Dear Friends,

This is part two of my explanation of our UCC church structure. Last month, I wrote mostly of the national structure. Hope it didn’t put you to sleep too much! This month, I will “bring it home”. . .here it goes: The United Church of Christ (UCC) is broken into mostly geographical areas called Conferences. We are in Illinois Conference. Quiz: How many conferences are in IL? If you answer 2, you are right. Illinois Conference and Southern Illinois Conference. We are somewhat close to the southern border (Decatur across to Quincy) of Illinois Conference. Two Conferences: Illinois Conference and Southern Illinois Conference. We are in Illinois Conference which southernmost churches are Decatur to Springfield to Quincy. The rest of our Conference uses the state border. We do have one church in Dyer, Indiana because it’s so close to the border. Each Conference has a “Conference Minister” and usually “Associate Conference Ministers” plus support staff. Rev. Dr. Justo Gonzales is our Interim Conference Minister. There is a search underway to find a “settled” (permanent) Conference Minister. The Conference offices are in Westchester, near Chicago. The offices are on part of a floor of a small office building. There are two meeting rooms and then regular offices.

Our Conference is divided again into “Associations”. There are five: Chicago Metro Association, commonly called “CMA”. Fox Valley Association surrounds CMA. . .I think of this Association as the suburbs of Chicago. Prairie Association is the northwest corner of Illinois, encompassing Rockford, DeKalb, etc. Then, think of the rest of the Conference, and divide it by half. There is Eastern Association that goes from about Kankakee and Lockport down to Decatur. Bloomington/Normal is also in Eastern Association. We are in Western Association. Our Association includes the quad cities down to Quincy. It includes Peoria and north to Lacon, and then over to us, Minier and Springfield. I’m naming the bigger cities, but Prairie, Western and Eastern Associations really include a lot of small towns and small churches in-between those cities. Each Association has a “main” Associate Conference Minister assigned to be the overseer of the pastors and congregations. They are the pastor to the pastors, trouble shoot conflicts and problems, and provide guidance and resources especially when a church is in the search process for a new pastor.