A recently merged theologically progressive church in Oak Lawn will host one of its first community events Sunday — a prayer vigil to raise awareness of what it says are inhumane actions taken by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
New Hope United Church of Christ, which brought together the congregations of Pilgrim Faith United Church of Christ and Salem United Church of Christ last month, will light candles at 6:30 p.m. Sunday at 9717 South Kostner Ave., in honor of people killed during interactions with ICE or Border Patrol agents.
“I don’t think there’s enough outrage in this community about what’s happening,” the Rev. Daniel Sather, a pastor at the church, said Tuesday. “So I feel like this is an opportunity for us to say this is who we are, coming into our own identity as the prophetic voice in the community.”
Sather pointed to ICE’s shooting deaths of 37-year-old Renee Good and 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minneapolis as well as others who have died in federal custody.
“I think the church has a responsibility to respond to that,” Sather said. “Because it’s not Christlike, it isn’t who we are as Christians, and I don’t believe it’s what we are as the United States of America.”
He mentioned federal agents’ 64-day surge of immigration enforcement raids in and around Chicago that drove hundreds to protest outside a processing facility in west suburban Broadview.
Sather said the vigil was planned by the New Hope Peaceful Synergy Group, which was formed shortly before New Hope opened and aims to achieve balance between people’s work for justice and their personal and spiritual lives. Immanuel United Church of Christ in Evergreen Park and Peace Memorial United Church of Christ in Palos Park will also join the prayer vigil.
Sather said he hopes Sunday’s vigil shows community members that New Hope’s congregation is “not afraid to address issues, particularly when there is injustice and inhumanity.”
Sather encouraged attendees to dress for the weather, as the church plans to lead a candlelit walk through the New Hope neighborhood after honoring the victims of ICE.
New Hope represents the shared values of the former Salem and Pilgrim Faith churches, which decided to merge as amid financial struggles driven by a gradual decline in attendance over the past few decades. Sather was formerly Pilgrim Faith’s pastor and plans to retire once New Hope is well established, leaving Salem’s former pastor, the Rev. Steve Hoerger, to take the reins.
The vision statement for New Hope United Church of Christ imagines “a faith community committed to living out the gospel through compassionate service, inclusive welcome and purposeful outreach.”
“Our mission is to share God’s love by embracing all people, regardless of race, background, gender identity or life’s circumstance, and by working together to meet the spiritual and practical needs of our neighbors,” according to the statement.
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
