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Northern Illinois Conference churches have designated February as a month to focus on Christian social holiness and participate in a four-week study on the Bible’s call to social justice ministry.

That study curriculum includes three additional lessons for congregations using the materials during the Lenten season. Holy Word and Holy Work: The Call to Prophetic Ministry, is a series of lessons that considers how the Christian faith described in scripture may be different from the current situation of our local congregations.

The study is available at http://www.umcnic.org in both Adobe Acrobat (pdf) and Microsoft Word (doc) format.

Commissioned by the NIC, the study was written by two professors at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis: Dr. Rufus Burrow Jr., Indiana Professor of Christian Thought and Professor of Theological Social Ethics, and the Rev. Dr. Mary Alice Mulligan, affiliate professor of Preaching and Ethics.

“In light of the world around us, our Methodist heritage, and the plight of our local congregations, we will spend these weeks looking at how scripture invites us into a more engaged, more prophetic ministry,” Mulligan said. “By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can all be challenged to become actively involved in our local churches’ efforts to welcome our communities into ministry and mission with us.”

Burrow and Mulligan have written two books together: Daring to Speak in God’s Name: Ethical Prophecy and Ministry and Standing in the Margin: How Your Congregation Can Minister with the Poor.

Under Burrow’s direction, students at Christian Theological Seminary explore the role of the church in the modern world through courses such as “The Church and National Issues” and “Prophetic and Ethical Witness of the Church.”

Mulligan became affiliate professor of preaching and ethics at Christian Theological Seminary in the spring of 2003. She was raised in the NIC where her father served local churches and twice was a District Superintendent. She is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and has served congregations in Illinois, Tennessee and Indiana.

Engaging in Christian social holiness is one of the four “Fruit-Producing Strategies” that Bishop Hee-Soo Jung has named as top priorities for the NIC.

Last year, several hundred NIC churches requested copies of the first NIC-commissioned social holiness study, Holiness of Heart and Mind, written by Dr. Ted Campbell, former president of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. That study is still available on the NIC Web site and can be downloaded in English, Spanish or Korean.

Holy Word and Holy Work is currently available in English. Spanish and Korean versions are being prepared. For print copies or more information, contact Natarsha Gardner, Northern Illinois Conference Program Offices, 217 Division St., Elgin, IL 60120, (847) 931-0710, ext. 16.