The Denman Evangelism Award is named for the late Dr. Harry Denman, distinguished lay evangelist, whom Dr. Billy Graham called "my mentor in evangelism." The award is made possible by The Foundation for Evangelism, which was founded in 1949 by Dr. Denman. Dr. Denman felt it was the business of every Christian to be an evangelist. It is most fitting that annual conferences today honor persons who carry out the spirit of Harry Denman.
The Denman Evangelism Award honors an IGRC United Methodist lay, youth lay and clergy person who exhibits unusual and outstanding efforts for work in Christian evangelism by faithfully carrying out the mission of "making disciples of Jesus Christ."
| Year | Central Illinois Conference | Southern Illinois Conference | |
| 1988 | Clergy | Dr. Ira Gallaway | |
| Laity | Dorala Parker | ||
| 1989 | Clergy | Rev. Danny Cox | Rev. William Fester |
| Laity | Kenneth Crawford | Georgia Stroud | |
| 1990 | Clergy | Rev. Bill Malloy | Rev. Robert Souders |
| Laity | LeRoy Powell | Norman Edsen | |
| 1991 | Clergy | Rev. Jack Kaley | Rev. Stephen Moore |
| Laity | Merlin Outcalt | no recipient | |
| 1992 | Clergy | Rev. Paul Unger | Rev. Edward Weston |
| Laity | Stuart Miller | Betty Jean Shelton | |
| 1993 | Clergy | Rev. C. Don Ferrill | Rev. Sylvester Weatherall |
| Laity | James Post | Bob Sykes | |
| 1994 | Clergy | Rev. John Salzman | Rev. Alan Milligan |
| Laity | no recipient | Beulah Bowen | |
| 1995 | Clergy | Rev. Roger Ross | Rev. Kenneth Dean |
| Laity | no recipient | Zola Carson | |
| 1996 | Clergy | Rev. Roger Rominger | Rev. Shane Bishop |
| Laity | no recipient | Russell Scherer |
| 1997 | Clergy | Rev. George Morris |
| Laity | Kathryn McCumber | |
| 1998 | Clergy | Rev. Roger Perry |
| Laity | Dean Taylor | |
| 1999 | Clergy | Rev. Troy Benitone |
| Laity | Marjorie Shearer | |
| 2000 | Clergy | Rev. David Huff |
| Laity | Rodney Weber | |
| 2001 | Clergy | Rev. James Slone |
| Laity | Christa Steeves | |
| 2002 | Clergy | Rev. Adrian Garcia |
| Laity | Delmar Tegtimeier | |
| 2003 | Clergy | Rev. Debbie Melzer |
| Laity | Lisa Guilliams | |
| 2004 | Clergy | Rev. Don Long |
| Laity | John Moletti | |
| 2005 | Clergy | Rev. Tim Ferrill |
| Laity | Ruth Hart and Betty Hay (co-recipients) | |
| 2006 | Clergy | no recipient |
| Laity | Ellen McRell | |
| Youth | Alex Thompson | |
| 2007 | Clergy | Rev. Sylvester Weatherall |
| Laity | Norma Kinder and Paul Ottmann (co-recipients) | |
| Youth | Maren Lowrey | |
| 2008 | Clergy | Rev. Ophilius McCoy |
| Laity | David O'Neall and Beth Leggitt (co-recipients) | |
| Youth | Joshua Benitone and Allison Koch (co-recipients) | |
| 2009 | Clergy | Rev. Tom Goodell |
| Laity | Barbara Tuck | |
| Youth | no recipient | |
| 2010 | Clergy | Rev. Randall Perry |
| Laity | Gene and Joanne Newberry (Godfrey UMC) | |
| Youth | no recipient | |
| 2011 | Clergy | no recipient |
| Laity | no recipient | |
| Youth | no recipient | |
| 2012 | Clergy | Rev. Jeffrey Bealmear |
| Laity | Highland Hope UMC Emmaus 4th Day group | |
| Youth | no recipient | |
| 2013 | Clergy | Rev. Lisa Guilliams |
| Laity | no recipient | |
| Youth | no recipient | |
| 2014 | Clergy | Rev. Nancy Ribes |
| Laity | Jon and Robyn Clark (Fairview Heights Christ - Maryville campus) | |
| Youth | no recipient | |
| 2015 | Clergy | Rev. Mike Rucker |
| Laity | CRAVE (young adult group, Rosewood Heights UMC) | |
| Youth | no recipient | |
| 2016 | Clergy | Rev. Mike Crawford |
| Laity | Madeline Harrison, Canton Wesley UMC | |
| Youth | Ean Fox, Kinmundy UMC | |
| 2017 | Clergy | Rev. Bradley Watkins II |
| Laity | Tom Hayes, Elmwood UMC | |
| Youth | no recipient |
The Peter Cartwright Lifetime Evangelism Award of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference is awarded to someone who has exceptional leadership qualities to help our conference in making disciples of Jesus Christ. This person's lifetime example challenges pastors and lay people to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with others.
Where the Denman Award is given for a period of work, the Peter Cartwright Lifetime Evangelism Award is given to a retired pastor who reflected this work throughout their ministry career.
| Year | |
| 2004 | Rev. Miley Palmer |
| 2005 | Bishop William B. Lewis |
| 2006 | Rev. Vernie Barnett |
| 2007 | Rev. R. Paul Sims |
| 2008 | Rev. Nelson Reiber |
| 2009 | Rev. Merlin Schendel |
| 2010 | no recipient |
| 2011 | no recipient |
| 2012 | Rev. Dr. Donald Batz |
| 2013 | Rev. Eugene F. Black |
| 2014 | no recipient |
| 2015 | no recipient |
| 2016 | Bishop Jonathan D. Keaton |
| 2017 | no recipient |
The One Matters Award is a new award through Discipleship Ministries of The United Methodist Church which recognizes churches and leaders who are turning things around in making disciples of Jesus Christ.
The award seeks to encourage churches to begin reversing the trend that saw more than 70 percent of UMC congregations in the United States not recording any baptisms for anyone age 13 or older in 2013; and 55 percent did not baptize anyone age 12 and under, according to the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA). In addition, 50 percent of local churches did not have any professions of faith that year.
| Year | ||
| 2015 | Rev. Chris Ritter | Geneseo First UMC |
| Rev. Linda Vonck | Midland UMC | |
| 2017 | Rev. Ted Hartley | Bethany UMC |