A one-minute video about Kenilworth Union Church
Introduction to Kenilworth Union Church
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Minute for Centennial Scholars
August 20, 2023
Pastor Davis is a graduate of Garrett Theological Seminary and the pastor of https://citypointcc.org/hello, 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, https://archive.kuc.org/centennial-scholars-fund/ —The Reverend Dr. Katie Snipes Lancaster
Sarah Champlin Introduces Herself
July 23, 2023 • Sarah Champlin
Hello Kenilworth Union Church! I am so very pleased to be here. Though I’ve had only one official week in the office, this feels like the culmination of many months of planning and preparation. On your end, this has looked like a nine-month search for the right fit for this ministry. On my end, this has been a process of years of study and hands-on ministry work to prepare for you. I have been busy getting my Master of Divinity at Boston University, directing the youth program at a large church outside Philadelphia, and leading mission experiences with young people in both domestic and international settings. Youth ministry is something I take very seriously and have ever since I was a youth myself growing up on the North Shore. Church was a vital place of refuge for me as a young person. When I struggled to navigate the halls of New Trier, my church was there. The church was a place that I felt known and held by the whole community, and free to express myself when I was figuring out who God is and who God was calling me to be. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how homey it feels at Kenilworth Union already in such a short time. I had the privilege of going on the IMPACT trip to Puerto Rico in June, where 81 amazing youth and adults pulled me into the fold of this incredible, Spirit-filled experience and said without hesitation, “Hi, we just met you, and you’re one of us now. Now get in our van.” This past month, I’ve kept returning to this one verse of Psalm 139: “You hem me in, behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.” This verse makes me picture Kenilworth Union Church as a quilt, and God as the grandmother in the rocking chair sewing my fabric patch into the pattern. My prayer in the coming months and years is that I may become a sewing needle in God’s hands, helping to stitch together the youth in this church so that they can experience the love of Christ in a spiritual home where they feel known, and held, and free. Thank you for having me.