in India]. But far greater than the money raised was the inspiration that came to thousands in this country and in the remote comers of the world from the life and Christian commitment of Lizzie Johnson. But the quilt was only a rather small part of Lizzie's commitment to the cause of missions. With the failure to sell the quilt in 1891, she did not fold her hands and quit. After a time of some discouragement, she soon thought of other ways that she could put her life to use for the love of her life – missions. This time the idea came from her brother, Charles. Visiting with her in her room one day, he happened to notice a bookmark that she had placed aside. Catching sight of the ribbon he asked, "What have you there? Is it a ribbon bookmark?" "He took it and examined it with interest, his face growing thoughtful all the while," she later wrote. Then he asked, "Why don't you prepare a number of bookmarks similar to this, sell them, and give the proceeds to missions? The work would afford you mental employment, and at the same time you would be aiding foreign missions.'' 9 The suggestion slowly took root, but it was not an easy decision for her to reach. As she wrote in her journal, ,.'Such a work would require some means, some business management, much hard work, and heavy correspondence." Her mother did not encourage her for she knew Lizzie's weakness and the suffering it would unavoidably cause. During subsequent days, Lizzie struggled with making a decision. She had another face-to-face encounter with her Lord in which. she finally said yes .. "'Decision Day," she called it thereafter. Incidentally, she only wrote of two such close encounters. She didn't dwell on them. Both came at times when she was struggling most deeply with her life and what she was to do next, and both launched her into the most mission-caring enterprises one can imagine. We would be mistaken to think that this. was some

grow sick at heart. My fierce determination to recover my health almost embittered my heart." 5 To sense something of Lizzie Johnson's pain and frustration and to know something of her hopes and dreams, which were never realized, makes one realize how remarkable was her life. How did it happen

5 Jacobs. 6 Jacobs. 7 Jacobs. 8 Jacobs. 9 Jacobs. 10 Jacobs.

that as her life at the age of 21 was sinking into what seemed like oblivion, she, by the time she died 20 years later, had become a household name for many, not only in America, but in many other countries of the world? To be sure, other persons played significant roles in. her life -- her parents and family, especially her younger sister, Alice, several key friends, pastors, and church officials. Along with the support from all of them was her own deep and abiding faith in God. Just as she was sinking into the throes of deepest doubt and depression,

11 Warne, 65. 12 Warne, 64.

13 Louise Campbell, Personal Christmas Letter. Nov. 25, 1986. It is available from the Archives Library, Casey United Methodist Church, Casey, Illinois.

6 | OCTOBER 2024 | THE CURRENT

THE CURRENT | OCTOBER 2024 | 7

Page 1 Page 2-3 Page 4-5 Page 6-7 Page 8-9 Page 10-11 Page 12-13 Page 14-15 Page 16