Rev. Alice Fleming Townley, Audra Hudson Stone, and Jacob Stone, justice and advocacy experts from the Michigan Conference, co-led the recent NCJ Justice Summit in Chicago to build bridges among conferences and to share ideas for ministry.
REV. HARRIETTE CROSS
Chairperson, Northern Illinois Creation Care Committee
Justice leaders from across the North Central Jurisdiction (NCJ), which encompasses United Methodist annual conferences in the Upper Midwest, gathered July 19-21, 2026, for a time of learning and community building at the NCJ Justice Summit. About fifty people from the NCJ Creation Justice Movement and the NCJ Advocacy Group met at Euclid Avenue UMC in Oak Park, Illinois, just outside Chicago. Both groups received grants from the North Central Jurisdiction Mission Council and from various annual conferences within the NCJ to host the gathering. The NCJ Creation Justice Movement also received funding from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.
Do you have an emerging cross-conference ministry idea like this one? Apply now for an NCJ Mission Council Grant. The application deadline for the next grant cycle is September 7.
The NCJ Advocacy Group is a grassroots initiative within the NCJ, formed to provide resources and support to those engaged in state-level advocacy across the jurisdiction. Drawing on experience coordinating the Michigan Conference’s annual Advocacy Day, Rev. Alice Fleming Townley helped form the NCJ Advocacy Group with Rev. Christina Krost of the Illinois Great Rivers Conference and Rev. Breanna Illéné of the Wisconsin Council of Churches. They hoped the gathering would build communication channels among advocates in each conference. Fleming Townley said that advocacy for the needs of people, our planet, and our community is a joint effort. She believes justice is always a collaborative effort.
Audra Hudson Stone and Jacob Stone, co-conveners of the Michigan Conference’s Environmental Justice Task Force, helped organize the NCJ Creation Justice Movement. Grant funding enabled them to facilitate communication and collaboration within the movement. Representatives across the jurisdiction have met on Zoom for the past year. The in-person event in Oak Park was intended to be the culmination of their efforts. They will continue to host meetings through the end of the year, as will the NCJ Advocacy Group.
Cathy Velasquez Eberhart, an organizer for the NCJ Creation Justice Movement, was thrilled with the gathering: “Zoom calls are great, but the opportunity to come together in one room and network and make contacts makes all the difference in the world.” She said one of the event’s major goals was to build trust among leaders. All event organizers felt that building trust was the top priority. Audra Hudson Stone said the best part of the event was the social conversations, which allowed leaders to really get to know each other.
The NCJ Creation Justice Movement gathered to share projects from each conference, learn about the movement’s overall efforts, and create a vision for the future of creation justice within the NCJ and its individual conferences. Hudson Stone emphasized the importance of ensuring everyone had a chance to benefit from the wisdom in the room. The NCJ Advocacy Group also shared their stories and tools for being more effective. Each group produced a separate set of goals for the future. Both groups felt that holding this gathering again in the future was important. Velasquez Eberhart said that the hope is to achieve even greater involvement, since not every annual conference in the jurisdiction was represented.
Staff from several of The United Methodist Church’s general boards also attended. Darina Regio, the new Director of Environmental Justice for the General Board of Church and Society, said that environmental efforts are underway across the denomination but, unfortunately, often operate in silos. “This was a wonderful chance to meet other people and collaborate instead of always trying to reinvent the wheel,” she said. Rev. Jen Huff, Mission Engagement Liaison for the North Central Jurisdiction with the General Board of Global Ministries and the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry, also participated.
Ongoing support and relationship-building will continue thanks to this summit. Leaders of both groups will host online sessions in the coming months that are open to all. Church leaders in the Michigan Conference who wish to access this resourcing and build cross-conference relationships on environmental justice and advocacy should contact:
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- NCJ Creation Justice Movement: [email protected]
- NCJ Advocacy Group: [email protected]
Editor’s note: James Deaton, Content Editor for the Michigan Conference, contributed to this article.
Last Updated on August 17, 2026