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A Letter, Continued
By: Pastor Dave | October 22, 2025 | Bishop's Letter, Discipleship, Pastoral Letter
Dear Minooka UMC Found Family,
As I wrote last week, we recently received a letter from our Bishop Dan Schwerin (we meaning our Northern Illinois Conference). Bishop wrote “to challenge you to pay attention to and love your neighbor in three concrete ways.”
I shared the first two of those ways last week: pray and get our of your bubble. I promised (threatened??) to share the third this week. Here it is:
“Third, finish strong in apportionment giving. Apportionments come from our covenant life together as United Methodists. The covenants of the UMC are based on one value: we share for the good of the whole mission. We share pastors. We share resources. We share our buildings.
“[Apportionments] are not a tax or an add-on; apportionments embody the essence of our connection. Your apportionments are helping to support Hispanic clergy as they navigate how to lead their congregations and extend the gospel in hurting communities…We are engaging our anti-racism goal with gatherings and partnerships…and so much more. The role of the annual conference is to support local church vitality and to make connections that churches cannot make on their own.”
I saved that final portion of Bishop’s letter for this week because our current sermon series concludes with us considering our connection as United Methodists, as neighbors in the world. Our apportionments are an excellent example of those connections. You can watch that sermon here.
NEW MEMBERS RECEIVED!
Sunday, October 19th included a special celebration as we welcomed new members, Colleen, Frank, Skylar, Jill, and Amanda! What an absolute joyful day! I know we all love to see babies baptized and teens confirmed, but I think receiving new members is my favorite celebration. Why? Despite all the progress we’ve made over the years in discouraging people from getting baptized or confirmed due to familial pressure, that does still happen. But receiving adult new members? That’s as close to purely intentional as we get. It is beautiful and inspiring. Thank you Colleen, Frank, Skylar, Jill, and Amanda! And welcome to your next phase as part of this amazing found family.
Plotting Goodness,
Pastor Dave
