Northern Illinois Annual Conference

Human Rights
 Representatives of churches in the Chicago area who are supporting Sammool House meet in the living room of the home, which provides a safe place for women escaping domestic conflict, financial hardship or other crises. The ministry was founded by the Rev. Misook Park (third from left), pastor of Sammool Korean United Methodist Church in the Northern Illinois Conference. Photo courtesy of Sammool House.

Pastor redefines what a church can be

Through a small immigrant congregation and an unmarked guest house for women in crisis, the Rev. Misook Park has quietly built a ministry that extends beyond Sunday worship.
Immigration
Illinois State Police Lt. Col. Jason Bradley (left) speaks with the Rev. Hannah Kardon, a United Methodist pastor who was among a group of clergy on Oct. 10 asking to bring Holy Communion to detainees in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, near Chicago. The following day another group of clergy also made the same request. Both times Bradley reached out to ICE officials, who denied the clergy entry. Photo by the Rev. Britt Cox, First United Methodist Church in Evanston, Ill.

With warm faith, pastors seek to counter ICE

United Methodists in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, are striving to lead courageously by protecting neighbors, sharing their Christian witness and setting the record straight on what’s happening in their cities.
Human Rights
The Rev. GaHyung Kim processes with fellow clergy during the ordination service of Northern Illinois Conference held on June 16 in Schaumburg, IL. Photo by Rev. Thomas E. Kim, UM News.

Gratitude for diverse ministry

As she retires, a Korean American pastor looks back on the challenges and blessings of serving in cross-racial/cross-cultural appointments.
Mission and Ministry
"Kids Above All" Vice President of Resource Development Zulma Colon (left) poses with the late Rev. Doug Williams in 2017. The Rev. Doug Williams, who died in 2019, brought the idea of making and distributing toy wooden cars to his congregation at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Rockford, Ill., in 2011 as a new ministry to children. Photo courtesy of the Northern Illinois Conference.

Toy car ministry rolls on

Two churches are continuing a unique ministry created by the late Rev. Doug Williams to make brightly colored wooden toy cars to give to children in foster care and those enrolled in the church's early childhood program. Between them, the two churches have distributed more than 17,000 toy cars.

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