Newsletter: April 2025

Written By Alliance of Reformed Churches

It’s Finally Here!

Since January, the UMV Board has been working with Josh Wierenga from Clearpath Communications to get more regular communications to our churches.  Unless there is a special event (annual meeting, retreat, etc.), we will be sending out a monthly newsletter to keep you in the loop on what is happening in the network and at our churches.

Another part of our communication strategy is the launch of our new website!  UMVnetwork.org went live last week!  You will be able to check out information about leadership and the network itself, upcoming events and a listing of our churches.  We will be adding a resource page in the very near future where you can get information on grants, liturgies, preferred partners and other helpful information.  Check it out and share it with your congregation; they will be able to sign up for the newsletter too!

 

2nd Annual UMV Network Gathering

SAVE THE DATE

All pastors, staff, and key leaders are invited to the 2nd annual Upper Mississippi Valley Network gathering June 13-14, 2025.  It will be at Cedar Hills Community Church at 6455 E Ave NW, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Please kindly share these dates with your church leaders to block out that weekend.

REGISTRATION

The official registration links and break-out session information will be coming soon! Our gathering will begin Friday evening June 13 with a special Evangelism Workshop. Saturday, June 14 will be our main gathering with break-out sessions and key speaker from approx. 8am-3pm.

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS

We have setup hotel accommodations for the weekend at Tru by Hilton, 3900 Westdale Pkwy SW, Cedar Rapids, IA 52404. The rooms will be held for us until May 14. Cost of each room is $135. There are 5 doubles and 5 King rooms reserved. Booking Link - Cedar Hills - 6/13 - 6/14.  (Check-in is at 3pm, check-out is at 11am.) This block will be available until May 14th at 12am.

 

Annual Report

2024 was a great first year as an official network!  Yes, it sure does not seem like it but we are only, officially, a little over a year old.  With the help of our friends from the Midwest Network, we really hit the ground running.  Here are a few notable items from 2024:

  • Established a thriving Ordination Team (OT) led by Pastor Thomas Cellilli.  By 2025, we had taken strides as an OT beyond any other network in our denomination.

  • Established a concrete and professional Covenant Keepers Team (CKT) that quickly created a CKT handbook and again, another team in our network that has, by 2025 ahead of other networks and is already looking to test the 5 year assessment requirement for our UMV churches.

  • Creation of Sabbatical Grants (up to $5K each) for churches that need assistance in caring for their pastors and offering a sabbatical when the time comes.

  • Offering a Leadership Development Cohort with Corum Deo with 7 participants from throughout the network, paying for the registration costs for the participants.

  • Our first ever Annual Meeting in June 2024 at Cedar Hills Community Church in Cedar Rapids, IA with 82 participants!

  • Hosting a Communications webinar with Josh Wierenga and offering a free Communications assessment for any church that wants one!

  • Establishing Church Creativity Grants (up to $5K each) for 2025 to help churches in developing leaders and focusing on community outreach and spreading the gospel.

Financially, we had a very solid year, here is an overview:

  • Income: $115K (including $20K from MW Network seed fund and $2.5K global Alliance support)

  • Expenses: $43K

    • Communities (Evangelism Training): $350

    • Leaders (CKT and OT): $3K

    • Disciples (Cluster meetings and Continuing Ed): $1.2K

    • Ministries (Annual Meeting, travel and supplies): $6.4K

    • Operations (staff, contingency, legal and professional fees): $32K

The board is committed to infusing funds to churches where they need support. We believe in the principle of "pooling" funds to support churches who find themselves in difficult situations today to make them strong again in the future so that together, we will be able to support churches who may not find themselves as strong as they are today.

As you can see, we had a very good year that is propelling us into an even better 2025.

 

Church Creativity Grants Take Off!

In November of 2024, the UMV board launched Church Creativity Grants to assist churches with "thinking outside the box."  The grant focuses on re-tooling leadership and congregations to re-think how they do outreach and spread the gospel.  So far 5 churches have received grants!  

Bristow Reformed (Bristow, IA): Citywide BBQ, Movie Nights, Church Service at Bristow Days 

Northridge Community (Eldridge, IA): Fresh Start Giving Bags and Christian Counseling Ministry

Bethel Reformed (Aplington, IA): Discipleship Training, Media Efforts, Community Outreach

Thorn Creek Reformed (South Holland, IL): South Holland Missions Hub

Emmanuel Reformed (Morrison, IL): youth internship, Sonshine Preschool

If you are interested in learning more about the Church Creativity Grants, email Ron Fischer, ronfischer45@gmail.com

Alliance of Reformed Churches