Pastor Davis is a graduate of Garrett Theological Seminary and the pastor of Citypoint Community Church, a new worshiping community that has been gathering in the South Loop since 2008 and will soon celebrate moving into their new more permanent location in the Bronzeville neighborhood. Among the ways his church lives out the gospel of Jesus, the congregation organizes a debt relief program, consolidating their resources to provide small high impact grants to curb debt for those who don't have much margin month-to-month.

As one of our Centennial Scholars, we believe that Pastor Davis' ministry fulfills the vision of the founders of the Centennial Scholarship Program that was started at Kenilworth Union in 1992 when our congregation celebrated 100 years of ministry. Judy and Doug Petrie, Mary and Phil Schaff, Barbara and Carl Stanley, and Jane and Ellwood Peterson began the fund with the dream to make a lasting impact on vital but underfunded ministries in the city of Chicago. Offering a chance for our church to think beyond the suburban ministry context of the North Shore, the Centennial Scholars program funds scholarships for seminary students and postgraduate grants for those who choose to work in under-resourced ministry in Chicago. After thirty years, funding more than fifty scholars—including, for example, Sara Spoonheim who now works at RefugeeOne—we are grateful to have Demetrius Davis share with us on August 20. To learn more, click here.

—The Reverend Dr. Katie Snipes Lancaster