This Week's Issue of The Current Week in Review

February 24, 2017


	Click on the cover to view the March issue

The March issue of The Current should be arriving this weekend. The cover story explores the power of fear in our world today while being reminded that fear isn't the only force at work in the world. Perspectives are given by Dr. Craig Hill, dean of Perkins School of Theology and an IGRC clergy member; Dr. David Wence, IGRC clergy appointed to Decatur Pscyhological Associates and Rev. Larry Hollon, former executive for United Methodist Communications. Along with this package is a story of the demise of the German Methodist Church following World War I, a move that many claim was due to fear.

There is also a story on the Feb. 10 ruling in the case involving Ohio Chapel UMC (see above),
a local church story on Austin's Place, a ministry of Champaign First UMC that provides shelter to single women during the winter, as well as photos and stories from Momence and Grant Park.

Clergywomen Lenten Retreat March 23

Bishop Frank J. Beard is inviting clergywomen and laywomen serving local churches to a Lenten Retreat March 23 at the Chiara Center, 4875 LaVerna Road, Springfield. There is no cost but registration is required prior to March 15.

Register online...

2017 Annual Conference links

Several items related to the 2017 Annual Conference which will be June 8-10, at the Peoria Civic Center has been posted to the IGRC website.

The main page for the 2017 Annual Conference is: www.igrc.org/ac2017. Secondary pages are found to the right-hand menu area. Additional pages will be added as information becomes available.

Registration will open April 1. However, the following information is available now:

Secretary's letter from Annual Conference Secretary Joy Caschetta. This letter along with an annual conference checklist will be arriving in the mail but you can view it online now.
Annual Conference Checklist includes a list of deadlines, some of which have changed due to the shortened annual conference schedule.
Hotel list of the Annual Conference block of rooms. Conferees are responsible for making their own reservations. Now is the best time to reserve your room. Rates are guaranteed through May 16, but rooms are assigned on a first-come, first-served basis.
Request for Special Meals. Due to the shortened schedule and workshops being scheduled over the noon hours on Thursday and Friday, groups may have to choose alternate times for their special meals. Requests need to be made by March 6.
Request for Display Space. Setup and tear down times have been modified to conform to the new schedule. Requests need to be made by March 27.
Information on submitting reports/resolutions. Provides a summary on the process for submitting items for consideration by the Annual Conference. Includes the deadlines, dates and responsibilities.
Information on A/V and tech support. Information for presenters at the Annual Conference. Includes deadlines to ensure third-party items work with the equipment and those who seek help for creative assistance by IGRC Communications. Deadlines are strictly enforced! Plan early!

LifeTouch Studios is now setting up online appointments for clergy to have their photos taken at the 2017 Annual Conference on June 8 and 9.

A new clergy directory will be produced this year. Clergy who had their photos taken at Covenant Keepers 2017 will not need to have them taken again.

There is no cost for having one's photo taken. Persons will receive a free 8 x 10 or wallet size photos and clergy photo badges can be purchased at the time of the shooting.

Click the photo to the right to be taken to the appointment page.

Dreamers have hope as deportations expand

United Methodist leaders are strongly supporting a bipartisan bill in Congress that would extend protection from deportation for young people brought into the United States illegally as children.

Nearly 750,000 young people, known as "Dreamers," are part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals or DACA program, created by the Obama administration.

President Trump has moved quickly toward much more aggressive enforcement of immigration laws, fulfilling a campaign promise to secure the country's borders and crack down on people who came to the United States illegally.

So far, the Trump administration has left DACA alone. Trump has spoken sympathetically of the Dreamers.

"We're gonna show great heart," he said last week. "DACA is a very, very difficult subject for me, I will tell you."

But there's been no explicit commitment to preserving DACA, and a Trump spokesman, Sean Spicer, said: "Everyone who is here illegally is subject to removal at any time."

Read more...

Black History Month Resources

A group of Black History Month Resources have been posted on the IGRC website at: www.igrc.org/blackhistory.

Video resources produced by the Revs. Shane Bishop and Troy Benton in cooperation with Christ Church Communications are included as well as several videos and other resources from United Methodist Communications.

Another resource to consider is: www.soundtheology.org A courageous and creative radio program of the United Methodist Church preserved those voices, and a current collaboration digitizes those old audio tapes, making the prophetic voices heard again. Ralph Abernathy, Muhammad Ali, James Baldwin, and Julian Bond can be heard anytime on the website that makes these programs available to all.

You can hear the contemporaneous thoughts of Stokely Carmichael, Shirley Chisholm, Eldridge Cleaver, and Ruby Dee - thanks to a radio program called Night Call that United Methodist Communications created and ran in 1968-69. Night Call originated at a studio at Riverside Church in New York City.

Year-end reports available online

EZRA - the on-line tool for local churches to report their year-end statistics - is now available. One church has already submitted all three tables! We will be sending out instructions and reminders, but if you want to get a jump on it, the website is http://ezra.gcfa.org

The username for your church is the six-digit number assigned to your church by GCFA (it is the same number found on your remittance reports from my office). The initial password is password. You will be prompted to change the password when you enter the system for the first time.

Deadline to submit your reports is March 31, 2017. As of today - Friday, February 24, 12% of local churches have SUBMITTED their year-end reports. 13% have STARTED, but not submitted. 75% HAVE NOT STARTED. Only five weeks remain!

Sincerely,

Paul E. Black
Illinois Great Rivers Conference
217-529-2848

Illinois Great Rivers Conference
217-529-2040