We are looking for a full-time Facilities Manager to work approximately 40 hours a week and maintain 24 – hour stand-by status.  Housing for Facilities Manager and family is provided by the church.  This position is responsible for the maintenance of church properties, equipment and building security.  This position is also administrative: supervising, scheduling and evaluating custodial staff.  The ideal candidate will possess an open, friendly personality and be comfortable interacting with a wide variety of people and situations.  A candidate must have the ability to adjust to a flexible work schedule, must have a valid driver’s license and must be fluent in English.  Bi-lingual in Spanish/and or Karen preferred.  Experience in a church or non-profit organization and five years of supervision and building maintenance is also preferred. Please click links below for a complete position description and our on-line application

Facilities Manager Position Description - click here

Online Application - click here

By Rev. Kathryn Ray

"The king took the two sons of Aiah’s daughter Rizpah...and handed them over to the Gibeonites, who killed them and exposed their bodies on a hill before the Lord....From the beginning of the harvest till the rain poured down from the heavens on the bodies, Rizpah did not let the birds touch them by day or the wild animals by night." -2 Samuel 21:8-10

​Before coming to North Shore I worshipped and served at Ellis Avenue Church down in the Hyde Park/Kenwood area. At the time, this church was pastored by the Rev. Jonathan Friesen, who some of you may remember, preached at my installation service, and the Rev. Brenda Matthews, a local community leader, published poet, and prayer warrior.  Pastor Brenda would shut down corners of the city where drug deals and violence were prevalent by hosting prayer vigils. She traveled around the country to share poetry and stories, and she moved hearts and minds with the oft-repeated call from one of her poems
 
“Somebody better say something, somebody better do something, somebody better feel something, before it’s too late.”

On Sunday, June 9, we will be gathering at 11:30 am to celebrate the end of another year of of Adventures in Learning. We will honor our Sunday School teachers and graduates, and see special presentations by our Sunday School classes. All are welcome!

On Sunday, April 7, we will gather in the sanctuary at 3:00 pm to formally install Rev. Michael Ware as pastor of the English congregation. Pastor Michael joined the NSBC pastoral team in September 2018, and we are so excited to celebrate his ministry to this church. 

Rev. Dr. Marie Onwubuariri, Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of Wisconsin, will offer the sermon. Heavy refreshments will follow the service.  

Lea en español.

North Shore Baptist Church is seeking candidates for the position of interim pastor of the Hispanic congregation. This pastor will have the responsibility of providing leadership during the interim period for the Hispanic congregation, encouraging the development of community and spiritual growth within the congregation and between language groups. They will also form part of the pastoral team for the whole church, which also includes the English, Japanese, and Karen congregations.  This team does not have a lead pastor. Rather, all the pastors are on the same level and work together to articulate a vision for the whole church.

This is a full-time position, and includes medical insurance, retirement benefits, and a housing allowance. 

Read the position description.

To apply, please send your CV/resume and cover letter to the address below. Deadline for applications is April 30.

North Shore Baptist Church
Attn: Search Committee
5244 N. Lakewood Ave
Chicago, IL 60640

Submit application electronically here.

Read in English.

La Iglesia Bautista North Shore está buscando a candidatos para la posición de pastor/a de la congregación hispana.  Este pastor/a tendrá responsibilidad de proveer liderazgo durante el periodo de interinato para la Congregación Hispana, animando el desarrollo de comunidad y crecimiento espiritual dentro de la Congregación Hispana y entre todos los grupos de diferentes lenguajes. También formará parte del equipo pastoral para toda la iglesia, que incluye también las congregaciones de habla inglés, japonés, y Karen. Este equipo no tiene pastor principal, sino que todos los pastores y pastoras están en el mismo nivel y colaboran juntos para articular una visión para toda la iglesia.   ​  

Esta posición es de tiempo completo, e incluye beneficios de seguro médico, plan de pensión, y subsidio de vivienda.

Lea la descripción de la posición.

Para aplicar, favor de mandar su resumén/CV y carta de presentación a la siguiente dirección. La fecha límite es 30 de abril.

North Shore Baptist Church
Attn: Search Committee
5244 N. Lakewood Ave
Chicago, IL 60640

Envía solicitud electrónicamente aquí.​

By Dr. Peggy Griffin

How does North Shore Baptist Church relate to Ida B. Wells Drive? The recent naming of a Chicago street for Ida B. Wells sent me to the archives. My long- term interest in the chivalry of Ida B. Wells Barnett, and also my acquaintance with some members of her family drew from my bookshelf a copy of Crusade for Justice: The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells.  Her writing reveals the fact that her early history was intertwined with the American Baptist Home Mission Society.

I am proud to say that my copy of the autobiography was personally autographed by her daughter, Dr. Alfreda M. Duster on January 19, 1973.  I was fortunate to know both of her daughters, Alfreda M. Barnett Duster and Ida B. Barnett, as well as her grandson, Atty. Benjamin Duster. I also take pride in the history of our church and our denomination, which have always had strong mission programs as well as advocacy for civil rights. I will here relay some facts about the life of Ida B. Wells that reveal the connection.

Ida B. Wells was an investigative journalist, educator, and early civil rights leader who was born into enslavement in Holly Springs Mississippi in 1862.  Her parents were married during slavery, with her father working in the carpenter’s trade and her mother working as a cook. They were emancipated at the end of the Civil War.

Yellow Fever took the lives of Ida’s parents and her youngest sibling when she was only sixteen.  Illness had earlier claimed the lives of two of the children.  Ida had received enough education to secure a teaching position to support her five siblings, with the help of her grandmother.  Ida B. Wells later moved to Memphis to earn higher wages.

Over 70 years before Rosa Parks refused to abide by segregationist laws in Montgomery, Alabama, Ida B. Wells made a similar stand in a Chesapeake, Ohio and Southwestern railroad car.  She refused to move to the “colored” section of the train when a white conductor ordered her to do so under the segregationist laws.  She was forcefully removed from the train, and she sued the company for her ill treatment.  One of her quotations challenges us today, “ One had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or a rat in a trap.”

She started writing for church publications.  Her first paid writing position was as a staff member of the American Baptist.  She later became a co-owner of Memphis Free Speech and Headlight.  Her writings exposed lynching and captured a national and international reading audience. Her paper enraged the segregationists, who lynched some of her friends, burned down her press, and put a price on her life. 
​
She migrated to Chicago and continued her activist lifestyle.  She married Atty. Ferdinand L. Barnett and had a family. While rearing her children, she continued to write and speak out on civil rights and women’s rights.  Her legacy lives and reminds us as Christians to stand for the cause of justice and righteousness. 

Let artistic reflection be your Lenten discipline this year! This Lent, Viola Mayol will be leading a class on Creative Process.

Creative Process is a combination of writing and art making. Each time we meet we will begin with intention writing, a tool for focusing and preparing to be present to the art making. Intention writing is followed by art making (drawing, painting, simple sculpture, and mixed media) which will be the bulk of our time together. Art making is followed by witness writing, a reflection of the process. We will close each session by reading (if you wish) and sharing our writings. This art is concern about the process, not the product. The art made becomes a souvenir of the journey. Writing and art materials will be provided.

This class will meet in South Howel Hall at 11:30-12:30. Classes will meet on March 10, 17, 24 and April 7 and 14.