May 2017

First Chronicles
The Newsletter of the First Congregational Church of Evanston UCC

Extravagant Welcome May God bless the work that you are doing in the
Our Extravagant Welcome at First Congregational is a world, strengthened by Holy Spirit, in Christs name.
call to go beyond waiting for new people to come in the Blessings,
door. It is an opportunity to extend hospitality in the Rev. Ann
way Dutch theologian Henri Nouwen defines it:
Hospitality, therefore, means primarily the
creation of a free space where the stranger can This Months Chancel Choir Anthems
enter and become a friend instead of an enemy.
Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer May 7
them space where change can take place. It is not Jack Schrader, Here I Am, Lord
to bring men and women over to our side, but to
offer freedom not disturbed by dividing lines. It is May 14
not to lead our neighbor into a corner where there Kevin Riehle, The Call
are no alternatives left, but to open a wide spec- Carl Schalk, Christ Goes Before
trum of options for choice and commitment. It
is not an educated intimidation with good books, May 21
good stories, and good works, but the liberation of Thomas Tallis, If Ye Love Me and
fearful hearts so that words can find roots and bear Lord, Teach Us How to Pray Aright
ample fruit. It is not a way of making our God
and our way into the criteria of happiness, but the May 28
opening of an opportunity to others to find God John Ferguson, Lord of the Dance
and their way. The paradox of hospitality is that it Joel Raney, Lord of the Dance (piano-organ duet)
wants to create emptiness, not a fearful emptiness,
but a friendly emptiness where strangers can enter
and discover themselves as created free; free to sing
their own songs, speak their own languages, dance
their own dances, free also to leave and follow their Happy Birthday to everyone
own vocations. Hospitality is not a subtle invita- celebrating a birthday in May!
tion to adopt the lifestyle of the hosts, but the gift
of a chance for the guests to find their own.
All who participate in the life of our church find their
lifestyles affirmed. Most recently we have commissioned
individuals to go forth from the confines of our walls Jackie Chill Emma Lehman
to do the work of God in the community in their unique Emily Connors Claire McFadden
ways: Richard Davis, soup kitchen ministry; Barb Pam Daniels Lacey Ogbolumani
Ferguson, Hildas Place meal coordination; Mark Daniels, Richard Davis Scott Omundson
Anixter Center volunteer; Ann Rosewall, Colombia Kingsley Day Luke Perkins
Peacemaking Accompanier; Joseph Roberts, Lindsey Tom Ferguson Jonas Petersen
Hammond, and Dona Hildebrandt, Faith in Action Alexander Hardesty Kelly Rorke
advocates in Springfield; Doug Smith, Harvest Food Charles Krause Bill Tripp
Pantry volunteer; Sarah Petersen, community activist for
antiracism and justice; Betty Phillips, philanthropist and
volunteer for organizations combating homelessness.

Upcoming Events
Chicago Metropolitan Association Spring Meeting
Saturday, May 6, 8:00 a.m.3:00 p.m.
University Church
5655 South University Avenue, Chicago
Regional gathering for adults and youth
Small Group Book Study
Wednesday May 10 and 17, 7:00 p.m. or Saturday,
May 13 and 20, 4:00 p.m., Church House
Confirmation Sunday and Potluck Picnic
Sunday, May 7, 10:00 a.m., Sanctuary
Confirmands leading worship
Day of Faith at the Capitol
with Community Renewal Society
Tuesday, May 9, all day, Springfield (lunch provided)
Meet at 6:00 a.m., Unitarian Church of Evanston
Pentecost SundayWear Red!
Sunday, June 4, 10:00 a.m., Sanctuary
First Wednesday Dinner
Wednesday, June 7, 6:00 p.m., Church House
Guest Speaker: Rev. Kathy Dale McNair,
National Alliance on Mental Illness
Annual Meeting of the UCC Illinois Conference
Friday and Saturday, June 9 and 10
Elmhurst College, 190 Prospect Avenue, Elmhurst
Celebration Sunday: Honoring the Chancel Choir,
Graduates, and Sunday School Teachers
Sunday, June 11, 10:00 a.m., Sanctuary
Quarterly Meeting (after worship)
Sunday, June 18, 11:00 a.m.
Chicago Pride Parade
Sunday, June 25, noon3:00 p.m.
Broadway at Montrose, Chicago
All-Church Retreat at Tower Hill
Sawyer, Michigan
Friday, June 30Sunday, July 2
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One Book, One Church Small Groups Begin
You are invited to join One Book, One Church, a new
small group devoted to a unifying and interactive read-
ing experience of the book Rescuing Jesus: How People of
Color, Women, & Queer Christians Are Reclaiming Evan-
gelicalism by Deborah Jian Lee. One Book, One Church
is an interchurch book club that will read Rescuing Jesus
with an eye toward developing concrete strategies for
practicing radical inclusion and pursuing authentic social
justice. Last summer,
dozens of churches
read Rescuing Jesus
together and par-
ticipated in a small-
group experience.
Now our church
will read the book
together and discuss
the material.
The primary goal is to consider, pray about, and par-
ticipate in important justice issues affecting marginalized
communities. Rescuing Jesus provides a starting point for
this conversation, with intimate stories, history, studies,
and expert analysis that our community can discuss. The
secondary goal is to build community and power across
our church community.
Oftentimes we look at justice issues through a single
lensfor example, combatting racial discrimination. But
intersectional justice (one of the themes of Rescuing Jesus)
means that justice issues cannot be dealt with indepen-
dently; instead, those seeking justice must understand
how various systems of oppression or discrimination
interact with each other.
We kicked off the study at the First Wednesday Din-
ner on May 3. The dinner featured guest speaker Rich
Havard, who leads the Inclusive Collective ministry at
UIC. We will follow the dinner with two weekly small-
group sessions led by Laurie Brown and Heather Soto in
the Church House: either on Wednesdays, May 10 and
17, at 7:00 p.m., or Saturdays, May 13 and 20, at 4:00
p.m. Sign up in the church entryway or by emailing
arosewall@firstchurchevanston.org.
Are You Graduating?
We want to celebrate you! On Sunday, June 11, well
be honoring our recent graduates. Whether its a high
school, certificate program, vocational school, college,
graduate school, or doctoral degree, we want to be sure
your achievement is included. Please send your name and
accomplishment to spetersen@firstchurchevanston.org.
Congratulations!
This Confirms It
As one confirmation student noted in our last class
together, I get it! Confirmation is confirming what our
parents said for us at our baptism. When they were only
infants, these students families chose them a path of
faith formation to guide them during their early devel-
opment. Through the journey of this years confirmation
class, our seven confirmands have deepened their under-
standing of what it means to walk this way of Jesus and
to commit to continuing on this journey together.
Over the course of the year, the confirmands studied
major events in the Bible and learned the history of vari-
ous world religions development. They experienced faith
practices ranging from prayer to walking a labyrinth to
serving others to the holy sacraments. They strengthened
their sense of what it means to be a Christian through
action, worship, and love. They explored the structure and Finding Balance: All-Church Retreat, June 30July 2
workings of our church and wrote their own worship Save the date for a weekend away on the shores of Lake
service. Finally, they clarified for themselves their person Michigan with your church family at Tower Hill Camp
alized sense of faith within our church community, and & Retreat Center in Sawyer, Michigan. This years theme
each chose a symbol to represent their continuing journey. is Finding Balance. The weekend will be rich with
On Sunday, May 7, the confirmands will guide us inward- and outward-focused activities, including beach
through the worship service they have created. They will time, discussions, group games, one-on-one connection,
share their gifts of prayer, music, speaking, serving, and forest meditations, art making, lakeview sunsets, singing
connecting with all of us. The congregation in turn will and more! All generations are invited and encouraged to
welcome the confirmands, who will affirm their baptisms attend. Come explore what finding balance means for
and become new members of our church. As highlighted your life and our community.
by the students chosen theme for the service, rather than Retreat leaders needed. If you would like to be in on
celebrating an ending, this confirms that following Jesus the planning, or are simply interested in leading an art
way of love, justice, and peace will continue to give us activity or discussion during our time together in the
Guidance for a Good Life on our journeys of faith and woods and by the lake, please contact Rev. Ann or Sarah
life ahead. Petersen soon.
On the Journey,
Sarah Petersen, Director of Learning and Outreach

Potluck Picnic on Confirmation Sunday, May 7

Join our seven confirmands in celebrating their joining
the church the first Sunday in May. The youth will lead
worship, serve communion, and preach! All ages are in-
vited to join our Family Choir in offering a song for the
confirmands. Family Choir will rehearse at 9:25 a.m. in
the sanctuary on May 7. There will be no Sunday School
that morning, as all youth are invited to join in worship
celebrating our confirmands.
Following the service, please join
us for a potluck honoring our confir-
mands. Please bring a dish according
to the first letter of your last name:
AH, main dish
IR, side dish
SZ, dessert
YEA! Festival on Saturday, May 20
First Congregational Church will once again be host-
ing an art-making and community-connecting table at
the Young Evanston Artists (YEA!) Festival in Raymond
Park on May 20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This has become
a fun, creative way to meet our neighbors and the young
families of Evanston. In addition, several young artists
in our congregation from area schools will be showing
their work. Dont miss out on the joy! If youd like to
volunteer for a one- or two-hour slot at our table, please
email spetersen@firstchurchevanston.org or sign up in
the church entryway.
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Peace Is Flowing Like a River
by Laura Stringfellow Wilson
Many of us may remember this hymn from camp. With
lyrics drawn from Isaiah 66:12, the song evokes the
power and importance of water. The symbol of water
is nowhere more vital than in the Third World among
oppressed, isolated people. The Reverend Ann Rosewall,
pastor of First Congregational Church of Evanston UCC,
rediscovered the importance of water in her recent month
long South American visit to Colombia. Rev. Rosewall
traveled in February with the Colombia Accompaniment
Program of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship USA and
the Presbytery of the Coast, Colombia.
A home of early people known as the Muisca,
Colombia was made a colony of Spain in 1499 and
became a nation in 1866 through the revolution led by
Simn Bolvar and Francisco de Paula Santander. As
political parties emerged, few years were without violent
struggles for power, resources, trade, and land. A liberal
stream of leaders wanted greater democracy but was in
constant conflict with other groups, including wealthy
families and the military wing of the government, sup-
ported by American military resources. Todays Colom-
bia has also suffered from the violence of the drug trade,
fueled by those who buy those products.
The Colombia Presbyterian Church has sought
peaceful support from America through the Presbyterian
Peace Fellowship, formed in 2004 to alleviate the harass
ment and suffering of rural people, who have been
caught in the middle of the power struggle between
political, military, and guerilla forces. Since 1958 in
this warfare, 220,000 have died, chiefly civilians, and
millions have been displaced.
Legitimate farming has been decimated, as has
village structure. Many dissidents hide in the jungle, un-
able to work or return to their villages. Yet, unbelievably,
much of the fighting has stopped as of this January.
As with Irelands Easter Accords, there is a fragile peace
agreement between the government of President Santos
and the FARC, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of
Colombia. Agreement rests on turning in weapons and
returning to home villages, and of course on there being
no further assaults by government forces or FARC. The
pursuit of drug traffickers goes on.
Rev. Rosewall, an experienced worker in Central
American church-related programs, traveled to Colom-
bia in February to learn about this moment of hope. In
the early 2000s I did my doctoral research in a colony of
displaced citizens in San Salvador, El Salvador, she ex-
plains. The dissertation, A Pastoral Theology of Hope,
was based on interviews with Salvadorans who sustained
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hope and resilience through civil war, poverty, violence,
and natural disasters. I learned how hope is connected to
ones image of God as well as the narrative of the com-
munity. I went to Barranquilla, Colombia, this year with
the desire to learn new narratives, and I found a com-
mon thread of pain overcome by solidarity and sheer will
to forge peace.
Will the peace hold? That is the inevitable question
for so many countries. The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
feels that peace lasts if there is justice. In Colombia, Rev.
Rosewall saw how justice could be served by returning
water to a village.
La Alemania is a settlement of displaced ranchers
that continues to suffer great hardship due to the coun-
trys history of violence, says Rev. Ann. Once ousted
by guerrilla forces from another area and having lost
hundreds of family members to massacre, La Alemania
became a place to rebuild. In 2011 one of their leaders
was assassinated by paramilitary fighters who took over
homes and land for their own. The paramilitaries used
and abused the setting for five years, leaving behind
rubble and facilities in disrepair. During my visit, I in-
quired about the materials and labor necessary to rebuild
a water cistern on the land (knowing the rainy season
was coming soon). Coordinated with the Presbytery and
First Congregational Church of Evanston, the project
was financed and planned. La Alemania will have a clean
water supply soon. This the work of the compaeros
the representatives of the Presbyterian Fellowship, who
stood by the villagers of La Alemania.
In another area of northern Colombia, Rev. Rosewall
joined other displaced farmers to meet with the village
mayor of Luruaco. The farmers advocated for electricity
and water services promised by the local government
that had not come to fruition in 14 months. The pres-
ence of Presbyterians from Barranquilla and the United
States provided a positive witness and embodied sup-
port, as though to say, You are not alone in advocating
for your rights.
Back in Evanston, Rev. Rosewall asked a Sunday
school class, How do the people in the village get water?
A four-year-old answered, They carry it on their heads.
She was close. As compaeros, we can use our hands,
hearts, and heads to stand beside people in great need
to help provide clean water, homes, health care their
birthright as children of God.
 New Members Join on Easter
Casey Bloomer and his wife, Tracey, live
in South Evanston, and welcomed their
twin daughters, Kelsey and Mikayla,
this past October. Casey is the finan-
cial center manager at the 5/3 Bank
Evanston Main Street branch. Casey
and Tracey are both looking forward to
getting to know the congregation and
becoming more involved when not busy
with the twins.
Dona Hildebrandt first moved to Chi-
cago in 1983. She has three sons (ages
34, 32, and 19) and has worked for the
same BtoB telemarketing company for
22 years. Dona serves as a deacon and
on the Faith in Action Team. She writes,
Im drawn to be part of a community
based on spiritual beliefs and practices
where I can be of service in return.
Charles Moore grew up in south Georgia
where he began playing organ in church
at age 15. A graduate of the School
of Sacred Music at New Yorks Union
Theological Seminary, Charles served
as director of music in New Canaan,
Connecticut, Evanston (Northminster
Presbyterian Church), and two churches
in Des Plaines. He is happy to be retired
and to be a part of our church family.
Jacob M. Guerra-Martinez moved to
Chicago in December 2015 from
McAllen, Texas, with his husband, Gil-
bert. Jacob currently works on North-
western Universitys Chicago campus
as a learning designer. He is joining
our congregation because he wants to
continue his spiritual journey alongside
his husband.
Jon Gilbert Martinez (Gilbert) is cur-
rently enrolled at Garrett-Evangelical
Theological Seminary as a second-year
master of divinity student and will
be our seminary intern beginning in
September. He also serves as the vice
president of the Latinx Ministries of
the Great Lakes RegionUCC. He is
joining our congregation because he
From top: Joyful Easter worship; Rev. Ann (far left) and moderator Mark Daniels feels that it is a good example of what
(far right) welcome new members (from left) Charles Moore, Casey Bloomer, Dona a Congregational Church in the United
Hildebrandt, Jacob M. Guerra-Martinez, and Jon Gilbert Martinez; youth enjoying Church of Christ is.
Easter egg hunting after worship
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