Annual Conference Recap

On June 4th, more than United Methodists of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference from Cairo to I-80 descended upon the Peoria Civic Center. No, it wasn't a well-promoted potluck. It was Annual Conference! Among that 800 were Pastors Brennan and Sheryl, delegates Scott, Susie and Brayden McClure and Brian Abshire.

Every year, United Methodists from around the world - roughly equal numbers of clergy and laity - gather for Annual Conference in their own respective conferences for worship, connection and business. In our three days together, much was accomplished, and a hopeful vision was established. We welcomed The Many, a musical group from the Chicago area, to lead us in worship, heard addresses and sermons from our Bishops - David Bard and Kennetha Bigham-Tsai - and others and set the course of the business of the conference for the next year and beyond, celebrated retiring pastors and remember those who have passed onto glory in the last year.

To recap some legislation which was passed: our 2027 conference budget was set, continuing the trend of lowering apportionments asked of local churches. Conference committees, staff and ministries have been asked over the last several years to find ways to save so that more funds can be kept in the local church for ministry and operations. Nominations for various conference committees were set and approved. Two were ordained Deacon, one commissioned a Deacon, one commissioned as an Associate Member. A highlight for me was that a we had a LARGE group licensed as Local Pastors and approved for various types of lay ministry. This seems to be more and more the direction of leadership in the UMC, and I am happy to see us adapting to the church of the present and the future. By the way, if some of those categories are unfamiliar to you, ask either myself or Pastor Sheryl.

Two pieces of legislation got most of the discussion time: district reduction and Little Grassy funding. Our conference is divided into five districts. Each district is meant to be a collective of churches and ministries, led by a District Superintendent (DS), in mission together. Legislation was presented by the IGRC Cabinet (DSs, bishops and other conference leaders) and affirmed by the Connectional Table (think "Administrative Board for the conference, of which I'm a part) to reduce to four districts in 2027. A changing landscape led us to affirm this legislation, and it passed with much discussion and well thought-out debate. Our conference also operates two camps: East Bay near Bloomington-Normal and Little Grassy near Carbondale. In 2025, the conference passed legislation asking the Commission on Camping and Retreat Ministries (I'm the chair of this commission) to revamp ministry at Little Grassy Camp with an influx of $300,000. The idea was that the 2026 Annual Conference would give another $300,000 and this was to be a two-year project. One Annual Conference cannot speak for the next, so we had to address the legislation again this year. This legislation passed, as well. To give an update on Little Grassy, we are five months into a 24 month project to reset Little Grassy from solely a traditional weeklong church camp experience to keeping the weeklong camps which have worked well and resetting the course to develop a much needed youth mission camp experience. We've hired Ryan Russell to lead this, and I am pleased with where we are so far.

I've gone to every Annual Conference since I was 16, and I returned home this year feeling that this was one of the most positive, uplifting and hopeful Annual Conferences to which I've been. Our connection has experienced some significant discord and splintering over the last 7-8 years, and I think this year, we finally let out our collective breath. I know you can't imagine this, but sometimes church meetings are tense. This isn't to say that Annual Conference has been a fight, but this year, I felt the collegiality and the "same team for Jesus" feeling more than I have in a long while. Our bishops are fantastic and led us well. The youth delegate table - where our own Brayden McClure sat! - is growing. It was repeated quite often, "God is not done with us yet!"

May it be so.

Brennan