SPRINGFIELD – The United Media Resource Center, housed in the Illinois Great Rivers Conference office, will be expanding its service area Jan. 1.
Persons and churches in the Northern Illinois Conference will be offered the opportunity to use the UMRC in an agreement reached between the Northern Illinois Conference and the Illinois Great Rivers Conference.
Currently, Northern Illinois Conference has had its own resource center but due to the recent retirement of staff, an opportunity presented itself to work in partnership.
“We see this as a win-win situation,” said Paul Black, IGRC director of communication ministries, which oversees the UMRC. “Under the agreement, Northern Illinois Conference will be providing funds which will allow for the purchasing of more resources while we provide the administrative overhead that we are already paying with no additional out-of-pocket operating costs.”
The searchable online catalog for the UMRC will be placed upon the Northern Illinois Conference website and the NIC will cover postage for mailing materials to their member churches. NIC churches and congregations will also be able to subscribe to the UMRC monthly e-newsletter, highlighting new acquisitions and featured resources.
Over the past 35 years, the former Central Illinois Conference and the Illinois Great Rivers Conference have had several partnerships with the Presbyterian Church but this is the first time it has partnered with a United Methodist annual conference.