It is with deep sadness that CRS shares the news that Rev. Dr. LeRoy Sandersdied on December 13, 2024 and entered into life eternal. He was a beloved and esteemed pastor emeritus who served Kenwood United Church of Christ for 36 years.

Gaza has been muted! Read CRS 2024 AMA Jerusalem Delegate Rev. Ronald A. Nathan’s second Love and Lament reflection, where he questions who pressed the mute button so that we are unable to hear the cries of Gaza’s babies, the sick, the aged, the hungry, and the prisoners.

Unpacking complicity, theology, and justice, Rev. Ronald A. Nathan challenges the Black Church's stance on the Palestine-Israel conflict.

Following the results of Election Day on November 5, 2024, CRS Board Member and Chairperson and Project Manager for the Illinois Alliance for Reentry & Justice Rev. Avalon Betts-Gaston shares her reflection on resilience and gifts from our ancestors.

Following the results of Election Day on November 5, 2024, CRS Board Member Dr. Ulysses W. Burley III shares his reflection for people of faith and Americans created in the image of an inclusive and affirming God, challenging them to embrace their feelings.

CRS is blessed to have a poignant reflection and tribute from one of our Annual Membership Assembly Jerusalem delegates, Brother Laurence Steven Minter, as we pause in solidarity on this Day of Remembrance. Please read it in this blog article and join us in recognizing and affirming the truth.

Chilly temperatures are ahead, but CRS is warming bodies and hearts! Find jackets, pantry items, presents, and other holiday essentials in this blog article, and share the resources with your network to offer comfort and cheer.

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 9495, a bill that could have devastating consequences for the nonprofit organizations that serve as lifelines to our communities and voices for our values. In times of trial and uncertainty, we are called to be watchful, discerning, and bold in our witness for justice.  

As CRS and delegates sojourn to Jerusalem for our 142nd Annual Membership Assembly, in partnership with the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center and in solidarity with Palestinian activists, CRS Manager of Human Resources Rev. Dr. Ebony E. Only shares her Prayer for Peace and Healing in Gaza.

Following the results of Election Day on November 5, 2024, CRS Board Member and Imani Village Ambassador and Community Outreach Organizer Kevin Tyson shares his reflection, considering the rights of our children.

Following the results of Election Day on November 5, 2024, CRS Board Member and Michigan Conference Minister of the United Church of Christ Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel shares her reflection from a swing state.

No matter the final ballot count, we must remember our mission and work continues. We must remain steadfast in our commitment to be vessels of love in the world - during our victories and amidst trials and disappointments. We can acknowledge our lamentations and remain on the wall as truth-tellers, prophetic witnesses, and good troublemakers.

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.

CRS and our member congregation, Urban Village Church, Wicker Park, co-hosted a virtual gathering on October 23. This online meeting set out to educate our network on the battle to end pretextual traffic stops in Chicago and empower folks to mobilize because, as asserted before, when we fight, we win.

With Election Day approaching on November 5, CRS launched our “My Congregation Votes” 2024 campaign to help people of faith and goodwill ensure that they are registered and ready to vote. Read this blog article to find voting resources and commit to voting. 

Marcellus Khaliifah Williams was slain, and the whole criminal injustice system is on trial. As people of faith and goodwill, let’s feel our anger, frustration, and zeal for justice. This is important. Then, we should alchemize this into action. All these systems of oppression are connected, and we stand together for justice.

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.

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.  

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.

CRS joined a coalition of community leaders denouncing genocide and calling for a permanent ceasefire at the June 22 Die-In At AIPAC (The Israel Lobby). Read CRS Executive Director Rev. Dr. Waltrina Middleton’s reflection and access photos from the nonviolent demonstration.