Harvey — who also leads the Louisiana Conference — preached on Mark 12:28-34, in which Jesus says the two most important commandments are to love God and love neighbor.

On Wednesday, the bishops elected New York Conference Bishop Thomas Bickerton as the next president of the Council of Bishops. 

They elected East Ohio Conference Bishop Tracy Smith Malone as president-designate, and South Carolina Conference Bishop L. Jonathan Holston as secretary.

“As the writer of Ecclesiastes notes, ‘For everything there is a season,’ and the season for waiting on General Conference legislative solutions as the only way forward has passed,” says the group’s open letter, titled “A Call to Grace.”

“The two core principles of the Protocol are called forth: 1) a gracious exit for congregations and pastors seeking to leave the UMC and 2) an abeyance that ends the harm directed at clergy and congregations targeted by anti-gay prohibitions of the Discipline,” the Rev. David Meredith, one of the negotiators of the Protocol of Grace and Reconciliation, said in a press release about the letter. 

Those associated with the Wesleyan Covenant Association, which is planning to depart the denomination, applaud the graciousness for exiting while still being opposed to the abeyance following passage of disciplinary language at the 2019 special session of General Conference.

Among the signers to date are 15 from the Illinois Great Rivers Conference. Those from the IGRC who have signed the letter include General Conference delegates the Rev. Randall Robinson, the Rev. Janice Griffith, the Rev. Dr. Beverly Wilkes-Null and the Rev. Eric Swanson; lay General Conference delegate Kimberly Woods; jurisdictional conference delegates, the Rev. Jennie Edwards Bertrand, Anish Hermon, Christina Krost, Erik Slingerland and jurisdictional alternates, Clarke Barnes and Andrea Stuby.

The signer identified as IGRC include: Judith M. Unger, Deirdre Breeding, Isaac Simmons and Phyllis Tucker. One person -- Dr. Robert J. Hironimus-Wendt -- identified himself as a "member from 1972 to 2017.

The theme of the special session is Building Beloved Community and will aired from the Michigan Area office in Lansing, Mich. Persons will be able to view the proceedings via a livestream at: www.igrc.org/ncj2021 Delegates will be conferencing via Zoom and will be in a secure room to deliberate and participate in breakout sessions.

Participants will:

The registration fee is just $59 and includes the event Care Package that will be shipped to you in advance. As a Pastor Appreciation gift, IGRC will reimburse half of the cost to anyone who fully completes the webinar. Since CEU's will be issued, participants seeking reimbursement may submit a copy of the CEU Certificate as proof of completion. Deadline for registering is Oct. 31.

The meeting will be hosted on video conference at this link: https://call.lifesizecloud.com/10927749. If you have questions, please contact Curtis Brown, Director of Connectional Ministries at cbrown@igrc.org.

An email with a link to the survey was sent to IGRC pastors under appointment Thursday. If you would like to participate in the survey, click the button below to begin this survey, which should take less than 5 minutes. The survey closes Friday, Nov. 12.

Registration will be launched as soon as a decision is made on the in-person gathering’s location at: https://www.igrc.org/CK2022.  

Utilizing the theme Called to Holy Excellence, based upon Philippians 4:8-9, speakers will address the issue from a variety of perspectives. 

Speakers include Rev. Dr. Jaqui King, IGRC’s new Director of Ministerial Excellence; Rev. Dr. Curtis Brown and Rev. Dr. Bener Agtatrap, authors of Ready, Set, Plant: The How and Why of Starting New Churches; Rev. David Neckers, retired clergy from the Indiana Conference, consultant and coach.

With Charge Conference season underway, many churches will be electing new officers for 2022. New leaders often desire to receive training and understand both their responsibilities and expectations in fulfilling their elected roles.

The IGRC Cabinet, Congregational Development and IGRC Communications has created Leadership Resources with these needs in mind.

Launched earlier this year, the page is located at: www.igrc.org/leadership Under the quick links, there are specific track of learning for: Church Council Chair, Board of Trustees, Finance Committee, Lay Leader, Lay Member to Annual Conference and Staff Parish Relations Committee.

Each track of learning has common elements: a devotional by Bishop Frank J. Beard, and presentations on How to Lead a Committee or Board; Spiritual Health of Your Team; Leading an Effective Meeting; and Interaction Between Administrative Committees.

There are also direct links to the Board of Ministry (which is under construction presently), the Course of Study Extension School for part-time local pastors, Certified Lay Ministry; Lay Servant Ministries; License School for Local Pastor and the Conference Internship Program.

One can work at their own pace and have a training experience specific to their assigned job.

Forms and other materials needed to prepare for the 2021 Charge Conference season are now posted online on the IGRC website.

Forms can be accessed through the Church Portal page located in the upper right corner of the IGRC Homepage.

In addition, the Finance Office has put together information needed to build local church budgets for 2022. Apportionments are also available below.