Alka's Angle

Paula, Satia and I are attending the virtual 182nd session of the Northern Illinois Annual Conference. We spent yesterday in worship, Bible Study, celebrating the lives and ministry of those who died in this past year, and deliberating on legislation and resolutions that are important to us and are matters of justice for God’s people, while also grieving the discontinuance/closure of 8 churches in our conference -- all of them because the congregation became so small they could not sustain themselves anymore. We voted our support in advocating for the Palestinian children who are displaced in the midst of the Israel/Palestine unrest. We voted support to continue the work of anti-racism by humanizing our criminal justice system and we voted to support the marginalized communities negatively impacted by COVID. We will continue our work today. Today we also have our vaccination clinic. I hope you have shared the information with anyone you know who still needs to be vaccinated!

Here we are in July with morning temperatures in the 60s, and regardless of what many may say -- climate change is real. So much is changing in our world, and the best thing we can do is to prepare ourselves for those changes or else the world will move forward and we will be left behind. Change is the only constant in our loves and if we are not prepared to accept that, life can become difficult for us.

With so many things changing around us -- another change is in the structure of our Northern Illinois Annual Conference. Until June 30th our conference had six Districts, but starting July 1st we have been restructured into five. We used to be part of the Chicago: Northwestern District, but now we are in the Lake North District. Our District Superintendent will continue to be Brittany Issac.

A friend shared this story with me some time ago:

A young couple moves into a new neighborhood. The next morning while they are eating breakfast, the young woman sees her neighbor hanging the wash outside.

"That laundry is not very clean," she said. "She doesn't know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap."

Her husband looked on but remained silent.      [continued...]

June 19, 1865, was the day when the enslaved people in Texas learned of their freedom for the first time, even though President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation in 1862, which declared that as of January 1, 1863, all enslaved people in the United States shall be free. Ever since, the day has been commemorated in Black communities everywhere. More than 150 years later -- Congress has finally made June 19th a federal holiday by passing the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act. And just before the Congress made their decision, Governor Pritzker had signed a House Bill, recognizing Juneteenth as National Freedom Day in Illinois.