Illinois Conference Upcoming Events

Bible Instructor Training

In preparation for the Chicagoland Hope Can Be Yours evangelistic
series in April and May of 2010, Teenie Finley will be leading out in
a Bible Instructor Training at the Hinsdale SDA Church.  The training
will answer the questions of how to find a Bible study and how to do a
Bible study.  The training will take place on Thursday, October 1 from
7pm to 9pm; Sabbath, October 3 from 2pm to 6pm; Sunday, October 4 from
9am to 12 noon and 1pm to 4pm; Tuesday, October 6 from 7pm to 9pm; and
Tuesday, October 13 from 7pm to 9pm.  Please see your pastor to
register.

2009 Illinois Conference Prayer Retreat:

October 16 – 18 at Camp Akita.  Starts at 7 pm on Friday.  Guest
speaker will be Pastor Paul Goia who will be sharing his experience
and journey in prayer.  You will also receive tips and guidelines on
fostering a rich prayer life in your church.  Costs: $60 per person
for the weekend in the cabins and $80 per person sharing for the
weekend in lodge rooms.  Call Shona Cross at the Illinois Conference
(630) 856-2880 for reservations and more information.
Check with your church board to see if they would sponsor you.  If you
are not able to go, please encourage someone from your church who has
a burden for prayer to go in your stead.  Going with a friend is
strongly recommended.

Senior Retreat

Senior Retreat B  Age 55+ “Sacrificial Service for Christ” B  October
23-25, 2009 – Join us at Camp Akita for a spiritual retreat and
special weekend of fellowship.  Accommodations include heated and air
conditioned rooms, beautiful lodge and cabins overlooking the lake.
Featured speaker for the weekend is Glynn Scott, Treasurer of the Lake
Union Conference. Activities include table games; hay ride and/or
horse drawn wagon ride, hillbilly golf, canoeing, and more!  Please
call in your reservation by Thursday, October 12, 2009, so final plans
can be made .

Women’s Retreat

Illinois Conference Women’s Ministry invites women to a special one
day event Sabbath, October 17, 2009.  Treasures in the Sand, Beauty in
God’s Hand will be held at Lindner Conference Center, 610 E
Butterfield Rd, Lombard, Illinois.  Keynote Speaker is Sally Streib,
author, naturalist, conchologist, Bible student & teacher. To register
or for more information call 708-596-2000 x2404 or visit
www.illinoisadventist.org for a brochure.

Elmhurst 40th Anniversary

Elmhurst SDA Church is celebrating its 40th Anniversary on November
21, 2009.  Everybody is invited to come to look back at all of God’s
blessing keeping this church standing for his honor and glory.  If you
would like more information please contact them at 630-530-0600 or
please visit their website at www.tagnet.org/elmhurst or leave a
message at girose@aol.com .  If you know any past members of Elmhurst
Church please let them know of this special celebration.

NAD Health Ministry Training

The North American Division and the Inter-American Division Health
Summit will be held in Orlando, Florida on January 29 – February 7,
2010. The event, Optimal Health in the 21st Century: Training Leaders
for Effective Health Ministry, is available to all who are interested
in health ministry. Additional information and registration are
available at www.nadhealthsummit.com or by calling 1-800-732-7587.

CHIP Training

CHIP (Coronary Health Improvement Project) Leadership Training
Workshop will be held at the North Shore Church on October 17 & 18.
Early bird registration ends on October 5 and is $250 per church team
(up to three persons). For more information: www.adventistCHIP.org or
866-732-2447.

Sheridan Health Program

The Sheridan Church is sponsoring a free health seminar with Dr. Jason
Goliath beginning on Thursday nights beginning October 15. Topics
include:
•       Cancer Prevention
•       Cardiovascular Health
•       Diet & Nutrition
•       Exercise & Weight Control
•       Stress Management
•       Natural Immunotherapy
•       Diabetes & Glucose Control
The seminars will be held at the Fox Valley YMCA at 707 S. Main St.,
Sandwich, IL. Please call 815-431-1365 for more information.

Youth Events

Pathfinder Fall Skills Camporee is October 9-11 Please keep our
Pathfinder Clubs in your prayers as they prepare for a fun weekend of
worship and learning at Camp Akita.  We pray that the weather will be
nice once again for this big event and that everyone will receive
traveling and camping mercies.  We expect to have about 450
Pathfinders and staff in attendance from all over Illinois.

Youth Leaders Development Annual Summit Andrews University will once
again host the YLD Annual Summit with over 52 hours of youth and young
adult ministry seminars by specialist trainers.  The date is October
23 – 25 and the cost is $35 per person, not including travel, lodging
and meals.  Space is limited–apply now!  www.adventistyouth.org for
more information and registration.

Lake Union Adventurer & Pathfinder Leadership Training October 23-25
The Lake Union Conference is holding their Adventurer and Pathfinder
Leaders Training at Andrews University.  There is no cost for the
seminars, but participants must pay for their own travel, lodging and
most meals.  For more information call the Illinois Conference Youth
Ministries Department at 630-856-2857.

ONE DAY Youth Rally October 30 – November 1

Pedro Perez, from the Southern New England Conference, will be the
guest speaker for this exciting youth event.  Sabbath School will be
provided by Andrews University.  There will be a Sabbath afternoon
Community Service project, so please bring casual clothes and
permission slip if you are under 18 years of age.  There is a $5 fee
for Sabbath lunch, for which you must pre-register by calling
630-856-2857 by Oct 20.  This event will take place at the Christ
Lutheran Church of Clarendon Hills, 60 55th Street, Clarendon Hills,
IL.  We can’t wait to see you there!

Just Claim It 2010

The North American Division is holding this event in Columbus, Ohio,
from April 7-10, 2010.  This will encompass several events at once:
the 2nd NAD World Youth Prayer Conference, the 5th NAD Youth
Ministries Leadership Summit, the 3rd NAD Ignition (Young Adults) and
a Children’s Worship Festival.  There will be worship and workshops
for each event meeting simultaneously.  Youth, Pathfinder, and
Adventurer training will be provided and a Master Guide seminars and
investiture will also take place at this incredible event.  For more
information or to register, visit www.justclaimit.org. If you are
involved in youth leadership in any way or are a young person looking
for a life-changing experience, you will not want to miss this!

Source: Illinois Conference Update October 1, 2009

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Touch Every 1 For Jesus

Don’t forget Signs of the Times as a useful tool in Touching people for
Jesus.  Contact the Adventist Book Center for more information about
subscriptions or sponsoring a Signs distribution box at 1-800-765-6955 or
online at www.AdventistBookCenter.com.
“When God Said Remember” is a new pocket size book from Mark Finley on the  Sabbath.  It is an excellent book to place in the hands of a person with
whom you are studying the Bible when you come to the Sabbath.  It is
available from the Adventist Book Center for $1.99 per copy, less in
quantities.  With Elder Finley coming to do a series in Chicago next year
this is a good way to begin developing a tie-in to those meetings, too.

One of the ways that a church can help strengthen new members in the faith
is by providing them with a good Christian television alternative.  The
Texico Conference (New Mexico and western Texas) has a program where
churches purchase a satellite dish for each new family that is baptized.
Members install these dishes and so the cost is only about $150 per home.
Then these new members can enjoy the Hope Channel, the Hope Church Channel,  3ABN, LLBN, as well as several Adventist radio stations including LifeTalk Radio.

New Jerusalem SDA Church held a Tent Meeting in Kankakee.  Evangelist Ron  Williams II, from Dallas, TX was the speaker.  Pastor Wayne Odle reports
that 37 new people were baptized.

News
Congratulations to our Trust Services Department. On July 20 they received a continuation of their Level A accreditation from their accrediting body.
The chairman of the committee wrote: “The latest audit verified the quantity
and quality of the work you have accomplished. Congratulations on a job well
done?”

We had an unusual one-time tithe blessing in February last year.  When you
factor that out of the accounting, we have had a 4.6% tithe increase
year-to-date through the first two quarters of 2009.  Thank you for your
faithfulness.

Natanja Hensley is the editor of the Broadview Academy Alumni Newsletter.
If you are not on her email list but would like to be you can subscribe by
contacting her at hope_chgo@hotmail.com.  She would like to feature our
former summer camp, Little Grassy, in an upcoming newsletter.  If you have
old pictures of Little Grassy Camp she would love to hear from you.

For those of you who would like to have a video of the Chicagoland
Convocation, DVD’s are available for Sabbath School (Afternoon Service
included in this DVD), Main Service & Praise Festival at a cost of $5.00
each, shipping included.  We may have a photo DVD available as well.
Contact Norma Gregory to place your order.  (630) 856-2874  or
norma@illinoisadventist.org

Upcoming Events
NAD Health Summit will be held in Orlando, Florida on January 29 – February  7. Keynote speakers will be Mark Finley, DeWitt Williams and Peter Landless.  Visit nadhealthsummit.com for all the details.

Illinois Conference Women’s Ministry invites you to a special one day event  Sabbath, October 17, 2009.  Treasures in the Sand, beauty in God’s hand to be held at Lindner Conference Center, 610 E Butterfield Rd, Lombard,  Illinois.  Keynote Speaker is Sally Streib, author, naturalist,
conchologist, Bible student & teacher.  To register or for more information
call 708-596-2000 X2404 or visit www.illinoisadventist.org for a brochure.

A SABBATH SCHOOL WORKSHOP by Dr. Donna Habenicht, Religious Educator and founder of Wisdom Tree Ministry, is scheduled for Friday evening, 7 p.m. at  Burbank SDA Church.  The Workshop continues all day, Sabbath, August 22.
Topics are: It Takes a Church; How to Help Children Grow Spiritually;
Children’s Ministry for Small Churches; How Today’s Kids Learn; and Grace
and Kids.  Please join us August 21 & 22 at 8351 S. New Castle Ave.,
Burbank, to improve Sabbath School programming.  Sabbath noon will be a
fellowship meal.  For more information please contact:  Stanley Hagen
630-968-3940

Elmhurst SDA Church is celebrating its 40th Anniversary on November 21, 2009.  Everybody is invited to come to look back at all of God’s blessing.
If you would like more information please contact them at 630-530-0600 or
visit their website at www.tagnet.org/elmhurst or leave us a message at
girose@aol.com.  If you know any past members of Elmhurst Church please let them know of this special celebration.
The Fall Campmeeting at 3ABN is scheduled for September 24 – 26. The keynote speaker will be Elder Robert Folkenberg, Sr., former president of the
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and now director of the
evangelistic program, ShareHim.

Personnel
Here are the names of new teachers in the Illinois Conference educational
system this year:
.       Tamara Darrow – Science Teacher at HAA, is coming from Guam
Adventist Academy in Yona, Guam.
.       Gordon Dezotell – Math Teacher at HAA, just graduated from Atlantic
Union College, South Lancaster, Massachusetts.
.       Gabriel Mendez – Principal/Teacher at  Springfield is coming from
Berrien Springs, Michigan.  Gabe is a graduate of Hinsdale Junior Academy
and Broadview Academy.
.       Catherine Morse – 5-8 Teacher at  Gurnee is coming from Rogue Valley
Adventist School, Medford Oregon.  Cathy is returning to the Illinois
Conference.
.       Marie Ott-Benson – 3rd grade Teacher at HAA is coming from Meadow
Creek Adventist School in Wisconsin.  Marie’s husband, Jeremy, graduated
from HAA.
.       Starla Powell – Principal/Teacher at  Marion is coming from the
Lincoln Public School system in Lincoln, Nebraska
.       Karen Reinke – 5th grade Teacher at HAA has been working as the NAD
editor & writer for the new North American Division language arts
curriculum, Pathways.
.       Melanie Joy Uzarraga – 2nd grade teacher at HAA – Over the last 5
years she has been a stay-at home mom raising her young family here in
Illinois.  Before that she taught in the same position at HAA.

We also have some new pastors in our conference:
.       Blaine Fults is the new pastor of the Rockford and Freeport
Churches.  He has come to us from the Oregon Conference.
.       Zorislav Plantak is the new pastor of the Elk Grove Village Church.
.       Arek Bojko, pastor of the Chicagoland Polish Church, has added Deer
Park to his district.
.       Alex (Sasha) Bolotnikov is raising up two new congregations:
Russian and Jewish.

Obituaries
Betty Simmons, wife of longtime Illinois Conference pastor, Earl Simmons,
passed away on August 10 after a long struggle with cancer.  The time and
place for her memorial service have not yet been announced.
Lula Connour, member of the Rushville congregation, passed away on Friday,  August 14.  Visitation for Lula Connour will be at the Hurd-Hendricks
Funeral Home in Galesburg on August 19 from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.  A graveside
service will be held in Oaklawn Memorial Gardens in Galesburg at 11:00 a.m.
on August 20.
Dr. Harold May, member of the Hinsdale Church, passed away on May 18, 2009.  Since retiring as a physicist, his passion has been for community service.  He was 90 years old.
Alberta Holt, member of the Salem Church, passed away on June 10.  She and
her husband, Jack, were instrumental in establishing the very first 3ABN
satellite downlinked television station.
Dr. Gloria Mouzon, member of the West Central Church, passed away on June 25  at the age of 61.

Illinois Conference Update August 19, 2009 (PDF)

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