By Jeff Chang
The Northern Illinois District held its 60th Convention at Concordia University Chicago on March 11 and 12, 2022. The convention is normally held every other year, but due to COVID, the decision was made to move the original date from 2021 to 2022. I had the privilege to be able to attend as a lay delegate, along with Pastor Buckman as the ordained delegate, representing Faith.
It was uplifting to return to a setting with so many in attendance, especially for a common purpose. The opening ceremony was highlighted by the sermon delivered by the Synod President, Matthew Harrison. After the service, we gathered in the gym to conduct the business of the convention.
The convention was broken into parts consisting of position elections, voting on resolutions, educational segments, and national ministry highlights. Rev. Dr. Allan Buss was reelected unanimously for his second term as president of the NID. His opening message focused on the need for connectivity and the common theme of the convention, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly” (from Colossians 3:16). He emphasized that the member churches of the NID work together to support and lift each other up as we continue to do God’s work that He has prepared for us in advance to do.
On this note, I was reminded of the great successes that were achieved with the Faith on the Fairway golf outing last year. The result of the event not only raised an unexpected amount of funds from a combination of members of Faith, other churches, local businesses, and individual donors, but more importantly it helped build important relationships with the schools and community of North Chicago. We were blessed to have a booth and the diligent presence of Dick Hocking to continue to share the message about Faith on the Fairway in the convention hall both days of the convention.
The mission of the NID is based on Word, Wellness, and Witness. The resolutions for the convention were built around these topics, of which our own Pastor Buckman served as committee chair for the Witness-related resolutions. One of those resolutions was to adopt Belize as an international mission-focus of the NID. The member churches of the NID were encouraged to not only support the mission work being done in Belize, but also sponsor short-term mission trips to the area to directly become involved.
While I can by no means do justice in this brief report for all that went on at the convention, I do encourage you to visit the NID website and watch the YouTube videos from the convention. It will serve as a great reminder of all that God has enabled us to do as brothers and sisters in Christ and give praise for the glory of His goodness. I am blessed to have been able to attend this event and would be happy to spend time with any of you who may be interested in hearing more.