New appointee as our District Superintendent
plus and old pastor from UCRP
by Rev. Victoria Rebeck, NIC Director of Communications, March/April 2024 Reporter,
as cited in David Gunnell, 2024
Our Northern Illinois Conference is divided into 5 districts. Each district has a District Superintendent, an ordained elder appointed by a bishop to oversee the pastors and local churches in a district. The superintendent carries a wide range of responsibilities for the local churches in the district and for the Annual Conference as a whole. Primary responsibilities relate to overseeing the work of the local churches, including presiding at Charge Conferences, and supervising the work of the pastors, including participating with the bishop in the making of appointments.
These District Superintendents along with the bishop make up the Conference Cabinet.
UCRP is in the Lake Shore District where our District Superintendent, Rev. Brittany Isaac, post has expired and has been appointment to the Arlington Heights: First United Methodist Church, effective July 1 [Click here for more information].
Bishop Schwerin announced two new district superintendent appointments, which will begin on July 1. Rev. Victor O. Melad Jr. will be our new District Superintendent.
“Rev. Melad has gifts in administering the church, understanding multiracial congregations, and leadership,”
Bishop Schwerin said about Rev. Melad, “He is committed to revitalizing congregations through vibrant ministries. His experience as a district superintendent in the Philippines is of particular value.”
In response to Bishop Schwerin’s invitation, Rev. Melad said, “I am humbled by the invitation to serve in the cabinet under the leadership of Bishop Dan Schwerin. It’s another affirmation of the conference’s core value of diversity. I am standing on the shoulders of all Asian immigrants and Filipino-American United Methodists who struggle and contend for representation, voice, and shared leadership in the church. I marvel at the way God calls, that an ordinary servant can be seen and given the opportunity to serve in a larger capacity in the body of Christ.”
Another District Superintendent appointment to the Prairie Central District is UCRP’s past pastor, Rev. Wendy Hardin Hermann. Many may remember this popular pastor at UCRP before Pastor Catania McKay.
Congraulations to both Pastor Wendy and Rev. Victor O. Melad, Jr.