The Start of Summer

For many of us, summer unofficially begins after Memorial Day weekend - but for Jim and me, summer starts when we arrive back home from our United Methodist Annual Conference, held again this year in St. Charles.

Conference was Sunday through Tuesday of this past week, and as always, it was a refreshing and inspiring time with good sermons, services, and teaching; news about the ministries and missions we are connected with as Northern Illinois United Methodists; and meeting and reconnecting with some great people.

Thanks to our Lay Members who represented our congregation at the event, and thanks to our whole congregation - your gifts to our Outreach fund enabled us to make a gift toward the Bishop's Appeal for a new Rosecrance residential facility and clinic in Chicago, that will offer hope and a way forward for young adults struggling with addictions, as does the current facility in the Rockford area.

This Sunday, June 12, we'll be savoring summer as we take advantage of the "wash n' worship" car wash fundraiser for mission trips, sponsored by our church youth, in the church parking lot from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m.

Our 8:30 and 10:00 worship services will include a message based Luke 7:36-50, and Jesus' surprising - and eye-opening -- response to an unexpected guest at dinner, "Do You See This Person?"

And Sunday evening, be sure to come back to the sanctuary for the 7:00 p.m. concert shared by the Campbell UMC Youth Choir from Springfield, MO, who will be staying at our church this week as they take part in a mission projects in the city.