2025maycurrent

Pre-Conference briefings In order to assist our Annual

ANNUAL CONFERENCE NEWS

2025 Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference Presiding Bishops: Bishop David Bard & Bishop Kennetha Bigham-Tsai “Rivers of Grace: Hope That Does Not Disappoint” Theme Scripture: Romans 5:5

Pre-Conference briefings. You can attend any of them that you find convenient, and no reservation or registration is required: • Saturday, May 3, 10 a.m., Pekin Grace UMC • Friday, May 9, 10 a.m., Highland Hope UMC • Saturday, May 10, 2 p.m., Cisco UMC • Wednesday, May 16, 10 a.m., Ke- wanee UMC • Saturday, May 17, 2 p.m., Charleston Wesley UMC • Sunday, May 18, 3 p.m., IGRC Con- ference Center in Springfield • Friday, May 23, 10 a.m., Little Grassy Camp Dining Hall in Makanda If you have any questions, or would like any more details, please feel free to reach out Curtis Brown, IGRC Director of Con- nectional Ministries at cbrown@igrc.org or (217) 529-2442.

Conference members in preparing for this year’s Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference Session, we’re hosting a series of Pre-Conference Briefings around the IGRC. At these briefings we’ll review all of the details of our upcoming Annual Conference session, review all of the legislation, highlight our worship services, and answer any questions. This is a great way to jump-start your participation, We’ll hold two Pre-Conference Briefing online. You can join on the day below by using this link: https://us06web. zoom.us/j/85607807914?pwd=G0LPIN7i whether this is your first or two hundredth Annual Conference. x80ANp3enlmjKnMmPHXrRA.1 • Thursday, May 8, 7 p.m., Online • Friday, May 16, 10 a.m., Online If you prefer, we’ll hold seven in-person

ROMANS 5:5

Hope that Does Not Disappoint

THURSDAY, JUNE 5 8:30

Annual Conference registration information PEORIA – Registration for Annual Conference opened April 1. Information on Annual Conference can be found online at: www.igrc.org/ac2025 .

Morning Team Meeting

9:00 9:30

Prayer Time with Episcopacy Committee Opening Worship • Preaching: Bishop Kennetha Bigham-Tsai • Offering: Africa University

persons not attending Annual Conference either in person or online. Those who register after May 23 will be charged a $25 processing fee. Those who register on-site after June 4 will be charged a $50 processing fee. Excep- tions to these fees may be made for emergencies and extenuating circumstances. Credentialed members will be sent information to ac- cess the virtual conference room. Persons online will use a laptop, tablet or smartphone to access the voting system and vote. Those votes will automatically be sent to the voting system in the Peoria Civic Center for real time tabulation of votes. A training session on the online voting system will be held in the weeks prior to Annual Conference and after the May 15 deadline. The public live stream will be available to non-creden- tialed visitors at: https://www.igrc.org/ac2025live

10:30 12:00 2:00

Laity & Clergy Sessions

Lunch Break

nounced that IGRC retired pastor, the Rev. John McIntosh will be the preacher for the Memorial Service at the 2025 Annual Conference. The Memorial Service will be on Thursday at 2 p.m. in Halls B/C of the Peoria Civic Center. McIntosh, who retired in 2018, is the son of the Rev. Burt A. McIntosh, who is one of 50 clergy, clergy spouses and lay members to Annual Conference that will be remem- bered in the Memorial and Celebration of Life service. During his ministry, John McIntosh served the following pastorates: Kewanee (Associate), Bellflower-Foosland; Pittsfield; Peoria University Avenue; Vandalia: First; Nor- mal: First and Mahomet. He also served at Pesotum and Pesotum-Shiloh in retirement. Bishop Kennetha Bigham-Tsai will preach the Opening Worship at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. The Rev. Dr. Jacqui King, IGRC Director of Ministerial Members of the Annual Conference Sessions Commit- tee voted to make the Annual Conference a hybrid event and participants will need to declare whether they are registering to participate online or on-site. The selection of online or in-person determines which registration form you will complete. The online registration is much shorter in length because it does not include on-site special meals. Registration will close on May 15 for online registrants and May 23 for in-person registrants. Clergy planning to attend online DO NOT need to complete an excused absence form. The Excused Absence Form is only for in just two months, we want to make sure all of our members have a chance to learn more and ask questions in advance. Our pre-Conference materials with the legislation and information will be going out in just a few weeks, and registration is open and filling right now. This year, we’ll be holding a set of informational webinars on three topics that will be discussed at our Annual Conference Session. These webinars will be online and are open to all of interested members, participants, and guests. We’ll use the same link for each Zoom meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89608819412?pwd=aiOZ qOHqAhCckpD3ugpf2rWfKsaHJB.1 IGRC Vision & Mission Statement – Monday, May 5, 2 p.m. Our Vision Task Force and Connectional Table are proposing an update to the IGRC Vision Statement. You can read about it in the IGRC Vision Mission Strategy report approved by the Connectional Table and found here: https://tinyurl.com/vycu4ky4 .

Memorial & Celebration of Life Worship • Preaching: Rev. John McIntosh • Offering: IGRC Camping Ministries

3:00 Break 3:15-5:30 Conferencing Session #1

• Including Constitutional Amendments voting

5:30 5:30

Dinner Break

Join the Tech World Crew IGRC Communications provides the audio-visual support for the Annual Conference each year. By utilizing volunteers, the Annual Conference saves almost $100,000 over what it would cost to outsource the professional services to a vendor. If you have an interest in helping run the equipment, man a camera or learn some new skills, we have a place for you! Contact IGRC DIrector of Communications Paul Black at pblack@igrc.org or IGRC Video Production Manager Bob Schafer at bschafer@ igrc.org . No experience is necessary as we will train you for the tasks that need to be accomplished. Special offerings at Annual Conference

Annual Conference Festival Choir Rehearsal

FRIDAY, JUNE 6 8:00

Morning Team Meeting

8:30

Service of Ministry Celebration • Order of Consecration of Deaconess/Home Missioner • Offering: Tom Brown Scholarship at Wiley University • Preaching: Rev. Dr. Jaqui King

McIntosh to preach Memorial Service BY PAUL BLACK PEORIA – Bishop David Bard has an-

9:45 Break 10:00-12:00 Conferencing Session #2 12:00 Lunch 2:00

Excellence, will be the preacher for Friday morning’s Service of Ministry Celebration, which will include the consecration of Christina Krost as a deaconess; recogni- tion of lay servant ministers and lay speakers; new certi- fied lay ministers; new graduates of the Course of Study; newly-licensed local pastors; recognition of new district superintendents; and the celebration of recipients of the One Matter and Denman Evangelism awards. Rev. Dr. Craig Hill will be the preacher of the Retiree Recognition Service, slated for 2 p.m. Friday. Hill is one of 26 pastors who are retiring with a combined service of 633.56 years. Bishop David Bard will be the preacher at Saturday’s Service of Ordination and Commission, which will be Saturday morning, beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Service of Recognition of Retirees • Preaching: Rev. Dr. Craig Hill • Offering: IGRC Campus Ministries

help to continue a solid base of support for the ministries of East Bay and Little Grassy camps. Tom Brown Scholarship , Wiley College – Celebration of Ministry, Friday, 8:30 a.m. The Tom Brown Scholarship is one which as- sists a student of Wiley College, one of the 11 historical Black Colleges. Beginning in 1987, the former Central Illinois Conference, named a scholarship in memory of the Rev. Tom Brown, a long-time supporter of the Marshall, Texas-based school. Rev. Brown was often the one who stood at the microphone after the presentation by the visiting Black College intern and would move that the annual con- ference session take up a special offering for Wiley College. Rev. Brown’s daughter, Sha- ron Brown, is the director of Kumler Outreach Ministries in Springfield. Rev. Brown’s widow, Fumiko Brown, will be remembered in this year’s Memorial Service. IGRC Campus Ministries – Recognition of Retirees, Friday, 2 p.m. The other primary source of many persons entering the ministry has been through the campus ministries within the Illinois Great Rivers Conference – at the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign; Illinois State University; Southern Illinois University-Car- bondale; Eastern Illinois University; Western Illinois University; and the campus ministry programs at McKendree University and Il- linois Wesleyan University. Bishop’s Study Trip for Ordinands – Ser- vice of Ordination and Commissioning, Saturday, 9:30 a.m. An offering will also be taken for the Ordi- nands' Trip. This trip is used to form spiritual leaders at the beginning of their ministry.

PEORIA – Clergy and lay members to an- nual conference will have several special offering opportunities this year. Congrega- tions are encouraged to send their offerings with their lay and clergy members or donate online at: https://www.igrc.org/ac2025spe- cialofferings The following offerings will be taken this year and when those offerings will occur in the Annual Conference agenda: Africa University – Opening Worship, Thurs- day, 9:30 a.m. A partnership of more than 30 years exists between the Illinois Great Rivers Conference and Africa University. Some of the projects that the Conference has funded for Africa University includes: the Bridge of Dreams, creation of a Wesley Foundation student ministry, scholarships endowed in honor of Bishops David Lawson and Jonathan and Beverly Keaton and most recently, the endowment of the Joyce Helm Francis Scholarship. John Kofi Asmah Maintenance Fund – La- ity Session, Thursday, 10:30 a.m. Laity from the Illinois Great Rivers Confer- ence raised funds to construct the John Kofi Asmah School, located in the West Point sec- tion of Monrovia, Liberia. This year's offering will be to provide funding for maintenance costs of the school. IGRC Camping Ministries – Memorial Ser- vice, Thursday, 2 p.m. For more than 70 years, camping ministries have been a part of the ministry of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference and its predecessor conference. It has consistently been one of the primary means by which persons have been called into the ministry. The offering will

3:00 Break 3:15-5:30 Conferencing Session #3 5:30-7:00 Dinner 5:30 Ordination Rehearsal SATURDAY, JUNE 7 7:30 Morning Prayer Breakfast

UNITED MEDIA RESOURCE CENTER Hospitality and Welcoming Resources available to borrow from the UMRC! Items can be sent to your church or home address and can be requested from the online catalog: www.igrc.org/umrc or by email: umrc@igrc.org No rental fee – the only cost to churches is return postage. UMRC #101106 Art of Hospitality: A Practical Guide for a Ministry of Radical Welcome – DVD, 7 sessions #106080 Fear of the Other: No Fear In Love – DVD, 5 sessions #123085 Welcoming Ministry Training Manual and Planning Handbook – DVD, 14 training sessions #818034 Becoming a Welcoming Church – book by Thom Rainer #815114 Clip In: Risking Hospitality In Your Church – book by Jim Ozier and Fiona Haworth #818170 Come Back Effect: How Hospitality Can Compel Your Church’s Guests to Return – book by Jason Young and Jonathan Malm #808084 God’s Welcome: Hospitality for a Gospel-Hungry World – book by Amy Oden #809018 Making Room: Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition – book by Christine Pohl #818153 People Are the Mission: How Churches Can Welcome Guests Without Compromising the Gospel – book by Danny Franks #814085 See, Know & Serve the People Within Your Reach – book by Thomas Bandy

• Led by IGRC Black Methodist for Church Renewal Service of Ordination • Preaching: Bishop David Bard • Offering: Bishops’ Study Trip for Ordinands • Fixing of Appointments

9:30

Annual Conference informational webinars As we’re getting ready for IGRC Annual Conference

12:00

Depart

Volunteers needed for Annual Conference Our 2025 Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference takes a lot of people to make it go, and we'd love for you to join in to help make it a great experience. This year we have several new opportunities for you to consider: • Help distribute voting devices on Thursday morning • Help host and connect our online participants Thursday and Friday • Help provide information for monitoring reports during plenary sessions • Be trained to help provide care for those who might need to talk after Liturgy on Apology for Church Sexual Misconduct on Friday evening Review them on the Google form by visiting: https://forms. gle/EAmHbcGhw6pUyT5x5 , sign up to help, and feel free to reach out IGRC Committee on Sessions Chair Curtis Brown with any questions: cbrown@igrc.org

UMC Constitutional Amendments – Monday, May 12, 2 p.m .

The 2024 General Conference proposed four amendments to the constitution of The United Methodist Church. Along with other United Methodists around the world, we will be considering and voting on these amendments at our Annual Conference session. You can learn more about the proposed amendments here: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/church-constitutional- amendments-head-to-vote IGRC Petitions on Little Grassy and Conference Center – Monday, May 19, 10:30 a.m. Any United Methodist member in the IGRC can submit legislation for consideration at our Annual Conference session. This year, we’ll consider a petition to add extra-budgetary funding for Little Grassy Camp and a petition to direct the IGRC Trustees to consider selling the Conference Center building in Springfield. The details on the legislation will be in the pre-Conference materials released in early May, but you may want to block out this time to ask questions and get more information before Annual Conference.

The UMRC is now located at Kumler Outreach Ministries, a ministry of the Kumler United Methodist Church in Springfield. The new mailing address is:

Kumler Outreach Ministries, Attn: United Media Resource Center303 E North Grand Ave, Springfield IL 62702-3822

The new phone number is 217-523-2269 , which is the number for Kumler Outreach Ministries. When the receptionist answers, ask for the United Media Resource Center. Questions, comments? Contact us at umrc@igrc.org

20 | MAY 2025 | THE CURRENT

THE CURRENT | MAY 2025 | 21