Reconciling in Christ

At the 2025 Northern Illinois Synod Assembly, a resolution was passed calling for the Northern Illinois Synod to become a Reconciling in Christ Synod.

The following Welcome Statement was passed:

Journeying together as we love Christ and love all for the sake of the world, the Northern Illinois Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America strives to reflect the expansive diversity of the Body of Christ. We welcome, celebrate, embrace, and uplift people of every race, national origin, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, disability, health and mental health status, neurodiversity, and socioeconomic status. We reject any other boundaries humans use that separate us from the body of Christ. We realize we are saints and sinners redeemed by God’s grace; we commit ourselves to the ongoing work of anti-racism and racial equity. We continue to work to ensure the welcome of all historically marginalized communities as full participants in our life together in Christ.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some answers to common questions.

Reconciling in Christ (RIC) is a program of Reconciling Works that has identified congregations, synods, and other Lutheran organizations as safe, welcoming communities of faith for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and gender expressions; these ministries also are committed to working for racial equity and commit to anti-racist work.

To learn more about ReconcilingWorks, please visit www.reconcilingworks.org

It means that the Northern Illinois Synod is committed to ensuring that the ministries of the synod (council, staff, committees, events, etc) will be affirming, inclusive and accessible to all people.

Along with that, the synod will serve as a resource center that can assist congregations and other ministries in their journey of welcome and inclusion.

No, the synod cannot speak for the welcome offered by individual congregations. The work of this task force applies only to the ministries at the synod level. Each congregation needs to go through their own process and discernment to be recognized as RIC. We recognize the different places that our congregations are in, and we support them in their ministry regardless of whether they are RIC.

As of July 1, 2025, there are 14 congregations that are RIC which include: Bethany in Crystal Lake, Bethlehem in DeKalb, Cross of Glory in Homer Glen, Emmanuel in Rockford, First in DeKalb, First in Galesburg, Living Waters in Crystal Lake, Lord of Love in Galena, New Life in Bolingbrook, Salem in Moline, Salem in Sycamore, St. James in Rock Island, St. John’s in Rock Island and Trinity in Galesburg.

There are other congregations that are currently in the RIC process. If your congregation is RIC and not on this list, please let Northern Illinois Synod staff know.

Please reach out to Pastor Mack Patrick by email or by calling the Northern Illinois Synod Office at 309-794-4004.