Adult Education: News in the Fight for Criminal Justice
Learn the latest development in the ongoing issues of criminal justice. Presented by Pilgrim’s Criminal Justice Be Bold Group.
Sunday Morning Worship
Join us for worship at 10:30 am. Rev. Colin Knapp will be leading worship and preaching from the biblical text. In worship we celebrate our relationship with God, we strengthen our relationship with one another, and we explore what it means to put our faith into action. Come as you are.
Dedication of Our 150th Anniversary Tree
The Anniversary Bur Oak, donated by Leslie Sutphen and Byron Lanning, is a keystone native species. It will help support our urban ecosystem.
Fruit of the Earth Potluck
Following the dedication Pilgrim’s Green Team invites you to bring vegetarian, vegan, or sustainably produced dishes to share during our “Fruit of the Earth” potluck.
CROP WALK
Join us on Sunday, May 5th as our community works to end hunger with the CROP HUNGER WALK. Walkers and non-walkers alike are welcome for an afternoon of fun for a good cause as this event returns to a multi-congregational in-person walk kicking off at Pilgrim! Festivities begin at 1:00 pm with a short, multi-congregational service in our sanctuary, followed by crafts, entertainment and fun on Pilgrim's front lawn.
The walk steps off at 2pm and includes a 3-mile or 1-mile route. Participants who raise $50 get a free t-shirt! To sign up or donate to the Pilgrim Team, visit https://bit.ly/pilgrimcropwalk2024. Full event details are at https://www.hwwcrop.org/.
Flamy Grant Concert
Pilgrim Congregation Church UCC is excited to present the amazing singer Flamy Grant – in concert
Flamy Grant is a powerhouse vocalist, intrepid songwriter, and acclaimed drag queen from western North Carolina who blends folk, gospel, and roots, transporting audiences with therapeutic, theatrical storytelling and song. Raised fundamentalist evangelical herself, much of Flamy’s music centers on the queer spiritual journey. She tells stories of resilience and recovery from religious trauma in a world where LGBTQ+ people are frequently ignored by, harmed in, or ejected from religious spaces. With a bold lip, a big lash, and a blistering voice, Flamy takes audiences to a soulful, uplifting church of her own making.
This family-friendly show is free (NO TICKETS REQUIRED, optional donations accepted) to be presented at Pilgrim Congregational Church located at: 460 Lake Street, Oak Park, Illinois.
AFRICAN SANCTUS CONCERT
Directed by Dr. Wilbert O. Watkins, the Pilgrim Chancel Choir and members of the Chicagoland music community present David Fanshawe’s African Sanctus. The musical gift to the community is free and open to the public. A free-will offering will be taken.
Sunday Morning Worship
Join us for worship at 10:30 am. Rev. Colin Knapp will be leading worship and Rev. Veronica Johnson will be preaching from the biblical text. In worship we celebrate our relationship with God, we strengthen our relationship with one another, and we explore what it means to put our faith into action. Come as you are.
Adult Education: Earth Day - Environmental Justice 201
Dr. Nam will dig more deeply into Chicago’s EJ issues, exploring ways of understanding our responsibility as Christians for justice in this arena.. Presented by Dr. Edward Nam, director of EPA Region 5’s Land, Chemicals and Redevelopment Division.
Pilgrim Book Club
Women’s Book Club will be reading Three Girls from Bronzeville, by Dawn Turner, facilitated by Marilyn Thomas. Location TBD. Books are available for checkout at the Oak Park Public Library main branch – just look for the Pilgrim section on the book club selections wall.
They were three Black girls. Dawn, tall and studious; her sister, Kim, younger by three years and headstrong as they come; and her best friend, Debra, already prom-queen pretty by third grade. They bonded—fervently and intensely in that unique way of little girls—as they roamed the concrete landscape of Bronzeville, a historic neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side, the destination of hundreds of thousands of Black folks who fled the ravages of the Jim Crow South.
The memoir is at once a celebration of sisterhood and friendship, a testimony to the unique struggles of Black women, and a tour-de-force about the complex interplay of race, class, and opportunity, and how those forces shape our lives and our capacity for resilience and redemption.
Community of Congregations Spring Gathering
Join us in welcoming OPRF’s Superintendent Greg Johnson! We will hear an overview and update on all things district 200: Illinois Report Card, strategic priorities, finance, and facilities. Q & A to follow the presentation. CoC’s gathering will take place at United Lutheran Church, 409 Greenfield Ave, Oak Park. Please kindly RSVP to oprfcoc@gmail.com
Sunday Morning Worship
Join us for worship at 10:30 am. Rev. Colin Knapp will be leading worship and Rev. Veronica Johnson will be preaching from the biblical text. In worship we celebrate our relationship with God, we strengthen our relationship with one another, and we explore what it means to put our faith into action. Come as you are.
Adult Education: Environmental Justice 101
Our guest speaker will define “environmental justice” and its importance for our community and the world. Presented by Rev. Veronica Johnson.
Women’s Breakfast Gathering
Join us for a Women’s Breakfast gathering at Cristine Vesely’s home. RSVP to Cristine at cristinevesely@gmail.com if you plan on attending. Bring your favorite breakfast dish to share.
Sunday Morning Worship
Join us for worship at 10:30 am. Rev. Colin Knapp will be leading worship and Rev. Henrietta Brown will be preaching from the biblical text. In worship we celebrate our relationship with God, we strengthen our relationship with one another, and we explore what it means to put our faith into action. Come as you are.
Adult Education: Native Gardens
Why using plants in our gardens and public spaces matters, and how this practice helps oue environment. Our guest is bringing several living examples to exhibit. Presented by Byron Lanning.
Sunday Morning Worship - Resurrection Sunday
Join us for worship at 10:30 am. Rev. Colin Knapp is preaching from the biblical text. In worship we celebrate our relationship with God, we strengthen our relationship with one another, and we explore what it means to put our faith into action. Come as you are.
Sunday Morning Worship - Palm Sunday
Join us for worship at 10:30 am. Rev. Colin Knapp will be leading worship and preaching from the biblical text. In worship we celebrate our relationship with God, we strengthen our relationship with one another, and we explore what it means to put our faith into action. Come as you are.
Adult Education: You Are Remarkable: How You Are Matters!
This session will focus on compassion and self-compassion: being as kind to ourselves as we are to others is our call. Presented by Rev. Janet MacLean.
Women’s Breakfast Gathering
Join us for a Women’s Breakfast gathering at Joycelin Fowler’s home. RSVP to Joycelin at cookinmama3@gmail.com if you plan on attending. Bring your favorite breakfast dish to share.
Multi-Generational Walking With Jesus Lenten Event
The evening will begin with a Soup Meal from 6:00-6:30 pm, followed by activities featuring story, scripture and several craft station options for all ages. RSVP by March 10th to maureen.deahl@pilgrimoakpark.org
Sunday Morning Worship
Join us for worship at 10:30 am. Rev. Henrietta Brown will be leading worship and Rev. Lydia Mulkey – Associate Pastor of Education from First United Church of Oak Park will be preaching from the biblical text. In worship we celebrate our relationship with God, we strengthen our relationship with one another, and we explore what it means to put our faith into action. Come as you are.
Adult Education: Women and Their Mental Health
Presenter: Heather Watson, Director of Outpatient Clinic, United Health Care Services.
Pilgrim Book Club
Our next book is Finding the Mother Tree, by Suzanne Simard, led by Sandra Luckins. Books have arrived at the Oak Park Public Library (main branch) and are available for checkout.
This book is sure to be fascinating to everyone who loved The Overstory. "Suzanne Simard is a pioneer on the frontier of plant communication and intelligence. In her first book, Simard brings us into her world, the intimate world of the trees, in which she brilliantly illuminates the fascinating and vital truths--that trees are not simply the source of timber or pulp, but are a complicated, interdependent circle of life; that forests are social, cooperative creatures connected through underground networks by which trees communicate their vitality and vulnerabilities with communal lives not that different from our own. Simard writes--in inspiring, illuminating, and accessible ways—how trees, living side by side for hundreds of years, have evolved, how they learn and adapt their behaviors, recognize neighbors, compete and cooperate with one another with sophistication, characteristics ascribed to human intelligence, traits that are the essence of civil societies--and at the center of it all, the Mother Trees: the mysterious, powerful forces that connect and sustain the others that surround them. And Simard writes of her own life, born and raised into a logging world in the rainforests of British Columbia, of her days as a child spent cataloging the trees from the forest and how she came to love and respect them. And as she writes of her scientific quest, she writes of her own journey, making us understand how deeply human scientific inquiry exists beyond data and technology, that it is about understanding who we are and our place in the world."
Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche
Sunday, March 10, 2024, 4:00 PM
It’s back….and we are so eggscited! Come for the Quiche or come for the yolks! Mosaic Players will be presented this hilarious romp set in the 1950’s in our own parlor. Use the link below to get your tickets; chicken feed at $10. Don’t scramble at the last minute!
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/five-lesbians-eating-a-quiche-tickets-800370217867?aff=oddtdtcreator
Sunday Morning Worship
Join us for worship at 10:30 am. Rev. Henrietta Brown will be leading worship and Rev. Hailey Braden Lynch from Fair Oaks Presbyterian will be preaching from the biblical text. In worship we celebrate our relationship with God, we strengthen our relationship with one another, and we explore what it means to put our faith into action. Come as you are.
Adult Education: Traditions of Holy Week - In Context
Rev. David Loofbourrow will review the history and practice of the many traditions we follow (or don’t) in the Easter season.
Sunday Morning Worship
Join us for worship at 10:30 am. Rev. Henrietta Brown will be leading worship and Rev. Ben Lynch from Fair Oaks Presbyterian will be preaching from the biblical text. In worship we celebrate our relationship with God, we strengthen our relationship with one another, and we explore what it means to put our faith into action. Come as you are.
Reverend Ben Lynch and his spouse, Hailey, have served as the co-pastors of Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church since 2017. Before moving to Illinois, his career in ministry took him all over the country, serving at a variety of churches from South Texas to Manhattan to the Gulf Coast of Florida. Ben & Hailey have two children, Asher and Junia, who are growing up very, very quickly but remain wonderfully precocious and full of joy.
Adult Education: PILGRIM WOMEN IN MINISTRY
A panel of Pilgrim members discuss their experiences as Women in Ministry. Led by Rev. Jane Ann Moore.
MAKE YOUR OWN PIZZA AND TALENT SHOW
Are you a singer, play an instrument, Juggle, can Tell a great joke, are a Poetry facilitator, magician, gymnast…. You tell us what your talent is!
Here's your chance to share your talent with the Pilgrim community and beyond.
Come and build your own pizza at 4:00 pm under the supervision of our resident chef Joycelin. ($5 individual, $20 cap for a family) At 5:30 p.m. the Talent show will begin. All ages are invited to showcase their talents. Let us know if you'd like to be on the list of performers by emailing maureen.deahl@pilgrimoakpark.org and RSVP to reserve a spot for the pizza dinner to Joycelin at office@pilgrimoakpark.org. RSVP by Friday, February 16th to place your dinner reservations and to secure your spot in the Talent Show line-up. Have questions? Let us know!
Men's Pub Night
Attention:
All Pilgrim men are invited to join Pastor Colin at One Lake Brewing (1 Lake St, Oak Park) for a fun night of conversation, camaraderie and connection. Please email Colin at colin.knapp@pilgrimoakpark.org to reserve your seat.
REV. DR. TERRILL N. MURff AND UNITING VOICES OF CHICAGO (150th Related Event)
Join us for this special worship service. Uniting Voices of Chicago (formerly Chicago Children’s Choir) provides music and Rev. Dr. Terrill Murff preaches. Rev. Murff is the Associate Conference Minister, United Church of Christ. Responsibilities for Programs, Innovation, and Events (Pastoral Care for Chicago Metropolitan Association).
Wine and Cheese Gathering
Join us for a Women’s Wine and Cheese gathering at Katie Arnolds home. (201 S. Maple, Oak Park. RSVP to Katie at katie.arnold55@gmail.com if you plan on attending. Bring your favorite appetizer, wine or non-alcoholic drink.
Friday Bible Study
We have resumed our weekly noon Bible study with The Letter of Paul to the Romans. The resource we will use is Romans: 18 Studies for Individuals and Groups by N.T. Wright. (available from many sources - this link it to Thriftbooks). Our study will be divided into two 8 week sessions: Part I - January 5th - March 1st. Part 2 - April 5th - May 31st.
We will meet from 12:00-1:00 pm, via Zoom. If you are interested in joining us, please email me by January 1st and I will send you the Zoom link., Gloria Cox - revgcox@gmail.com. All are welcome!
BLACK HISTORY MONTH FORUM (150th Related Event)
Moderator: Jeff Petertil
Panel: Dr. Kate Masur and Dr. David Brodnax, Sr.