Board of Discipleship- Illinois Great Rivers Conference

Join our friends at Upper Room and Discipleship Ministries for a four-part series of 45-minute webinars each Thursday evening in October in anticipation of next April's release of the new Safer Sanctuaries resource!

Introducing the NEW Safer Sanctuaries - The Upper Room Safe Sanctuaries has long been a trusted source of policy and procedural guidance for abuse prevention in the church. First published in 1998, Safe Sanctuaries has guided churches and other affiliated institutions as they implement abuse prevention plans for children, youth, and vulnerable adults. A...

Throughout 2022, the Rev. Nancy Dibelius, the Upper New York Conference's associate director of Vital Congregations for Spiritual Life, is offering opportunities to engage in spiritual practices with video discussion and instruction. The videos invite others into ways of exploring, engaging and nurturing their relationship with God. In her latest video, Dibelius discusses the spiritual practice of prayer through photography.

Prayer through photography.mp4 This is "Prayer through photography.mp4" by Upper New York Conference on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

How does YOUR church celebrate discipleship?

The faith we grow: Celebrating discipleship Our United Methodist traditions of prayer, Bible study, fellowship, worship, Sacraments and serving others help us draw close to God and our community.

Applications are due September 10 for grants of up to $10,000 to support ethnic local churches engage in developing disciple-making systems. See the link for details and to apply.

Racial Ethnic Local Church Concerns The purpose of the Discipleship Ministries Racial Ethnic Local Church Grants (RELCC), is to provide funding to strengthen the ethnic local church through leadership training, small groups, worship, stewardship and spiritual formation as they engage in developing disciple making systems inside the…

The IGRC's own Barb Horsch is today's contributor to , a daily resource which invites you to reflect on scripture with your eyes and heart using Visio Divina (Latin for "divine seeing"). This is a method for praying with images or other media. Thank you, Barb, for sharing your beautiful photos!

#picturelent March 25 When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a city in Galilee, to a virgin who was engaged to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David’s house. The virgin’s name was Mary. When the angel came to her, he said, “Rejoice, favored one! The Lord is with you!.....

Your Friday Funny - enjoy!

Mary didn't have an easy job being the mother of Jesus. (Cartoon by Inherit the Mirth)

Thanks to our friends at Discipleship Ministries for these prayers for Ukraine. Perhaps you will find one or more of them useful in your ministry context.

Prayers for Ukraine The church around the world lifts up prayers for the people of Ukraine. To help give voice to those prayers and unity in the praying, we have gathered some

How should churches respond to this movement toward decentralized generosity? This article from Ken Sloane at Discipleship Ministries offers churches five ideas to give donors greater contact with their generosity.

Decentralization and the Changing Face of Generosity How should churches respond to this movement toward decentralized generosity? Here are five ideas to give donors greater contact with their generosity.

If your church is like many in this pandemic time, giving (and how to increase it) is already on your mind. Here are some thoughts from the experience of one congregation.

Three Keys to Increase Church Giving: Outreach, Generosity and Story-Telling | Affirm Fundraising Three Keys to Increase Church Giving: Outreach, Generosity and Story-Telling February 16, 2022February 16, 2022 Laurel Leave a comment A Case Study from Oak Grove United Methodist Church, Oregon When COVID hit, many churches were faced with a stark reality: without people in the pews, giving tanked,...

Lent will be here in just two weeks! Check out these online courses from our friends at The Upper Room for yourself or for groups from your congregation. Note that most courses have registration costs - but many are available for no more than participant books would cost for a traditional study.

The Upper Room One of our goals at The Upper Room is to offer you spiritual formation resources that are accessible anytime and anywhere. Here in our online school, we have an array of courses for your choosing. All courses are designed to enrich your spiritual life and can be completed at your own pace. Take a lo...