We gather to celebrate God’s gifts—open hearts, minds, and hands—and transform the world.
Parishioner Marvin Childress was a friend and classmate of Emmett Till. On Sunday, July 23 at 9 am Marvin honored Emmett’s memory by sharing his memoires of Emmett, growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s, and his reflection on life and racism in Chicago today. You can listen to the 45 minute talk, including questions with this YouTube link A Personal Tribute to Emmett Till by Marvin Childress.
Recommended reading and resources for parish study groups and book clubs from the Peace & Justice Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago
The Red Nation: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth (2021)
Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous leaders, Dreamers and Changemakers from the Past and Present by Adrienne Keene (2021)
Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance (2nd edition) by Edgar Villanueva (2021)
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer 2013 (Study Guide available)
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (2014)
The Four Vision Quests of Jesus by Steven Charleston (2015)
Neither Wolf Nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder by Kent Nerburn
The Night Watchman a novel by Louise Erdrich (2020)
Seeing Red: Indigenous Land, American Expansion, and the Political Economy of Plunder North America by Micahel Johnson Witgen
Videos available from “Indigenous Ministries” on The Episcopal Church website: 1. “Native Voices: Speaking to the Church and the World” (37 min.) 2.“Doctrine of Discovery” (14 min.) 3. “Native Voices: A Response to the Episcopal Church’s History with Indian Boarding Schools” (1 hr. 33 min.)
National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition
Article from Sojourners: “Will Christians atone for church boarding schools?”
Bexley-Seabury Course by Mary Crist:
Report calls church to address harms of white supremacy, colonial and imperial legacies; create $2 million healing coalition by David Paulsen
St. John’s Antiracism Mission
As members of St. John’s Episcopal Church, we work to identify, disrupt, and dismantle racism within our church and our community.
Webinar from April 7, 2022 Here is a Link to YouTube recording.
Please note the addition of a presenter, The Rev. Garth Howe, enrolled member of the Crow Creek Sioux and Episcopal Deacon at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.
Here is a link to recommended reading and viewing list.
News For Immediate Release
Contact: Brian Urbaszewski BUrbaszewski@resphealth.org 312.405.1175 or The Rev. Kara Wagner Sherer, rector@stjohnschicago.com 773.960.1889
Electric Vehicle Charging Sharing Platform uses Keeling Curve Prize Funding from Global Warming Mitigation Project to Expand Charging Locations in Chicago’s Urban Residential Neighborhoods: St. John’s Episcopal Church Installs First Charger
St. John’s Episcopal Church at 3857 N. Kostner Ave. Chicago, IL 60641
Chicago, IL – July 2, 2021 – EVmatch, the first electric vehicle (EV) charging platform for connecting EV drivers with nearby private chargers through a reservation-based system, has a new publicly-available [level 2] charging station located at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 3857 N Kostner Ave in Chicago’s Old Irving Park neighborhood. As the charging station host, St. John’s listed its charger on EVmatch to make driving EVs easier for community members – whether it’s neighbors of Old Irving Park, many of whom rent or live in multi-family housing without a reliable place to charge, or other Chicagoans visiting the neighborhood in electric cars and needing a spot to charge up.
The installation was made possible with the experience and technical expertise of Chicago-based BIG CLEAN POWER, LLC, a worker collective incubated by Blacks in Green (BIG, NFP) and its affiliate Green Power Alliance to connect trade professionals to clean energy business deals. EV Match, St. John’s Episcopal Church, and the Community Charging Initiative are pleased to have partnered with BIG, Blacks in Green in identifying energy conscious contractors Arthur Burton of AMB Renewables and Wendell Terry of W. Terry Electric to perform the installation at St. John’s.
The full press release is available at this link.
About St. John’s Episcopal Church
An inclusive congregation committed to Christian worship and service to the community, St. John’s is a vibrant and diverse group of people of all ages, races, abilities, and identities, engaged in anti-racism and other transformative work. We offer three Sunday services, religious instruction for children, and adult and youth choirs. In addition to our annual Darwin Day celebration of science and religion, St. John’s offers a free series of concerts, sponsors a refugee family, hosts an Electric Vehicle Charger for parish and community use, and is actively working to identify, disrupt, and dismantle racism in our church and community. Established in 1883 in Old Irving Park, the church is located on Chicago’s northwest side, on the corner of Byron and Kostner. For more information visit our website at www.stjohnschicago.com.
Learn about the current movement to change the celebration of Columbus Day to a celebration of Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
Thank you to all who attended our conversation. We discussed this press release calling for the change.
Other suggested reading:
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
This document will give you background and perspective from the American Indian Center.
Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem: How Religion Drove the Voyages that Led to America by Carol Delaney
Since the beginning of antiracism work at St John’s we have been especially concerned with our history as a predominately white congregation in northwestern Chicago. How might have previous generations at St John’s unjustly taken advantage of their privileged status? We immediately learned that St John’s was gifted with ownership of land that had been forcibly and unjustly taken from indigenous people living in the Chicago area.
Accordingly, we developed a land acknowledgement plaque affirming that the church’s land was previously home to many different Native Americans. The plague has been installed in the front walkway on Kostner Avenue. The plaque dedication, however, was not able to happen due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Our revised plan is to present a series of virtual events from now through the dedication event some time in 2021. Some of the possible opportunities which need your leadership and support include the following:
To assist with the Sacred Ground events, please contact Andria Anderson at classikal4ll@aol.com
We are working to develop and obtain more antiracism education resources for our child and youth group education.
Another opportunity is to attend “How Do We Talk To Our Children About Race” Virtual training sponsored by All Saints Episcopal Church – Fall dates to be determined.
To help out with this gathering education resources or for more information on the virtual training, please contact Courtney Hug at corriehug@gmail.com .
Follow online and support organizations such as the Northside Coalition Against Racism & Hate, Portage Park For Action, Respect and Community (PPARC) and Neighbors for Affordable Housing.
Upcoming event Juneteenth Car Caravan on Friday June 19th 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. around the Jefferson Park neighborhood. Sponsored by the Northwest Coalition Against Racism & Hate. Follow on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nwsidecoalition/ for exact location details.
Courtney Hug and Erica Zazo are St. John’s liaisons this year to the Northwest Coalition Against Racism And Hate. Please contact Courtney or Erica for more info at corriehug@gmail.com or erica.zazo@gmail.com.
4) Organize and Promote St. John’s Antiracism Library
We have two antiracism reading lists on our website:
Reading to End Racism – https://www.stjohnschicago.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Reading-to-End-Racism-Publication-FINAL.pdf
Wrestling With White Supremacy – https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:47a7ac64-c173-4a72-82ff-39170001e6fb#pageNum=1
We have some of these recommended books in the St. John’s library. We are looking for volunteers to set up and manage a borrowing system for the antiracism books and perhaps set up a curbside pick up program. To volunteer for this project, please contact Laura Singer at laura.t.singer@gmail.com
Another Source for books – All Saints Episcopal Church has moved their Free Antiracism Little Library to 3856 W Eddy St Chicago, IL 60618, Front Porch, Corner of Springfield and Eddy (near Addison and Pulaski)
