Trinity Galewood Blog https://www.tlc4u.org Catch up on all things Trinity Galewood here. We'll share message notes, exciting news, event stories, and everything in between so be sure to check back often. Fri, 29 Mar 2024 04:40:21 -0500 http://churchplantmedia.com/ Leadership: An Acquired Skill for College Students https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/leadership-an-acquired-skill-for-college-students https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/leadership-an-acquired-skill-for-college-students#comments Tue, 11 Dec 2018 13:00:00 -0600 https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/leadership-an-acquired-skill-for-college-students Eighteen Concordia University students met at Trinity Galewood once a week this past fall (2018) with Pastor Dave McGinley and Ministry Coordinator Missy Hawley in our very own College Leadership Institute.

They gathered for one and a half hours to talk about a reading assignment they had completed for the program, discussed reactions to various situations, or simply took in the teaching on one of the three core themes of the leadership process:

Learning more about their own identity in Christ

Re-enforcing and growing in skills as a leader

Understanding what it means to be a leader in the church

This unique program for college students evolved out of the desire to get students more intentionally involved at Trinity Galewood, Chicago. Students had been showing up at church since Trinity Galewood’s beginning since it’s so near to Concordia’s campus (less than 10 minutes away). A few were asking for something more, and Missy drew on her own college experience a decade ago to suggest that helping them uncover their ability to be leaders in the church would be a tangible take-away and something the congregation could offer.

“I remember the church-hopping mentality I had during college,” she said, “thinking I didn’t have anything to offer or a reason to be part of a congregation at that time. Our message to young people is: Don’t let these four years go by without getting deeply involved in congregational life right now.”

Missy and Pastor Dave picked a book to guide their content and then supplemented each session with material from other sources. A personality test was also part of the process. “Everyone is at a different place with discovery about themselves and their goals,” she said. “It’s interesting and exciting to present them with ideas they may have never thought about before.”

While many of the college students had already exhibited leadership in some facet of campus life, they also very quickly began increasing their involvement at Trinity Galewood. Missy said after the first session, all but one were in church the following Sunday, even though the group included those who had not been to worship here before. They are now volunteering in Sunday music, welcome team and KidStreet, as well as in Trinity Galewood’s new weekday middle school Crossroads Mentoring Program.

Trinity Galewood expects to offer this institute again. “It went well based on what we could see from attendance, participation and feedback,” she said. Both Pastor Dave and Missy (who worked at Concordia in admissions right after graduation and now splits her time as an RN at Rush Hospital with ministry at Trinity Galewood) were present for each session to give students a broader perspective on church life. The students came with varied backgrounds, varied interests and varied future plans. A few are in church work programs at Concordia, but not all. Yet all will be better prepared for their role as disciples of Christ and workers together in His church.

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Eighteen Concordia University students met at Trinity Galewood once a week this past fall (2018) with Pastor Dave McGinley and Ministry Coordinator Missy Hawley in our very own College Leadership Institute.

They gathered for one and a half hours to talk about a reading assignment they had completed for the program, discussed reactions to various situations, or simply took in the teaching on one of the three core themes of the leadership process:

Learning more about their own identity in Christ

Re-enforcing and growing in skills as a leader

Understanding what it means to be a leader in the church

This unique program for college students evolved out of the desire to get students more intentionally involved at Trinity Galewood, Chicago. Students had been showing up at church since Trinity Galewood’s beginning since it’s so near to Concordia’s campus (less than 10 minutes away). A few were asking for something more, and Missy drew on her own college experience a decade ago to suggest that helping them uncover their ability to be leaders in the church would be a tangible take-away and something the congregation could offer.

“I remember the church-hopping mentality I had during college,” she said, “thinking I didn’t have anything to offer or a reason to be part of a congregation at that time. Our message to young people is: Don’t let these four years go by without getting deeply involved in congregational life right now.”

Missy and Pastor Dave picked a book to guide their content and then supplemented each session with material from other sources. A personality test was also part of the process. “Everyone is at a different place with discovery about themselves and their goals,” she said. “It’s interesting and exciting to present them with ideas they may have never thought about before.”

While many of the college students had already exhibited leadership in some facet of campus life, they also very quickly began increasing their involvement at Trinity Galewood. Missy said after the first session, all but one were in church the following Sunday, even though the group included those who had not been to worship here before. They are now volunteering in Sunday music, welcome team and KidStreet, as well as in Trinity Galewood’s new weekday middle school Crossroads Mentoring Program.

Trinity Galewood expects to offer this institute again. “It went well based on what we could see from attendance, participation and feedback,” she said. Both Pastor Dave and Missy (who worked at Concordia in admissions right after graduation and now splits her time as an RN at Rush Hospital with ministry at Trinity Galewood) were present for each session to give students a broader perspective on church life. The students came with varied backgrounds, varied interests and varied future plans. A few are in church work programs at Concordia, but not all. Yet all will be better prepared for their role as disciples of Christ and workers together in His church.

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Meet Katherine Lutz, DCE Fieldworker https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/meet-katherine-lutz-dce-fieldworker https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/meet-katherine-lutz-dce-fieldworker#comments Tue, 11 Dec 2018 13:00:00 -0600 https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/meet-katherine-lutz-dce-fieldworker Katherine Lutz, a junior in the Director of Christian Education program at Concordia University Chicago, serves as a DCE fieldworker at Trinity Galewood in Chicago. (Pastor Dave McGinley also is a Concordia Chicago DCE graduate.)

Galewood’s diverse neighborhood in Chicago is not far from Concordia’s campus. Katherine is heavily involved in doing ministry that specifically reaches out to the neighborhood and the Chicago public elementary school adjacent to the church. She also organizes KidStreet for Sunday mornings.

Katherine says, “This year for Spring Jam, as I was organizing that camp, my bold prayer was for 70 kids to show up and the Lord provided. Exactly 70 kids from Galewood and surrounding neighborhoods walked in the door. The kids who come to Holiday Hoops and Spring Jam camps [during school breaks] hear more about Jesus, learn new basketball skills, have new hip hop moves, and ultimately and most importantly leave knowing that they are loved.”

Many of these same kids also had the opportunity to be mentored by students from Concordia University through last year’s after-school program that occurred once a week through the Galewood park district. Katherine and other volunteers went to the park building weekly to teach 30 kids about different careers and dreams they could aspire for. This was a time spent getting to know the struggles and joys in kids’ lives.

This fall she also helped with Crossroads mentoring program, led by John Daniels, another CUC student. The focus here was on nurturing small groups of middle schoolers from the public school as they met weekly after school at the church.

Katherine also was a big part of recruiting students to help with Trinity Galewood’s Fall Party on October 31 and organized the indoor crafts that gave hundreds of kids a break from the outside games, candy tent and bounce house. She has been a huge help to Pastor Dave and is gaining valuable experience for her future career.

 

 

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Katherine Lutz, a junior in the Director of Christian Education program at Concordia University Chicago, serves as a DCE fieldworker at Trinity Galewood in Chicago. (Pastor Dave McGinley also is a Concordia Chicago DCE graduate.)

Galewood’s diverse neighborhood in Chicago is not far from Concordia’s campus. Katherine is heavily involved in doing ministry that specifically reaches out to the neighborhood and the Chicago public elementary school adjacent to the church. She also organizes KidStreet for Sunday mornings.

Katherine says, “This year for Spring Jam, as I was organizing that camp, my bold prayer was for 70 kids to show up and the Lord provided. Exactly 70 kids from Galewood and surrounding neighborhoods walked in the door. The kids who come to Holiday Hoops and Spring Jam camps [during school breaks] hear more about Jesus, learn new basketball skills, have new hip hop moves, and ultimately and most importantly leave knowing that they are loved.”

Many of these same kids also had the opportunity to be mentored by students from Concordia University through last year’s after-school program that occurred once a week through the Galewood park district. Katherine and other volunteers went to the park building weekly to teach 30 kids about different careers and dreams they could aspire for. This was a time spent getting to know the struggles and joys in kids’ lives.

This fall she also helped with Crossroads mentoring program, led by John Daniels, another CUC student. The focus here was on nurturing small groups of middle schoolers from the public school as they met weekly after school at the church.

Katherine also was a big part of recruiting students to help with Trinity Galewood’s Fall Party on October 31 and organized the indoor crafts that gave hundreds of kids a break from the outside games, candy tent and bounce house. She has been a huge help to Pastor Dave and is gaining valuable experience for her future career.

 

 

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Teen Work-Learning Project at Trinity Galewood https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/teen-work-learning-project-at-trinity-galewood https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/teen-work-learning-project-at-trinity-galewood#comments Tue, 28 Aug 2018 21:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/teen-work-learning-project-at-trinity-galewood Trinity Galewood is going into an exciting new opportunity to expand its comfort zone and participate in the community where the church is located. Since July 2, seventeen 14- and 15-year-olds finishing eighth grade at Lovett Elementary School next door have been spending six hours a day at Trinity church in a work-learning experience.

Funding from Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s One Summer Chicago program has been granted to hire Trinity’s Jon Daniels to lead a curriculum that will help neighborhood 14 and 15-year-olds improve skills needed in their future work world. One Summer Chicago helps city agencies and partner organizations provide summer employment from July 2-August 10 for qualifying young people from the Chicago Public School system. Jon grew up in North Lawndale and now attends Concordia University Chicago, River Forest, where he will be a senior in the fall. He’s been active at Trinity a year now.

Partner organizations working with Jon in this project, along with Trinity and One Summer Chicago, are CPS’ Lovett Elementary School and West Care, a Chicago youth foundation that works with teens in the criminal justice system as well as offering other family services.

Select students were invited into the program at Trinity by Lovett staff and West Care. Theparticipate in a 9-3 workday at the church, Monday through Friday, with field trips off site. They are learning what a job looks like and practicing the skills, manners and behaviors that go along with being an employee. Each week they also do service projects, have computer time for job-related tasks, and learn about related life topics.

Two West Care staff are on hand to provide assistance as Jon guides the boys and girls through this curriculum. Jon already knows most of the teens through basketball and pizza nights and other events he’s helped lead at Trinity the past year.

“I hope to give these kids an opportunity to go beyond their past experiences, to see what they’re really made of and build character in themselves,” Jon said.

Above all, he says his desire is that they will know how much they are loved – by God and people in the church. His own love for them extends to the degree that he hopes to have a career someday within an organization that serves kids.

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Trinity Galewood is going into an exciting new opportunity to expand its comfort zone and participate in the community where the church is located. Since July 2, seventeen 14- and 15-year-olds finishing eighth grade at Lovett Elementary School next door have been spending six hours a day at Trinity church in a work-learning experience.

Funding from Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s One Summer Chicago program has been granted to hire Trinity’s Jon Daniels to lead a curriculum that will help neighborhood 14 and 15-year-olds improve skills needed in their future work world. One Summer Chicago helps city agencies and partner organizations provide summer employment from July 2-August 10 for qualifying young people from the Chicago Public School system. Jon grew up in North Lawndale and now attends Concordia University Chicago, River Forest, where he will be a senior in the fall. He’s been active at Trinity a year now.

Partner organizations working with Jon in this project, along with Trinity and One Summer Chicago, are CPS’ Lovett Elementary School and West Care, a Chicago youth foundation that works with teens in the criminal justice system as well as offering other family services.

Select students were invited into the program at Trinity by Lovett staff and West Care. Theparticipate in a 9-3 workday at the church, Monday through Friday, with field trips off site. They are learning what a job looks like and practicing the skills, manners and behaviors that go along with being an employee. Each week they also do service projects, have computer time for job-related tasks, and learn about related life topics.

Two West Care staff are on hand to provide assistance as Jon guides the boys and girls through this curriculum. Jon already knows most of the teens through basketball and pizza nights and other events he’s helped lead at Trinity the past year.

“I hope to give these kids an opportunity to go beyond their past experiences, to see what they’re really made of and build character in themselves,” Jon said.

Above all, he says his desire is that they will know how much they are loved – by God and people in the church. His own love for them extends to the degree that he hopes to have a career someday within an organization that serves kids.

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Dream Outside the Box https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/dream-outside-the-box https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/dream-outside-the-box#comments Fri, 20 Jul 2018 15:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/dream-outside-the-box Dream Outside the Box is a cooperative program between Trinity Galewood, student volunteers from Concordia and Dominican Universities, and the afterschool program at Amundsen Park District on Chicago’s West Side. In three eight-week sessions this school year, the college students met weekly with 15 kindergarten to Grade 5 students to help them dream bigger about future careers.

The goal is to give children a glimpse of where they could be someday―places they won’t consider unless they are exposed to them. Neighborhoods that lack extracurricular educational opportunities and exposure to new things, like many Chicago neighborhoods, are often “dream deserts” for children with the result being a limited vision for their future.

Dream Outside the Box was developed as a college student organization in Columbia, Mo., in 2009 to help lead children in Grades K-5 out of such dream deserts through imaginative programming that shows them new opportunities. Now a non-profit organization based in Fort Worth, Texas, Dream Outside the Box has thus far served children in 107 cities.

Working with the program on behalf of Trinity Galewood this year were Craig Larson, high school youth ministry coordinator at Trinity Lisle and a former social worker at OPRF High School; Allie Back from Trinity Galewood and CUC student in charge of recruitment; Niecy Robinson, Chicago Park District coordinator; Kayla Jackson, a Dominican student and Trinity Galewood intern; and Amanda Skubinna, Trinity Lisle’s Children, Youth and Family Director; plus other student volunteers.

The college students plan each session using curriculum suggestions from Dream Outside the Box. Sessions have introduced children to botany, engineering, medicine, dentistry, and more. The young children have done things like apply surgical stitches to a banana, use engineering principles to build a church out of gumdrops, and practice dental hygiene on eggs. Each session begins with activities to calm children from any frustrations of the day and excite them for the after-school career path. “It’s a big deal for them that we take the time to invest in their day and their problems,” says Katherine Lutz, student volunteer from Concordia and Trinity Galewood’s DCE intern this year.

“My own fear and panic inside doesn’t matter,” Kayla Jackson added, admitting that taking on this responsibility is a big deal for the student volunteers as well. “The kids are just so happy to be there. And happy to see us. On the second day, they were waiting at the door and yelled ‘they came back’ as they ran out to greet us.”

“Dream Outside the Box is an intentional move for us to be there in the community instead of here in the church,” said Trinity Galewood’s Pastor Dave McGinley. Amundsen Park is only three blocks from the corner of Narragansett and Wabansia where the church is located. The park is a natural partner for extending the connection with area children that is a core feature of Trinity Galewood’s ministry year-round.

Trinity Galewood ran three eight-week sessions this year, serving 15 children each session. Volunteers work with the kids in two groups, divided by age. They hope to be back with the kids in Amundsen Park in the fall.

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Dream Outside the Box is a cooperative program between Trinity Galewood, student volunteers from Concordia and Dominican Universities, and the afterschool program at Amundsen Park District on Chicago’s West Side. In three eight-week sessions this school year, the college students met weekly with 15 kindergarten to Grade 5 students to help them dream bigger about future careers.

The goal is to give children a glimpse of where they could be someday―places they won’t consider unless they are exposed to them. Neighborhoods that lack extracurricular educational opportunities and exposure to new things, like many Chicago neighborhoods, are often “dream deserts” for children with the result being a limited vision for their future.

Dream Outside the Box was developed as a college student organization in Columbia, Mo., in 2009 to help lead children in Grades K-5 out of such dream deserts through imaginative programming that shows them new opportunities. Now a non-profit organization based in Fort Worth, Texas, Dream Outside the Box has thus far served children in 107 cities.

Working with the program on behalf of Trinity Galewood this year were Craig Larson, high school youth ministry coordinator at Trinity Lisle and a former social worker at OPRF High School; Allie Back from Trinity Galewood and CUC student in charge of recruitment; Niecy Robinson, Chicago Park District coordinator; Kayla Jackson, a Dominican student and Trinity Galewood intern; and Amanda Skubinna, Trinity Lisle’s Children, Youth and Family Director; plus other student volunteers.

The college students plan each session using curriculum suggestions from Dream Outside the Box. Sessions have introduced children to botany, engineering, medicine, dentistry, and more. The young children have done things like apply surgical stitches to a banana, use engineering principles to build a church out of gumdrops, and practice dental hygiene on eggs. Each session begins with activities to calm children from any frustrations of the day and excite them for the after-school career path. “It’s a big deal for them that we take the time to invest in their day and their problems,” says Katherine Lutz, student volunteer from Concordia and Trinity Galewood’s DCE intern this year.

“My own fear and panic inside doesn’t matter,” Kayla Jackson added, admitting that taking on this responsibility is a big deal for the student volunteers as well. “The kids are just so happy to be there. And happy to see us. On the second day, they were waiting at the door and yelled ‘they came back’ as they ran out to greet us.”

“Dream Outside the Box is an intentional move for us to be there in the community instead of here in the church,” said Trinity Galewood’s Pastor Dave McGinley. Amundsen Park is only three blocks from the corner of Narragansett and Wabansia where the church is located. The park is a natural partner for extending the connection with area children that is a core feature of Trinity Galewood’s ministry year-round.

Trinity Galewood ran three eight-week sessions this year, serving 15 children each session. Volunteers work with the kids in two groups, divided by age. They hope to be back with the kids in Amundsen Park in the fall.

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Going All In https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/going-all-in https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/going-all-in#comments Tue, 17 Jul 2018 16:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/going-all-in Membership at Trinity Galewood is not like at a gym or fitness club. You are welcome to visit a gym once, perhaps, before joining or during a special promotion, but you can’t regularly participate unless you become a member.

At Trinity Galewood you don’t have to be a member to come through our doors. You are welcome to participate at every activity. You BECOME A MEMBER when you are ALL IN, when you COMMIT to being part of the MISSION.

So, what’s the mission at Trinity Galewood – as individuals, to grow so that we LOOK, LIVE AND LOVE MORE LIKE JESUS – as a church, to be REFLECTING GOD’S LOVE and doing it locally, REFLECTING OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

That’s why people become members of Trinity Galewood – to look, live and love more like Jesus. The journey of faith is not something you do alone. “Walk with the wise and become wise,” it says in God’s Word (Psalm 13:20). The “wise” of course is Jesus, and all the treasures He has for us are hidden in the Holy Bible. Members at Trinity walk together to become wise about Jesus, so they will grow as His followers and live out their part in His mission.

That doesn’t happen just by coming through the doors at a church, however. It’s something that involves you every day and impacts your whole life. The journey takes you to commitment and passion for Jesus and what He’s doing in the world. It takes you to a love of worship, a desire to connect and an ambition to serve – in your home, in the church, in the neighborhood.

If you have any interest in being part of this, contact Pastor Dave and let him know you’d like to sit down over coffee to talk about it. Or, attend the next Discovery class.

Discovery is a short opportunity after worship on the last Sunday of each month to learn more about what it means to be ALL IN at Trinity Galewood.

 

Lord Jesus, you call each of us to follow you. That sounds so simple, and yet it has such great implications for our lives. Help us each to look into our own heart and ask the question: am I ready to take the first step, or the next step, in that journey? Then, move us to act. We thank you for the love you pour out so abundantly that everyone is welcome as your follower each with our differences as a gift for the whole. Help us grow as a church in reflecting that love and reflecting our neighborhood.

 

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Membership at Trinity Galewood is not like at a gym or fitness club. You are welcome to visit a gym once, perhaps, before joining or during a special promotion, but you can’t regularly participate unless you become a member.

At Trinity Galewood you don’t have to be a member to come through our doors. You are welcome to participate at every activity. You BECOME A MEMBER when you are ALL IN, when you COMMIT to being part of the MISSION.

So, what’s the mission at Trinity Galewood – as individuals, to grow so that we LOOK, LIVE AND LOVE MORE LIKE JESUS – as a church, to be REFLECTING GOD’S LOVE and doing it locally, REFLECTING OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

That’s why people become members of Trinity Galewood – to look, live and love more like Jesus. The journey of faith is not something you do alone. “Walk with the wise and become wise,” it says in God’s Word (Psalm 13:20). The “wise” of course is Jesus, and all the treasures He has for us are hidden in the Holy Bible. Members at Trinity walk together to become wise about Jesus, so they will grow as His followers and live out their part in His mission.

That doesn’t happen just by coming through the doors at a church, however. It’s something that involves you every day and impacts your whole life. The journey takes you to commitment and passion for Jesus and what He’s doing in the world. It takes you to a love of worship, a desire to connect and an ambition to serve – in your home, in the church, in the neighborhood.

If you have any interest in being part of this, contact Pastor Dave and let him know you’d like to sit down over coffee to talk about it. Or, attend the next Discovery class.

Discovery is a short opportunity after worship on the last Sunday of each month to learn more about what it means to be ALL IN at Trinity Galewood.

 

Lord Jesus, you call each of us to follow you. That sounds so simple, and yet it has such great implications for our lives. Help us each to look into our own heart and ask the question: am I ready to take the first step, or the next step, in that journey? Then, move us to act. We thank you for the love you pour out so abundantly that everyone is welcome as your follower each with our differences as a gift for the whole. Help us grow as a church in reflecting that love and reflecting our neighborhood.

 

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And the Scene Changes https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/and-the-scene-changes https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/and-the-scene-changes#comments Tue, 17 Jul 2018 15:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/and-the-scene-changes A favorite movie clip is Scene 12 from Gladiators – perhaps you know it. Up to this point, the movie has shown the conflict meted out by Rome against people they conquered – destruction of their homes, killing their families, enslaving men for petty purpose, in this case to be gladiators simply for entertainment. These were familiar scenes in the Roman Empire: the mighty subjugating the conquered who had no choice but to submit. In Scene 12, however, a gladiator confronts his oppressor and lays out a new scenario. With cold determination, he unshields his face, stares down his persecutor and proclaims, “I will have my vengeance on you -- in this world or the next!” That scene changed everything that followed. (Whoa, it still gives me chills!)

A Sabbath evening feast in the home of a Pharisee also was a familiar scene to the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem of his day. To the Jewish gentry gathered to meet with Jesus in Luke 14, the banquet was expected, their earned right as the cream of the Jewish crop (so to speak). Such events foreshadowed a great event they still expected to come, the Banquet of the Messiah in God’s Kingdom. The Jews longed for this event – it would be joy, fun, a party, the confirmation of Messiah established on his throne.

The Jews at this evening feast with Jesus were so sure of their honored place on that future day they could not help but express their enthusiasm, “Blessed is everyone (US!) who will eat bread in the kingdom of God! one exclaimed.

But Jesus said some things in that encounter that changed everything that followed. In a series of parables, he laid out a new scenario. And what those leaders learned that night was that the kingdom of God would not be quite what they expected. So, what did Jesus say that changed the scene and everything that follows.

He said God’s kingdom will come at its own pace. No one will know when the kingdom will come, we are told, but we have a foretaste of that kingdom as we see God’s actions among us already in this life.

He said preparing for God’s kingdom takes priority over everything else. Being always ready may not be convenient, but Jesus said it’s worth it. And it doesn’t have to be earned; it’s freely given.

He said the invitation to God’s kingdom is for all. Did you hear me say ALL? It’s not just for the holy, or the rich, or the important, or people like yourself. It’s for the lowly as well as the mighty, for the outcast as well as the revered. It’s for every nation, people and language.

He said God wants his kingdom filled, so he never stops invitingor involving us in extending that invitation. This mission will keep on going until his house is filled.

So, what does this mean for you, for me, for Trinity Galewood as we seek to look, live, and love more like Jesus?

I can promise you it won’t go at your pace. It will mess with your priorities. It will bring you together with others who might challenge your sense of comfort. It will be Oh. So. Worth it. Come!

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A favorite movie clip is Scene 12 from Gladiators – perhaps you know it. Up to this point, the movie has shown the conflict meted out by Rome against people they conquered – destruction of their homes, killing their families, enslaving men for petty purpose, in this case to be gladiators simply for entertainment. These were familiar scenes in the Roman Empire: the mighty subjugating the conquered who had no choice but to submit. In Scene 12, however, a gladiator confronts his oppressor and lays out a new scenario. With cold determination, he unshields his face, stares down his persecutor and proclaims, “I will have my vengeance on you -- in this world or the next!” That scene changed everything that followed. (Whoa, it still gives me chills!)

A Sabbath evening feast in the home of a Pharisee also was a familiar scene to the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem of his day. To the Jewish gentry gathered to meet with Jesus in Luke 14, the banquet was expected, their earned right as the cream of the Jewish crop (so to speak). Such events foreshadowed a great event they still expected to come, the Banquet of the Messiah in God’s Kingdom. The Jews longed for this event – it would be joy, fun, a party, the confirmation of Messiah established on his throne.

The Jews at this evening feast with Jesus were so sure of their honored place on that future day they could not help but express their enthusiasm, “Blessed is everyone (US!) who will eat bread in the kingdom of God! one exclaimed.

But Jesus said some things in that encounter that changed everything that followed. In a series of parables, he laid out a new scenario. And what those leaders learned that night was that the kingdom of God would not be quite what they expected. So, what did Jesus say that changed the scene and everything that follows.

He said God’s kingdom will come at its own pace. No one will know when the kingdom will come, we are told, but we have a foretaste of that kingdom as we see God’s actions among us already in this life.

He said preparing for God’s kingdom takes priority over everything else. Being always ready may not be convenient, but Jesus said it’s worth it. And it doesn’t have to be earned; it’s freely given.

He said the invitation to God’s kingdom is for all. Did you hear me say ALL? It’s not just for the holy, or the rich, or the important, or people like yourself. It’s for the lowly as well as the mighty, for the outcast as well as the revered. It’s for every nation, people and language.

He said God wants his kingdom filled, so he never stops invitingor involving us in extending that invitation. This mission will keep on going until his house is filled.

So, what does this mean for you, for me, for Trinity Galewood as we seek to look, live, and love more like Jesus?

I can promise you it won’t go at your pace. It will mess with your priorities. It will bring you together with others who might challenge your sense of comfort. It will be Oh. So. Worth it. Come!

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Transform: Self https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/transform-self https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/transform-self#comments Wed, 23 May 2018 14:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/transform-self Transform – ministry on this corner of Narragansett and Wabansia in west Chicago’s Galewood neighborhood begins right with that word. Not with fixing up this building’s needed repairs, not with good sermons and culturally relevant music, not even with wisdom and learning.

It begins right in our own hearts and minds so that we become people who see beyond ourselves, focusing with God’s eyes on the 360 children who daily attend Chicago’s Joseph Lovett Elementary School on this same block. It begins with seeing the people inside the 13,000 cars that daily pass by the church’s front door, heading to industrial jobs just a few blocks north or moving a block south to turn onto North Avenue and head to downtown Chicago. How does that transformation happen so that we come to each of them with love that embraces diversity, love that is more like Jesus?

We’re just ordinary people; we don’t have all the answers – maybe we don’t have any of them. The intimidation of this new ministry in a neighborhood where things are different than what we knew before can leave us restless, questioning and insecure. Where do we start this transformation to look, live and love more like Jesus?

Transformation from being restless and uncertain to secure is embedded in Jesus’ words in Matthew 11: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

In these words, Jesus invites us to remove whatever yoke we are using in life and put on his new yoke instead.

You know how a yoke works? It’s a kind of harness that binds two together – usually two oxen or other animals that provide the strength and muscle to operate a farm implement such as a plow. A yoke has no flexibility. Where one turns the other must follow. Where one goes the other must go. Where one stops the other can go no further.

In life we yoke ourselves to all kinds of things: our friends, an educational system, an ideology, a career, an income level, our family, the attitudes and prejudices of an unhealthy culture. These direct our actions and responses. And while we may want to go a different way, the yoke we have in life can bind and limit our ability to change.

Jesus tells us about a yoke he provides. It’s a yoke carved of wood from a cross, stained by his blood, perfected in his resurrection, leading us to a life forever in the presence of God. Transformation comes when the worldly yoke that binds us falls away and Jesus puts on us a new yoke provided only through him. We don’t earn it – it’s freely given. We can’t buy it – it’s already paid for. It comes to us through faith. But in accepting it, the resulting transformation begins to change us from the inside out.

It will teach us how to look at, live for and love all people in a diverse environment. For us, that’s the people of Galewood, Oak Park, Elmwood Park and adjacent neighborhoods (yes, Chicago Austin and all its bad media press are just a few blocks away).

It will bring us rest and peace that passes understanding as we reject old habits of fear and take one small step after another to build relationships and bond with people who we’re just meeting for the first time – people you may think aren’t like you, but wait, yes they are.

And while this yoke may not remove the burden of embracing diversity in a church system that does not have a very good track record with it – or even remove a personal burden that any one of us might carry that distracts us from the mission – Jesus’ yoke will indeed make it lighter. Because we don’t carry any of it alone. Jesus is the lead; we only follow. And as we follow him together, we also carry one another.

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Transform – ministry on this corner of Narragansett and Wabansia in west Chicago’s Galewood neighborhood begins right with that word. Not with fixing up this building’s needed repairs, not with good sermons and culturally relevant music, not even with wisdom and learning.

It begins right in our own hearts and minds so that we become people who see beyond ourselves, focusing with God’s eyes on the 360 children who daily attend Chicago’s Joseph Lovett Elementary School on this same block. It begins with seeing the people inside the 13,000 cars that daily pass by the church’s front door, heading to industrial jobs just a few blocks north or moving a block south to turn onto North Avenue and head to downtown Chicago. How does that transformation happen so that we come to each of them with love that embraces diversity, love that is more like Jesus?

We’re just ordinary people; we don’t have all the answers – maybe we don’t have any of them. The intimidation of this new ministry in a neighborhood where things are different than what we knew before can leave us restless, questioning and insecure. Where do we start this transformation to look, live and love more like Jesus?

Transformation from being restless and uncertain to secure is embedded in Jesus’ words in Matthew 11: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

In these words, Jesus invites us to remove whatever yoke we are using in life and put on his new yoke instead.

You know how a yoke works? It’s a kind of harness that binds two together – usually two oxen or other animals that provide the strength and muscle to operate a farm implement such as a plow. A yoke has no flexibility. Where one turns the other must follow. Where one goes the other must go. Where one stops the other can go no further.

In life we yoke ourselves to all kinds of things: our friends, an educational system, an ideology, a career, an income level, our family, the attitudes and prejudices of an unhealthy culture. These direct our actions and responses. And while we may want to go a different way, the yoke we have in life can bind and limit our ability to change.

Jesus tells us about a yoke he provides. It’s a yoke carved of wood from a cross, stained by his blood, perfected in his resurrection, leading us to a life forever in the presence of God. Transformation comes when the worldly yoke that binds us falls away and Jesus puts on us a new yoke provided only through him. We don’t earn it – it’s freely given. We can’t buy it – it’s already paid for. It comes to us through faith. But in accepting it, the resulting transformation begins to change us from the inside out.

It will teach us how to look at, live for and love all people in a diverse environment. For us, that’s the people of Galewood, Oak Park, Elmwood Park and adjacent neighborhoods (yes, Chicago Austin and all its bad media press are just a few blocks away).

It will bring us rest and peace that passes understanding as we reject old habits of fear and take one small step after another to build relationships and bond with people who we’re just meeting for the first time – people you may think aren’t like you, but wait, yes they are.

And while this yoke may not remove the burden of embracing diversity in a church system that does not have a very good track record with it – or even remove a personal burden that any one of us might carry that distracts us from the mission – Jesus’ yoke will indeed make it lighter. Because we don’t carry any of it alone. Jesus is the lead; we only follow. And as we follow him together, we also carry one another.

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Transform: Surroundings https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/transform-surroundings https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/transform-surroundings#comments Wed, 23 May 2018 14:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/transform-surroundings Love God and love your neighbor. Those were Jesus’ commandments in Luke 12. Reflect God’s love and reflect our neighborhood that’s the strategy for our congregation to live out Jesus’ commands in these surroundings.

What surroundings are those? Well, we’re not talking about the streets and houses around us; we already covered that when we talked about transforming community. Think of it more in cultural terms. Families are mobile, and people literally find themselves alone without a support system. Declines in the frequency and longevity of marriage deprive children of a safety net and result in them feeling “orphaned.” Employment cycles are short; more people work at home – peer relationships are harder to come by. Social ills (a softer term for teen gangs, drug use or one of any number of addictions) become a substitute for authentic, caring relationships in the home or in a community.

What does a church look like that is reflecting God’s love and reflecting its neighborhood in these surroundings? Four understandings help guide our thinking and actions in living this strategy out here at Trinity Galewood.

  1. Church is not about doing but being, not people going to church but people following Jesus. (1 Corinthians 6:19 – your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you … you are not your own.) His tug on us to follow him permeates every area of our life, not just times of public worship.
  2. Church is not an event for God, but a family coming together to celebrate God. (1 Corinthians 12:27 – you are the body of Christ and each one is a part.) It’s not about you; church is about Be so bold as to truly welcome someone into the church family by welcoming them into your life.
  3. Church is a reflection of the whole kingdom of God―not just one part of it but all nations, tribes and peoples. (Mark 11:17 – my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations.) If God’s kingdom in heaven is beautiful with diversity, then we know it pleases him for us to be intentionally diverse in how we come together as churches here on earth. When we fail to do this, it’s ourselves who are losing out.
  4. Church is more about relationships than traditions. (Matthew 5:23 – if you are offering your gift at the altar and remember someone has something against you, go and ask forgiveness.) Transformed churches don’t fight over maintaining icons and especially not over personal preference. Transformed churches do need to get upset, however, about the stuff that really matters. We need to care deeply about how we treat others in the family and how we treat those who are not in the family yet.

This loving God and loving our neighbor, reflecting God’s love and reflecting our neighborhood, is filled with tension, both for our congregation and for each of us as individuals. Being the church is not just about us loving God; it really is about us loving our neighbor, too. And when anything involves us, it’s easy to get so caught up in the “us” part that we forget about God and our neighbor as well.

Together we’re discovering what it means to reflect our neighborhood and reflect God’s love here on the corner of Narraganset and Wabansia on Chicago’s west side. Don’t be afraid to ask the questions and to embrace the challenge: Where do you need to stretch yourself? Where is God stretching you? Not so that any of us fall off the edge, but so that each of us individually and all of us together as a church, as confident children of God, look, live, and love more like Jesus.

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Love God and love your neighbor. Those were Jesus’ commandments in Luke 12. Reflect God’s love and reflect our neighborhood that’s the strategy for our congregation to live out Jesus’ commands in these surroundings.

What surroundings are those? Well, we’re not talking about the streets and houses around us; we already covered that when we talked about transforming community. Think of it more in cultural terms. Families are mobile, and people literally find themselves alone without a support system. Declines in the frequency and longevity of marriage deprive children of a safety net and result in them feeling “orphaned.” Employment cycles are short; more people work at home – peer relationships are harder to come by. Social ills (a softer term for teen gangs, drug use or one of any number of addictions) become a substitute for authentic, caring relationships in the home or in a community.

What does a church look like that is reflecting God’s love and reflecting its neighborhood in these surroundings? Four understandings help guide our thinking and actions in living this strategy out here at Trinity Galewood.

  1. Church is not about doing but being, not people going to church but people following Jesus. (1 Corinthians 6:19 – your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you … you are not your own.) His tug on us to follow him permeates every area of our life, not just times of public worship.
  2. Church is not an event for God, but a family coming together to celebrate God. (1 Corinthians 12:27 – you are the body of Christ and each one is a part.) It’s not about you; church is about Be so bold as to truly welcome someone into the church family by welcoming them into your life.
  3. Church is a reflection of the whole kingdom of God―not just one part of it but all nations, tribes and peoples. (Mark 11:17 – my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations.) If God’s kingdom in heaven is beautiful with diversity, then we know it pleases him for us to be intentionally diverse in how we come together as churches here on earth. When we fail to do this, it’s ourselves who are losing out.
  4. Church is more about relationships than traditions. (Matthew 5:23 – if you are offering your gift at the altar and remember someone has something against you, go and ask forgiveness.) Transformed churches don’t fight over maintaining icons and especially not over personal preference. Transformed churches do need to get upset, however, about the stuff that really matters. We need to care deeply about how we treat others in the family and how we treat those who are not in the family yet.

This loving God and loving our neighbor, reflecting God’s love and reflecting our neighborhood, is filled with tension, both for our congregation and for each of us as individuals. Being the church is not just about us loving God; it really is about us loving our neighbor, too. And when anything involves us, it’s easy to get so caught up in the “us” part that we forget about God and our neighbor as well.

Together we’re discovering what it means to reflect our neighborhood and reflect God’s love here on the corner of Narraganset and Wabansia on Chicago’s west side. Don’t be afraid to ask the questions and to embrace the challenge: Where do you need to stretch yourself? Where is God stretching you? Not so that any of us fall off the edge, but so that each of us individually and all of us together as a church, as confident children of God, look, live, and love more like Jesus.

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Transform: Community https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/transform-community https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/transform-community#comments Wed, 23 May 2018 13:00:00 -0500 https://www.tlc4u.org/trinity-galewood-blog/post/transform-community Trinity Galewood is in a typical urban community, but it may not be typical to where you grew up. What do your eyes see when you look at the neighborhood around this church on the west side of Chicago? Maybe it’s the struggle for decent employment, or the occasional gun violence, or the more than a quarter of adults with no secondary schooling. Maybe it’s the single parents, or domestic abuse, or the urban health issues. How about institutional prejudice and red lining in the past that bequeathed a legacy of distrust still living today. Are you comfortable in these circumstances?

Transform – that’s what we’re about. The difference between Trinity Galewood and perhaps other churches working in Chicago, however, is that we’re actually not focused on transforming the community. The transformation we aim for is in us – in our own hearts and minds as we gather and serve from this corner on Narragansett and Wabansia.

(Though, let’s be clear. Anytime God works transformation, which is the gift of forgiveness paid for us by Jesus through his death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit is at work to transform not just our place in the hereafter but our daily living in the here and now. As we live as transformed people that can’t help but result in transformed families, communities and nations as well.)

But back to us; Trinity Galewood aims to be a family of people transformed for the sake of the community where we are located. From everyday people who are broken, restless, insecure and separated from God, through Jesus we become confident, secure children of God who discover beauty in the diversity around us. That means crossing boundaries, embracing something new and stepping beyond what is our personal “typical.” That can make us uncomfortable. In those moments, we have two big options: flee or lean in. Transformed people don’t run away; they lean in.

Transformed is an identity God gives us. It’s not an identity about us, however. It’s an identity to involve us, draw us in, give us a mandate, call us to action. The city is an environment where trust is broken; as transformed people we want our actions to rebuild that trust in the community.

Here’s an example. Trinity Galewood does “Dream Outside the Box” with some of our college students in cooperation with our nearby Amundsen Park District’s after-school kids. The first Wednesday afternoon the team was there, the kids were blown away by the fun look they got at possible careers that could be open to them―things they’d not had a chance to be exposed to previously. But it was the team itself that was blown away the second week they showed up. Kids were waiting and watching with noses pressed to the window in the door. When they saw our team approach, several ran out and hugged them, exclaiming to each other, “They came back!” Those kids wondered whether they could count on us to be there for them again.

The story of the woman at the well is familiar in outreach work (John 4). Jesus goes to a place that was uncomfortable for Jews and crossed a number of boundaries to have a conversation with an outcast woman, and it transformed her life. It’s important when we consider ourselves in this story that we remember we’re not Jesus; we’re the woman. If we try to be Jesus, we’ll burn out; we can’t do what he did! No, what has really happened is that Jesus came to us at our own well and transformed us. Now, he invites us to come with him as he goes around to the people in our community.

For sure, the city is complex with complex issues, but God has not left the city. We need have no fear when Jesus works with us and through us in uncomfortable places. After all, he transformed us in the uncomfortableness of his suffering and death on the cross and then went on to vanquish the uncomfortable in his resurrection.

No, God has not left the city and certainly not this community. I know he’s still here because I see him bringing people to Trinity Galewood, each from their own well. I see him inviting you to go with him as he works with all kinds of people in each neighborhood. So, lean in. There’s great joy to be found in embracing the diversity we see around us.

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Trinity Galewood is in a typical urban community, but it may not be typical to where you grew up. What do your eyes see when you look at the neighborhood around this church on the west side of Chicago? Maybe it’s the struggle for decent employment, or the occasional gun violence, or the more than a quarter of adults with no secondary schooling. Maybe it’s the single parents, or domestic abuse, or the urban health issues. How about institutional prejudice and red lining in the past that bequeathed a legacy of distrust still living today. Are you comfortable in these circumstances?

Transform – that’s what we’re about. The difference between Trinity Galewood and perhaps other churches working in Chicago, however, is that we’re actually not focused on transforming the community. The transformation we aim for is in us – in our own hearts and minds as we gather and serve from this corner on Narragansett and Wabansia.

(Though, let’s be clear. Anytime God works transformation, which is the gift of forgiveness paid for us by Jesus through his death and resurrection, the Holy Spirit is at work to transform not just our place in the hereafter but our daily living in the here and now. As we live as transformed people that can’t help but result in transformed families, communities and nations as well.)

But back to us; Trinity Galewood aims to be a family of people transformed for the sake of the community where we are located. From everyday people who are broken, restless, insecure and separated from God, through Jesus we become confident, secure children of God who discover beauty in the diversity around us. That means crossing boundaries, embracing something new and stepping beyond what is our personal “typical.” That can make us uncomfortable. In those moments, we have two big options: flee or lean in. Transformed people don’t run away; they lean in.

Transformed is an identity God gives us. It’s not an identity about us, however. It’s an identity to involve us, draw us in, give us a mandate, call us to action. The city is an environment where trust is broken; as transformed people we want our actions to rebuild that trust in the community.

Here’s an example. Trinity Galewood does “Dream Outside the Box” with some of our college students in cooperation with our nearby Amundsen Park District’s after-school kids. The first Wednesday afternoon the team was there, the kids were blown away by the fun look they got at possible careers that could be open to them―things they’d not had a chance to be exposed to previously. But it was the team itself that was blown away the second week they showed up. Kids were waiting and watching with noses pressed to the window in the door. When they saw our team approach, several ran out and hugged them, exclaiming to each other, “They came back!” Those kids wondered whether they could count on us to be there for them again.

The story of the woman at the well is familiar in outreach work (John 4). Jesus goes to a place that was uncomfortable for Jews and crossed a number of boundaries to have a conversation with an outcast woman, and it transformed her life. It’s important when we consider ourselves in this story that we remember we’re not Jesus; we’re the woman. If we try to be Jesus, we’ll burn out; we can’t do what he did! No, what has really happened is that Jesus came to us at our own well and transformed us. Now, he invites us to come with him as he goes around to the people in our community.

For sure, the city is complex with complex issues, but God has not left the city. We need have no fear when Jesus works with us and through us in uncomfortable places. After all, he transformed us in the uncomfortableness of his suffering and death on the cross and then went on to vanquish the uncomfortable in his resurrection.

No, God has not left the city and certainly not this community. I know he’s still here because I see him bringing people to Trinity Galewood, each from their own well. I see him inviting you to go with him as he works with all kinds of people in each neighborhood. So, lean in. There’s great joy to be found in embracing the diversity we see around us.

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