December 2021 E-Blast, Second Edition |
|
|
The deadline for all 2021 Donations is January 10, 2022. Please make sure we receive your final donations by this date.
You can send your donations by check to the lockbox using this Remittance Form. You can also make a donation online by clicking this link. Thank you for supporting the mission and ministry of the Illinois Conference through your donations!
|
|
|
TPIRC Position Openings
The Illinois Conference's Thriving Pastors in Revitalizing Congregations (TPIRC) program is currently hiring! There are two position openings: Program Director and Program Coordinator. Each of these positions are part time (approximately 20 hours per week). They are both work from home positions and the schedule is flexible.
We will begin reviewing applications on December 27, 2021. Please share this information with anyone you believe might be qualified and interested. Applications (letters of interest and current resumes) should be sent to the Rev. Molly Carlson. Learn more about the TPIRC program by clicking here. The job descriptions are linked below.
|
|
Update on the IRS Issue with National
Heather Kimmel, UCC General Counsel
You may recall that earlier this year, a local church mistakenly used the National UCC tax ID number to file its payroll taxes, triggering the IRS to issue a name and address change with the IRS Exempt Organizations database. This error created a slew of issues for other local churches trying to verify their (and the denomination's) tax-exempt status.
Heather Kimmel is pleased to announced that after nine months of efforts by the UCC Financial Services staff and outside auditors, the name and address associated with the group tax exemption EIN has been corrected!
Please remember that ALL tax filings must be done with the church's own EIN - NOT the Conference or National UCC EIN.
|
|
Medical Debt Relief Campaign
The Illinois Conference is STRONGER TOGETHER when we act together for mission and justice. We have reached the conclusion of our 10 week Medical Debt Relief Campaign. A few checks have been coming in throughout the week, so we are waiting to finalize our totals. As of today, we raised as a Conference $39,932! That equals a total of $3,993,200 in medical debt that will erased, lessening the burden of debt for so many people!
Thank you to all the individuals and churches who donated to our campaign. Please let us know if you have sent in a donation via check within the last week, so we can ensure we have received it. If you would like to make a donation and haven't yet, you can donate online through Friday, December 17th. |
|
Back Bay Mission 2023 Mission Trips
It's time to start thinking about your 2023 mission trip! Mission trips to Back Bay Mission are great opportunities for learning, service, and fellowship. These week-long immersive mission experiences teach participants about poverty on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and prepare groups to serve in their own communities. The 2023 mission trip calendar opens at midnight, central time, on January 1, 2022! Popular dates, especially during the summer and spring break season, fill up fast.
|
|
Extended Clinical Pastoral Education Unit Openings
Riverside Medical Center, Kankakee
The Pastoral Care Office at Riverside Medical Center, in Kankakee, IL is now accepting applications for our next extended unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) – a training that aids individuals in being more self-aware, develops pastoral skills in relationship with others, and enhances the ability to empathically come alongside others in an inclusive supportive manner. We presently have three students so the unit can move forward. I would be happy to add up to four Members in Discernment into this CPE unit. This is an extended unit which allows for individuals to work while taking CPE.
Orientation is January 24th and 25th and the unit runs from February 1 - June 21, 2022.
|
|
UCC Volunteer Opportunities Reopening, Carefully
Right now, the UCC is recruiting volunteers across the United States to help Afghan SIVs and refugees resettle, restore flood-damaged homes in Philadelphia, serve as coordinators in Back Bay Mission’s Housing Recovery Program, and address food insecurity in Buffalo, N.Y.
|
|
Active UCC Global H.O.P.E. Appeals
|
|
Winter Staycations
Tower Hill and Pilgrim Park provide a place of rest and respite for our guests, especially during the winter months when it's hard to get away. We're close, but far-away and just a phone call away from a great escape from the everyday.
Several options and accommodations are available, perfect for small families, family reunions and specialize retreats. This is an exceptional time to visit, enjoy the beautiful wildlife and scenery that our camps have to offer. We promise your soul will thank you!
If you wish to escape for a needed rest call Pilgrim Park at 815-447-2390 or Tower Hill at 269-426-3881. Dates may fill up quickly, so don't wait!
|
|
Winter Praycations for Clergy
The Illinois Conference Outdoor Ministries are once again offering Winter Praycations - a time of rest and recreation between the two busiest seasons in the church year. We offer this time so our clergy are able to continue to serve our congregations and communities with integrity and vitality, and to respond to the call of God with courage and compassion. Clergy and their families are invited to register for a 3 day, 2 night stay at either Pilgrim Park or Tower Hill Camp. Registration fee is only $60 (made possible through a generous grant from the Brown Endowment Fund). Download the flyer here. |
|
Conference and Association Meetings |
Dec. 21: Western COM Meeting. 9:00 a.m. via Zoom.
Dec. 21: FAB Committee Meeting. 9:00 a.m. via Zoom.
Dec. 21: Outdoor Ministries Committee Meeting. 6:00 p.m. via Zoom.
Jan. 4: Property Committee Meeting. 10:00 a.m. via Zoom.
|
|
Dec 23/24: Conference Office closed for Christmas. Merry Christmas, everyone!
Dec 31: Conference Office closed for New Year's. Happy New Year!
Jan. 5: All Conference Chat. 3:00 p.m. via Zoom. Join us for the first chat in the new year!
There will be no All Conference Chat for the month of December.
We will resume our weekly chats in 2022.
Have a blessed Advent Season!
|
|
Events and Training Opportunities |
|
Empowering Communication Workshops
January/February 2022
Empowering Communication, Inc.
Rev. Joel Westby (ELCA) and Rev. Leslie Ritter-Jenkins (UCC) are offering SIX Empowering Communication workshops for clergy in January and February 2022 via Zoom. Here is an invitation from them:
To last year’s four foundational workshops, we’ve added two new workshops on Mediation and mediation for groups known as Restorative Circles. Both processes build on the unique and powerful empathy process in Empowering Communication.
Empowering Communication has been a framework that has given us confidence in how we choose to live out our faith in our personal and professional work. As pastors, we have asked:
- How do we move Jesus’ life and teaching out of the Bible and into the church?
- How do we nurture respect and care, and truth and transparency in the congregation when conflict arises?
- How do we take care of ourselves so that we can show up in all of our church work with health and integrity?
Empowering Communication is both a skill set and spiritual consciousness that helps us answer these questions. It is not only consonant with Christianity, but in our experience, is a path that liberates the power of love within ourselves and in our relationships. In the six workshops, clergy will learn tools that support congregational vitality and help heal in the world.
We have studied and practiced Nonviolent Communication, also known as Empowering Communication, cumulatively for 32 years and found it invaluable in our work with staff, committees, worship teams, pastoral care, self-care, and healing small and large rifts in congregations and denominational bodies. We hope you will join us for a workshop or series of workshops in the New Year. Learn more here.
|
|
CHHSM's 84th Annual Gathering
March 8-10, 2022
The Council for Health and Human Service Ministries
Registration for CHHSM’s 84th Annual Gathering — to be held at the historic Brown Hotel in Louisville, Ky., March 8-10, 2022 — opens this week. This year’s Annual Gathering marks the first time a CHHSM corporate gathering has taken place in person since the COVID-19 pandemic caused stay-at-home measures to be enacted across the United States. Centering on the theme “Forward Together,” the 2022 gathering is taking its inspiration from the Philippians 3:13 passage, “Straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal.” The theme will be woven throughout the worship, speakers, and workshops of the 2022 Annual Gathering. Learn more here.
|
|
Click here to read about Health and Human Service Sunday on January 30. Access the resources here. |
|
Click here to find information and resources for the 2021 Christmas Fund Offering Suggested Date: Dec 19. |
|
Click here to access prayers, a new toolkit, multimedia resources and more for Advent from the UCC. |
|
The Steward - Fall/Winter 2021 Issue
UCC Insurance Board
Click here to view the most recent issue of The Steward, the UCC Insurance Board's newsletter. The topics covered in this issue include:
- Church Reliance on Volunteers: A Legal Perspective
- Volunteers and Copyright: Best Practices
- Volunteers and Abuse Prevention
- Lessons from a Loss, Proper Oversight Matters
- Volunteer Drivers
- Important Considerations for Board Members
|
|
Justice Resources
UCC Justice and Peace Action Network
DC Action Center
Each week, the D.C. Office creates an action alert based on what is happening at that time in Congress, and offers you the opportunity to contact your legislators with just one click! You can find all the alerts here.
The Pollinator
The Pollinator is a digital platform of the UCC for the sharing of ideas and inspiration. Its focus is the building of a faith-filled and faith-rooted movement for the care of creation.
Witness for Justice
Looking for up-to-date social justice commentary? Check out Witness for Justice, a weekly editorial opinion column written by the staff of Justice and Witness Ministries.
|
|
Advocate Aurora Health Care
Safely Reopening Our Doors Toolkit
|
|
Recently Added Lay Employment Opportunities:
Illinois Conference Postings:
For more lay employment opportunity postings, click here.
Please let us know if you have a job opening you would like to have shared,
and also update us once the position is filled. Contact Sarah Lohrbach.
|
|
Church Newsletter Request |
Please send us your newsletters so we can keep up with what's going on in your church.
Address for printed newsletters: Illinois Conference UCC, 1840 Westchester Blvd., Suite 200, Westchester, IL 60154. Electronic newsletters: Please add Sarah Lohrbach at SarahLohrbach@ilucc.org to your church’s mailing list.
|
|
THE ILLINOIS CONFERENCE UCC E-BLAST is published by the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ, 1840 Westchester Blvd., Suite 200, Westchester, IL 60154. The Rev. Molly Carlson, Conference Minister; Sarah Lohrbach, Editor. Copy may be sent to: SarahLohrbach@ilucc.org.
This communication is made possible by your contributions to
Our Church's Wider Mission
|
|
Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ | (708) 344-4470
1840 Westchester Blvd., Suite 200, Westchester, IL 60154
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
