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What do churches get from paying apportionments?

Around the end of the year, conference staff are asked, “What do churches get from paying apportionments?” When church members ask this, they may be hoping for an answer in a dollar amount to maybe calculate some return-on-investment figure. But participation in paying apportionments is not just a “get this for that” financial transaction. It is an element of a connectional system that was established by John Wesley in the very early days of Methodism. The connectional system—including apportionments—provides to churches many benefits, even those that can’t be measured in dollars and cents.

Read more in this article from UMCGiving.

Learn more about NIC Apportionments.

Those who are on WesPath health plans should plan on joining WesPath and the NIC Board of Pensions as they host a workshop on our Health Plans. Attend to find out if you are paying too much for your plan, and learn how to evaluate different plans and some policy changes regarding insurance coverage before open enrollment Nov 1-16. The free workshops are offered Wed., Oct. 18 at 9:30 a.m. (in person at Our Saviour's Schaumburg) and Tues., Oct. 24 (via Zoom). Registration information and more will be emailed to all clergy and plan participants. Learn more.

WARNING: You May Receive a Fraudulent Email

We have seen an increase in email scams from senders pretending to be the bishop or district superintendents. If you receive emails from the conference that are not from email addresses that end in @umcnic.org, do NOT respond to them. They are not from the conference office. Those messages are spam and fraudulent. The conference will NOT contact you or solicit anything via generic email. All financial gifts must be sent only through the conference's regular collections process. If you ever get an email or phone call that seems strange or odd, do not respond to it. First, contact your district administrative assistant for verification. 

 HAPPENING AROUND THE CONFERENCE

LOCAL CHURCH RESOURCES

Stone Soup Recipe for Vital Small-Church Worship

Small congregations have a powerful worship planning option that expands participation, emphasizes lay leadership, ends meeting burnout, invites local gifts, and heightens anticipation, says Teresa Stewart for the Lewis Center. It’s called Stone Soup worship planning. It relies on recruiting, encouraging, and giving tasks to laypeople—for a specific amount of time. Read more

Christmas Service Resources

Advent is just around the corner. Discipleship Ministries has resources already available as you begin to plan your Christmas services. With the Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve falling on the same day, this year presents unique worship planning challenges and opportunities. On this page, you will find materials for your Christmas Eve worship service. We hope these resources inspire and assist you as we begin the day at the close of Advent and end the day by celebrating the birth of Jesus, our wondrous Light!

Read more.

2024 Property & Casualty Premiums May Rise

The NIC risk management department is in the midst of assembling insurance coverage for the 2024 property insurance renewal. Driven by global factors that include significant climate change, ongoing rise in health care expenses, and the impact of political and economic shifts, the 2024 insurance renewal is shaping up to be rather challenging. Our continuing goal is to procure comprehensive coverage that provides appropriate limits with fair deductibles to our valued churches. For the upcoming insurance renewals, church members may well see premium increases for their own home/renters, auto, and medical insurance coverage. Based on these market conditions, the conference is similarly expecting to experience substantial increases in insurance premiums. Consequently, NIC churches preparing their 2024 budget should factor a 12 to 18 percent increase above the 2023 allocated insurance premium. We will provide an update when 2024 insurance renewal terms are finalized. If you have questions, contact Dwayne Jackson, NIC Director Risk Management and Ministry Protection.

2023 Church Conference Reports

Just a quick reminder that all Church Conference (CC) forms & reports are due at least 1 week prior to your CC date. There is plenty of time to submit them in time if you plan ahead and submit them early. We encourage everyone to be working on them now. All-Things-Church-Conference can be found here.

NIC Prayer Network Monthly Zoom Meetings

The NIC Prayer Network is an entryway for joining in common prayer for the ministries of the Northern Illinois Conference. The next meeting is Friday, October 13 at 10:00 am. All are invited to join.  No preparation is necessary; just log in. The Zoom link is available here. Meeting ID: 897 7835 0821 Passcode: 152529

If you’d like to pray but have other appointments at that time, email us DiscipleshipTF@umcnic.org and request the agenda or add to the agenda. Also, pray along each week for clergy, churches, leaders, and NIC Advances by visiting the Prayer Network website.

Like Us on Facebook: Prairie Central District

Rev. Jeffry Bross

Prairie Central District Superintendent

jbross@umcnic.org

312-346-9766 ext. 783

Leola Tucker

Administrative Assistant

ltucker@umcnic.org

312-346-9766 ext. 733

Do you have news to share?

We are always looking for stories of what is happening in your church.  We welcome articles from churches highlighting ministries, outreach, and missions that tell the story of being vital Christians. Events considered should be of conference-wide appeal and United Methodist-related. 

District eNews are sent out the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month. Please submit stories and events by end of business on the 2nd and 4th Mondays. Space is limited. Stories of fewer than 250 words are preferred. Submissions will be edited at the discretion of Communications staff. Information can be emailed to communications@umcnic.org.

Check out our Submit News page for more details. 

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