NSBC Blog - North Shore Baptist Church

Election Day Open Quiet Space

10/23/2018

Caravan Counseling, a resource ministry of NSBC, is offering an open, quiet place available to the community for those who desire to sit, reflect, be centered, pray, or meditate during Election Day. All are welcome!

The meditation space will be available on Tuesday, November 6th, with drop-in times from 10am-8pm in Nambu Chapel, across from the polling area.

The church address is:

North Shore Baptist Church
5244 N. Lakewood Ave
Chicago, IL 60640

Conversion and the Public Benefits Office

10/19/2018

By Rev. Kathryn Ray

"Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today."... Zacchaeus stood up and said to the LORD, "Look, LORD! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham." -from Luke 19

Public benefits offices are among the most hellish devised by human hands. These are the places you go to apply for food assistance, Medicaid, or financial assistance with housing and utilities. Where you wait for four to six hours under harsh fluorescent lighting in hard plastic chairs, surrounded by dozens of other people who are stressed and in pain, all to spend five minutes with someone who may or may not understand exactly what services you are requesting.

Diezmos (Tithes)

10/16/2018

Ceci Linares ofrece testimonio acerca del diezmo. Ceci Linares offers a testimony about tithing.

En el servicio hispano el 7 de octubre, Hermana Cecilia Linares ofreció este testimonio acerca del diezmo.

Nací y crecí en la iglesia católica, estudié en colegio católico hasta el bachillerato y me enseñaron a dar ofrenda siempre en misa, y me gustaba hacerlo. Cuando la recogían y veía que pasaban el canasto , y ponía el dinero , me sentía tan bien que no sé explicarlo. Pero era una gran satisfacción de poder ayudar y cumplir con mis compromisos como católica.

Tengo 20 anos de ser Cristiana y desde el primer día que me explicaron del diezmo, yo lo hice. Dezmé siempre y durante los últimos 12 anos que no trabajé pues cuidé de mis hijas, mi compromiso fue y sigue siendo dar mi tiempo, trabajando por y para mi iglesia. Dios me ha bendecido siempre en mi vida con mis hijos, esposo , con toda mi familia.

Hoy trabajo de nuevo hace unos meses y este trabajo es un regalo de Dios, puedo estar en casa y seguir al cuidado de mis hijas y esposo, yo le prometí a Dios ser fiel a él con mi diezmo, y de mi sueldo es lo primero que yo aparto cada semana. El diezmo es 10% de algo pero los cristianos, debemos diezmar por amor, con lo que nuestro corazón sienta. Dios ama al dador alegre, puede ser más o menos.

Nuestro diezmo económico ayuda al sostenimiento de la obra de nuestra iglesia, y si es nuestro tiempo, ayuda al crecimiento de nuestra iglesia, ayudando al prójimo , dando buenos testimonios, ayudando y apoyando a los demás cuando nos necesiten. Con palabra de Dios y oración, siempre hay una manera de diezmar si lo hacemos con amor.

At Hispanic worship on October 7, our sister Cecilia Linares offered this testimony about tithing.

I was born and raised in the Catholic Church, and I studied in Catholic school through high school. I was always taught to give an offering at Mass, and I liked to do it. When the offering was collected and I saw them passing the basket, I would put the money in. I felt so good, I can't explain it. It was a great satisfaction to be able to help and fulfill my commitments as a Catholic.

I have been Christian for 20 years and, from the first day tithing was explained to me, I have done it. I always tithed. For the last 12 years I have not worked, as I was taking care of my daughters, my commitment was and continues to be giving of my time, working for and on behalf of my church. God has blessed me in life with my children, my husband, with my whole family.

Now, I have been working again for a few months. This work is a gift from God. I can be at home and continue taking care of my daughters and husband. I have promised to be faithful to God with my tithe, and it is the first thing that I set aside from my salary each week. A tithe is 10% of something, but for Christians, we should tithe in love, with what our heart feels. God loves a cheerful giver, whether it is much or little.

Our economic tithe helps sustain the work of the church, whether it is our time, helping with the growth of the church, helping our neighbor, giving good testimony, or supporting others when they are in need. With the Word of God and prayer, there is always a way to tithe, if we do it with love.

#whyIGivetoNSBC

10/9/2018

Naw Cecilia (right) and Pastor Kathryn pause for a photo before Rev. Eh Plo Soe's installation service.

By Rev. Kathryn Ray

Sunday morning coffee hour has always felt to me like a great act of weaving in and out between different worlds. There is a constant vaivén, the swaying back and forth between English and Spanish, interspersed with what few words of Karen I know that are always received with grace. It is a moving in and out of worlds, mediated both by language and by physical space. This person gets a hug; another gets a handshake; another, a kiss on the cheek.

I’ll never forget the moment when I was coming up from Hispanic worship and ran into Cecilia Poenyunt. As I had been kissing people on the cheek all morning, I moved in towards her face, until an alarm went off in my brain shouting “ABORT! ABORT! ABORT!” At the last second, I extended my hand for a handshake. What is a warm greeting for one is an intrusion into the physical space of another. This place never fails to keep me on my toes.

This story has always embodied an essential component of my experience at NSBC. With every encounter with another individual at this church, I find a sacred space that I must enter on its own terms. I greet other people on a daily basis without a second thought. This church demands that I be intentional about my greetings. That intentionality reminds me of the beauty and holiness of the act: the welcoming and the being welcomed, the joyful heralding of a shared space.
With each encounter with another, I move not only between worlds, but between stories. For each of us, there is a story behind our arrival in this church, and more stories unfold with each passing week, each passing coffee hour. What is your story? What brings you into this space, and what happens for you while you are here?

As we enter pledge campaign season, we will be thinking about how much money we pledge to donate to the church in 2019. As we think about money, I also want us to think about stories. What stories that accompany each gift you make to the church? Starting October 4, there will be a display in the Wilbur Warner Welcome Center entitled “Why I Give to NSBC.” I invite you to use one of the large Post-Its provided to share your story. If you are on social media, I also invite you to post your stories, photos, and reflections online using the hashtag #whyIgivetoNSBC.

To share my story: I give to the church, in part, because of this absurd and beautiful moment when I was stopped up short transitioning between cultural spaces during coffee hour.

Nosotros Somos La Justicia

10/9/2018

At a recent community service of lament and healing in the wake of the Jason Van Dyke trial, a member of the Hispanic congregation offered the following reflection:

I have come to talk about the human rights situation here in the United States, where it is proclaimed that we are the country of human rights. But in this moment, they are completely broken.

Human rights in this country have been completely broken. If our dead, like Martin Luther King, who defended the rights of his people, were here now, I believe he would suffer even more than what he suffered at his time- suffered like [Laquan McDonald’s] mother, whose son was taken. It was something so horrible, something- in that moment- that was only pain for her.

I come from a country [of El Salvador] that also has suffered violence. So many died, and so many disappeared. For that reason, we feel the pain of every mother that sees her son die, [albeit] in different circumstances. We were jailed, we were put in dungeons where, supposedly, we had disappeared. Our only commitment was to work for our people. The pain of the people, like here in the United States- we are all in pain in this moment.

We identify with the God of love and justice. That justice has been broken for years and years. But we are the justice that we must lift up and carry forward to be in better conditions.

We are the justice.

Un miembro de nuestra congregación hispana compartió la siguiente reflexión en un servicio de lamento y sanidad después del juicio de Jason Van Dyke:

Vengo a hablar sobre la situación de los derechos humanos aquí en los Estados Unidos… donde se levanta la voz que somos el país de los derechos humanos, pero en este momento se están quebrantando de total.

Los derechos humanos en este país se han quebrantando totalmente. Si nuestros muertos, como Martin Luther King, que defendió los derechos de su gente, si estuviera aquí ahorita, creo que sufriría más de lo que sufrió en su época- como esta madre [de Laquan McDonald], que levantaron a su hijo- fue algo tan horrendo, que en ese momento, nada más fue de dolor para ella.

Yo vengo de mi país [de El Salvador], que también se sufrió de la violencia. Murieron muchos, y fueron muchos los desaparecidos. Por eso sentimos el dolor de cada madre que ven morir a un hijo en diferentes circunstancias. Fuimos encarcelados, y fuimos puestos en mazmorras donde, supuestamente, éramos desaparecidos. Solamente el compromiso de nosotros era trabajar por nuestro pueblo. El dolor del pueblo, como aquí en los Estados Unidos. Todos estamos con dolor en este momento.

Estamos identificados con ese Dios de amor y de justicia. Esta justicia que se han quebrantado por años y años. Pero nosotros somos la justicia, que tenemos que levantarla y seguir adelante para poder estar en mejores condiciones.

Nosotros somos la justicia.
.

Unity Sunday

10/2/2018

On Sunday, November 4, the entire church will gather to worship in all four languages at 10:30 am in the sanctuary. Pastor Michael Ware, the new pastor of the English language congregation, will be preaching. After worship, a light lunch will be provided.

Hábitos de una iglesia liberadora en comunidad

10/2/2018

Howel Hall
Domingo, 21 de octubre, 1:30 pm

Una comunidad vive sus valores por medio de sus prácticas habituales. Así que ¿cuáles son las práctices de una iglesia que busca la liberación? En este panel bilingüe, escucharemos las reflexiones de la Dra. Nancy Bedford, teóloga mujerista de Argentina, el Rev. Rony Reyes, pastor de la congregación hispana de North Shore, y Maria Teresa Lopez, una activista con el movimiento de santuario desde hace mucho tiempo.

Habits of a Liberating Church in Community: A Panel Discussion

10/2/2018

Howel Hall
Sunday, October 28
1:30 pm

A community lives out its values through its habitual practices. What are the habitual practices of a church that seeks liberation? At this bilingual English/Spanish panel discussion, we will hear from Dr. Nancy Bedford, a mujerista theologian from Argentina, Rev. Rony Reyes, Hispanic Congregation Pastor at NSBC, and Maria Teresa Lopez, a longtime activist with the sanctuary movement.