February 24-26, 2025
Peoria, IL
Let’s dream, create, and collaborate with IMAGINATION at the 2025 COM/CPM/Synod Gathering!
Thank you for your service to God through your work at churches and presbyteries. You are appreciated!
Our next Synod of Lincoln Trails (aka “SOLT”) in-person COM/CPM Gathering is happening in February! We will be gathering at United Presbyterian Church in Peoria, Illinois.
Our gathering will start on Monday, February 24 @ 2 PM (Central) and end no later than Wednesday, February 26 @ noon (Central) with box lunches.
REGISTER NOW
Our Time Together
Our 2025 theme is “Serve with IMAGINATION.” We invite you to dream boldly and discover new ways God is at work among us as Presbyterians at the local church, presbytery, and synod levels. Imagination opens doors to fresh possibilities, creative problem-solving, and deeper collaboration — all while staying rooted in our connectional identity. Together, we’ll explore how this God-given gift can inspire us, renew our ministries, and equip us to embody Christ’s love, justice, and hope in powerful and transformative ways. Come ready to dream, share, and be inspired!
We will approach this theme from multiple angles, including plenary sessions, COM and CPM workshops and breakout sessions, idea-sharing opportunities, and worship. Our time together will be energized, and we want you to leave refreshed and invigorated. SOLT commissioners and a few neighbors to SOLT are welcome too. We are stronger together!
We will have space for work and our relationship building — giving time for guided conversations, meals together, breaks, and the hospitality gatherings that SOLT is known for. (And note: We are being intentional about meeting the needs of introverts, extroverts, and those in between.)
Watch this page for updates that will include the schedule, workshop details and registration, worship info, menus, and all the logistical information you need.
Participants
Join your peers and make new friends from the eight presbyteries of SOLT. You will be joined by about 75 colleagues. That’s a lot of heart, mind and soul! Come for learning, networking, sharing best practices and great ideas. Leave with more knowledge and understanding, better relationships, and more intention and direction for your Christian service in 2025.
We recevied such great feedback from last year that we are again inviting our amazing SOLT commissioners to participate in the full, two-day gathering! Our synod assembly will happen Tuesday afternnon. And… new this year… we invite presbytery moderators (or co/vice moderators) to join in the full, two-day gathering as well, in order to imagine and envision with other presbytery moderators.
So whether you serve as a COM member, a CPM member, a synod commissioner, a presbytery moderator, or a mid council staff member, we value your presence. Whether you’re a pastor or elder, serving behind the scenes or in the spotlight, let’s join together in sharing God’s gift of imagination.
Your Per Capita Dollars at Work
SOLT will cover the overall cost of the event for all of the following:
- Up to eight COM and/or CPM members from each SOLT presbytery
- Up to four current synod commissioners from each SOLT presbytery
- Up to two staff members from each SOLT presbytery
- One presbytery moderator or co/vice moderator
This includes: overnight rooms (please see information below), conference fees, meals, evening refreshments and other associated costs.
Different presbyteries have different methods of selecting COM and CPM participants. Please ask your presbytery staff how this works. Please ask your presbytery for its policy on covering your transportation.
Accommodations
We will stay at the Hampton Inn in Grand Prairie. (a quick, 10-minute drive to/from the church). Your first opportunity to check in to the hotel will be early Monday evening after we wrap up at the church. And you will need to check out on Wednesday morning before you head to the church.
SOLT will cover all the costs of your room if you double up with another person attending the conference (let Christie know by e-mail if there’s a particular person you would like to share a room with, or include that on the registration (“tickets”) page; otherwise we’ll be matching folks).
Single rooms cost $150 total for SOLT folks. You must use a credit card to pay for this single room supplement when you register (see “tickets” page).
For SOLT neighbors, the cost of the event is $350 for shared rooms and $500 for single rooms. And the commuter fee (i.e., if you don’t need a hotel room) is $150.
PLEASE NOTE: To help the synod be good stewards of our funds and to get the best rate possible, please complete your registrations by Friday, January 31.
Conference Meals and Parking
In the evenings, the Synod will provide an evening reception with food and beverages (alcoholic and non-alcoholic). On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, you’ll enjoy the hotel’s complimentary hot breakfast. Other meals will be provided by the synod, including a box lunch on Wednesday as you prepare to return home. If you have any food allergies or restrictions for our group meals, please make note on the registration (“tickets”) page.
Other Questions
If you have any logistical questions, please contact Christie Snyder by email or at 317-923-3681.
We can’t wait to see you!