Governor J. B. Pritzker is expected to move all the regions of Illinois into Phase 4 of the Restore Illinois plan on June 26. This will continue to move us toward more in-person gatherings but still with restrictions.
Read MoreWhite privilege. Did you just brace yourself, if you look like me? It’s a term that’s been around at least since the late 1980s, but we have heard and learned more about it recently. Many of us benefit from white privilege. Yet I would imagine there are some of you who have wrestled with the term as I have. What do you mean by “privilege,” you might ask. You might have had an upbringing like the one I did (or more difficult) so that you rankle a bit at the use of “privilege” in your own story.
Read MoreThe ReTurn Team is grateful for the support and feedback received in response to the May 15 guidelines offered for churches to consider as businesses and institutions around us have begun to reopen. We recognize that the Health Teams or Leadership Teams tasked with guiding your work in your local context are feeling an increasing amount of pressure to move toward a return to “normal” in-person activities. As our state has moved into Stage 3 and soon will likely move to Stage 4, we wish to offer additional clarification and guidance that may help you moving forward.
Read MoreOnce I told my congregation that I wanted to tattoo this verse on the inside of my eyelids: “…we know that trouble produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” Yeah, they thought it was a little weird, too, to imagine tattooing something on the inside of your eyelids. But it’s a message that guides us through our times of trouble to a place of hope.
Read MoreThe killing of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25 has rocked our nation and world and pierced us to the core. The video image seared into our minds, hearts and souls is horrific, terrifying, disgusting and outrageous. While we’ve each made commitments and statements in our respective areas along with many of our cabinet members, we think it important to speak together as the North Central Jurisdiction College of Bishops. We affirm the work being done in each of our conferences, the work of the Council of Bishops, the work of our General Agencies, and the work of our ecumenical and interfaith partners in responding to this heartbreaking, soul-shattering event.
Read MoreOne of the annual conference’s strategic goals is “to live out the conviction that racism is incompatible with Christian teaching.” This is a tall order as we come to it with four centuries of baggage. Recently I was asked what it means: “racism is incompatible with Christian teaching.” We all need to wrestle with what it means in our own lives, communities, churches, and certainly our nation.
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