Missouri Conference's "Love Unites" Logo
Image Courtesy of Missouri Conference
Illinois Great Rivers Conference | Aug, 22, 2025
BREESE, Ill. – The Illinois Great Rivers Conference announced Aug. 21 that it has leased billboard space in the Clinton County community of Breese after a billboard posted by the extremist group Proud Boys was taken down only days after it went up.
“Methodists in Illinois have centuries of practice helping our communities resist racist and hate-filled groups that want to divide us. We know that love for our neighbors, love for our communities, and love for our nations unites people. As Jesus teaches, our love for our neighbors flows out of our love for our God,” said the Rev. Dr. Curtis Brown, IGRC director of connectional ministries.
“With 650 United Methodist congregations across central and southern Illinois, we want to be a positive voice in our area. Putting up a billboard declaring love and unity to replace one recruiting for hate and division seems like a good way to recenter on a positive message for our neighbors.”
“In our new vision statement, we say that The United Methodist Church forms disciples of Jesus Christ who, empowered by the Holy Spirit, love boldly, serve joyfully and lead courageously,” Bishop David Bard said. “We serve our communities, in part, by standing up against hatred and division. We lead with courage as we seek to fulfill our baptismal vow to resist evil, injustice and oppression, and as we invite people into a vision of human life and community rooted in love and compassion.
“We love boldly by sharing the love of God for all persons wit our words and actions. These billboards are one way we are living into this vision.”
The contract was signed by the Conference and Lamar Advertising Co., the owner of the billboards with payment and its artwork forwarded to the company for display, capping a flurry of activity that began three days earlier.
On Aug. 18, news stories were reporting a billboard rising from a Clinton County cornfield near Breese that appeared to be a recruiting tool for the Proud Boys — described as a far-right extremist group tied to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The sign, located at Old U.S. Route 50 and St. Rose Road, is 1,000 feet from the entrance to Breese Central Community High School. The billboard contained a phone number and calls placed there indicated that the voice mailbox was full.
“A hate group that is advertising to 16, 17, and 18-year-old kids on the way to school,” said Bucky Miller, a union lineman and father of two, previously told KSDK, the NBC affiliate in St. Louis. "This should be one of the issues in our community that should bring everyone together. This isn't what we stand for. That sign does not represent what Clinton County is all about. Republicans, Democrats, independents, I'm asking people to denounce this."
The IGRC response
Brown discussed the possibility of the IGRC placing a competing billboard as a “counter witness” to the Proud Boys’ message. Christina Krost, chair of the IGRC Board of Church and Society was consulted as was Bishop David Bard, Central District Superintendent Bradley Watkins II (Breese is situated in the Central District although there are no United Methodist churches in Breese) and IGRC Director of Communication Ministries Paul Black – and all were in agreement to explore the possibility of obtaining display space with Lamar Advertising.
"The part of the story that is compelling to me is the way in which the community responded," Krost said, "And while you can cover up a billboard, harm has been done and I believe that the message of 'Hate Divides, Love Unites,' is one which we can rally around and move forward together rather than apart."
Black contacted United Methodist Communications in Nashville and also the Missouri Conference of The United Methodist Church, who recently conducted a “Hate Divides, Love Unites” campaign in Missouri. Ironically, the Missouri Conference had contracted with Lamar Advertising, which meant the artwork and content had previously been approved by the company, which streamlined the placement process.
The Missouri Conference provided scalable artwork for the bulletin board that Lamar was able to use for the Breese billboard.
The Missouri Conference campaign was born out of a billboard rental near Bagnell Dam at Lake Ozark. Near the Eldon exit on Highway 54, a large Confederate flag is situated on private property. Lake officials have estimated as many as 15 or 16 million people now visit the area each year. Given those numbers, and the prominence and visibility of the Confederate flag, a symbol of racism and oppression, Bishop Bob Farr encouraged the Missouri Conference communications team to offer an alternative message for the tourists that drive up and down Highway 54.
The campaign has a full complement of resources with artwork for yard signs, t-shirts, decals, banners and social media artwork. The Missouri Conference has given permission to the IGRC to expand that campaign into Illinois. The conference can provide assistance to IGRC congregations and United Methodists who would like assistance in putting up a similar billboard in their communities, please contact Curtis Brown, cbrown@Igrc.org or Paul Black, pblack@igrc.org
Local community response
Local leaders have expressed outrage but said the Proud Boys’ billboard is protected by the First Amendment.
Clinton County Board Chairman Brad Knolhoff said the county had no legal authority to regulate the billboard’s content, but he and many others contacted the company, expressing their outrage.
“I would say the fact that so many people were reaching out played a large factor” in the decision, he said. “I’m very pleased that the billboard is down because of the animosity it was causing and the angst in the community. It’s not healthy for the community.”
Former Judge and State’s Attorney Dennis Middendorff reminded the crowd this was not the first time Clinton County had faced such a test. In the 1980s, he recalled, the KKK received a permit to rally at nearby Carlyle Lake.
“I didn’t want to give” the legal advice at the time, he said, but under the First Amendment, they had the right to assemble. Even so, Middendorff told the board Monday night that this moment was still an opportunity: “You don’t have to take action to try and stop it. Maybe you can’t stop it, but you can condemn it, and that’s what I’m really asking you to do.”
Community condemnation
That evening, more than 70 persons attended the County Board meeting and 30 individuals spoke, reported Capitol News Illinois.
Gene Hemingway, who is Black, said the billboard only made visible what was already simmering.
“I heard some years ago, they’re dropping the robes and they’re putting on suits,” he said. “I’m not scared, but I am very aware. Because I know the primary purpose is to eradicate people of my color, the LGBTQ community, anything other than White.”
Naomi Knapp, a recent graduate of Central Community High School, said she was disappointed but not surprised.
“I don’t think a lot of people in this county actually believe the things that people like the Proud Boys are saying,” she said. “But I did hear it in my high school. I did hear racial slurs. … And I can’t even imagine any person of color having to honestly live here. And that’s devastating, because I know that most of us are amazing people who actually believe in family and faith and community.”
At the conclusion of public comments, board member Greg Riechman said he appreciated the concerns raised and thanked the residents for “speaking from their hearts.” He then introduced a nonbinding resolution condemning “hatred, bigotry, divisiveness or racism of any kind,” which passed unanimously.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker also condemned the billboard in a statement through his office:
“Let’s be clear: the Proud Boys are a dangerous, violent extremist group that attempted to overthrow the United States government. The rhetoric they use and the actions they have taken have no place in Illinois and go against everything we stand for in this state and in this country. Fortunately, a few wasted advertising dollars will not change the fact that there are millions of Americans who, regardless of political affiliation, know them as an extreme fringe organization that does not reflect who the people of Illinois are.”
On Aug. 19, workers were removing the billboard, although it is not known who ordered it done. Originally the billboard was sitting atop another sign for Hospital Sisters Health Systems of Springfield, which has hospitals in southern Illinois, including Breese.
The Southern Poverty Law Center lists the Proud Boys as a hate group, and the Anti-Defamation League describes them as extremist; Canada designated the Proud Boys a terrorist entity in 2021.
The United States does not maintain a domestic “terrorist list,” but FBI memos have described the group as an “extremist group with ties to white nationalism,” according to media reports.
Paul Black is director of communications for the Illinois Great Rivers Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. According to Black, Molly Parker of Capitol News Illinois contributed much of the information for the background news story. Capitol News Illinois is a non-profit news service created by the Illinois Press Foundation.