Potts appointed as IGRC Director of Administrative Services

Bishop Frank J. Beard, in consultation with the Conference Council on Finance and Administration, the Conference Personnel Committee and the Cabinet of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference announced Jan. 25 the appointment of the Rev. Mike Potts as the new Conference Director of Administrative Services, effective March 1.

Potts is currently Executive Pastor at Champaign New Horizon UMC, was selected from a field of 39 applicants for the position. He has been part of New Horizon’s transition as a successful new church start. Working in partnership with the General Council on Finance and Administration in the search process, candidates were screened and four finalists were interviewed by the IGRC Personnel Committee’s interview team.

Phillips new Conference Archivist

The Conference Commission on Archives and History, in cooperation with MacMurray College, announced the hiring of Lynne Phillips of Appleton, Wis. as archivist for MacMurray College and the Illinois Great Rivers Conference.

Phillips succeeds Lauretta Scheller, who retired Dec. 31. She was selected from a field of 35 applicants in a nationwide search.

Phillips, who has 15 years experience and post-graduate degrees in history and museum studies, will join the MacMurray staff March 1. The college and conference share a full-time archivist. The Conference Archives are located in the Henry Pfeiffer Library on MacMurray's campus.

New Liberian president sworn into office

New Liberian President George Manneh Weah said the best way to help the poor is to ensure that public resources do not end up in the pockets of government officials.

Weah, a United Methodist and former soccer star, was officially sworn in as president of Liberia at a ceremony in the country’s capital Jan. 22. Weah succeeds fellow United Methodist Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.

During the induction ceremony, Weah said the overwhelming mandate he received from the Liberian people during his campaign was to end corruption in public service. “I promised to deliver on this mandate,” he stressed. “Though corruption is a habit amongst our people, we must end it.”

EZRA Year-End Reporting link posted on website, church portal

As churches prepare for their 2017 Year-End Reports, a link has been posted at the top of the IGRC Homepage that will take you to the log-in screen for year-end reporting. You can also log into to the Church Portal Page on the IGRC website and a link to the sign-in page for Ezra is provided within the portal. More details can be found in the Year-End reporting page under Finance and Benefits or by clicking the button below.

The filing deadline is March 31.



Volunteers needed in Puerto Rico

UMCOR - United Methodist Committee On Relief has received a formal invitation from Bishop Hector Ortiz of Iglesia Metodista de Puerto Rico requesting volunteers to support reconstruction following Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Note that UMCOR - United Methodist Committee On Relief affirms Bishop Ortiz’s request that all volunteers refrain from making formal travel plans or deploying without invitation or following the proper application procedures.

In order to make this an orderly and coordinated process, UMCOR, working with the assistance of United Methodist Volunteers in Mission North Central Jurisdiction , has created an Intent to Serve webpage where volunteers can apply to schedule a volunteer team visit.

Young adults explore calls to ministry

The February 2018 issue of The Current should be arriving in the next few days. To view the February issue online, click on the cover to the right and it will open in pdf format. To save the issue as a pdf, right-click the cover and select "Save File As..." or "Save Link As..."

In addition to the cover story, the issue contains a report on local church apportionment giving for 2017 in which collectively, congregations set a new record of 95.25 percent collected.