The Lesser of Two Evils!

Today is Election Day. That means today, Tuesday, November 5, is the last day to cast our votes for a host of political offices that have the power to determine the course of the future for our individual and communal lives. CRS encourages all who read this to make that choice.

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Healing Justice Tyla Gross Healing Justice Tyla Gross

From Chicago to Birmingham, With Love

With news of the September 21 mass shooting in Birmingham, Alabama, CRS compels Chicagoans to consider the ties that bind our two cities and ways we can care for our grieving siblings. We begin our Towards a Beloved City initiative, a partnership between community groups, city officials, and concerned people who will unite to reduce gun violence. Learn more in this statement.

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When We Work, We Win

CRS co-hosted a prayer vigil with our member congregation, Urban Village Church, at Grace Church of Logan Square for our “We Won’t Bury the Slain: Day of Action” on September 18. Together with site pastors and Black, Brown, white, and LGBTQIA+ communities in Chicago, we embodied the longstanding tradition of acting in solidarity in the pursuit of justice.  

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We Dissent

Our voices will resound stronger, louder, and unbroken in unison and Beloved Community. Our foreparents faced setbacks and obstacles. Still, they rose to the occasion for us and generations yet born. We will carry that spirited fire because it is perpetual and vibrantly inextinguishable through the persistence of our prayers, our protests, and our policies.

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Juneteenth Village Fest 2024

CRS rang in Freedom Day early and boosted backing for the Free2Move Coalition’s campaign and their petition to end pretextual stops by canvassing at the June 15 Juneteenth Village Fest hosted by It Takes A Village Family of Schools. Check out photos from the fest here!

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Let’s Celebrate Juneteenth by Fighting for Black Liberation 

On this Juneteenth, let’s honor our history by continuing our ancestors’ fight for freedom. Read our statement as we celebrate and build political power to ensure that Black liberation is a reality.

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Purpose

This Memorial Day holiday, as CRS reflects on lives dedicated to service, moral courage, and the principles of justice, sacrifice, and human dignity, we do so against the backdrop of present-day wars, genocide, and a culture of violence that includes poverty and racism. We are beckoned to memorialize the peacekeepers of our past by being the change agents in this very hour of world suffering and unrest.

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Healing Justice Tyla Gross Healing Justice Tyla Gross

Conferences, Celebrations and Calls to Action

Read staff reflections below of CRS’ powerful fall programming and enjoy photos and recordings! We thank our partners and all those who took part in the 2023 Illinois Conference United Church of Christ Annual Celebration, the A Gathering of Communities conference and our 141st Annual Membership Assembly.  

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Where Have All the Prophets Gone?

CRS is steadfast in its commitment to honoring the sanctity of life. We grieve the loss of all lives impacted by the culture of violence across the global diaspora, perpetuated through war, racism, poverty, disinheritance, xenophobia and all crimes against humanity, including white supremacist patriarchal systems of oppression.

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