C O M M O N C A L L P R E S I D E N T S MESSAGE F E B R U A R Y Dear Friends,

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1 Oak Park River Forest Community of Congregations F E B R U A R Y C O M M O N C A L L P R E S I D E N T S MESSAGE I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E : Time to Renew 2 President s Message Continued Oak Park Community Relations Commission CROP Walk West 3 Like Us On Facebook 3 Events at Unity Church Dear Friends, What a wonderful annual meeting! Over 130 people enjoyed a delicious meal catered by Starship Subs and engaged in lively discussion. Thank you to everyone who made this yearly gathering such a success. We are grateful to Fr. George Omwando, pastor of St. Catherine of Siena-St. Lucy Catholic Parish and to Jim Hargadon, Patricia Koko, and all those who made arrangements for us, set a beautiful space, and provided such gracious hospitality. During dinner we enjoyed the music of the church s Gospel Choir. After a tasty meal, Dan Haley, Editor and Publisher of the Wednesday Journal and Publisher of the Austin Weekly News introduced the evening s program relating his experience growing up in Oak Park and his hope that our communities are able and willing to work together for the benefit of everyone. We then grabbed dessert and made our way to the topic of our choice. Betsy Kalmar facilitated the discussion on Economic Justice; Stuart Barnes Jamieson led a group in conversation about Radical Hospitality; Rev. Kathy Nolte and Rev. Emily Gage facilitated discussion about Empowering Youth. The room was buzzing with ideas and excitement. We appreciate Dan s presence and his willingness to set the stage and we re grateful for the skills offered by our four facilitators to ensure that everyone was heard. We concluded the evening with a business meeting, hearing annual reports about four of the Community of Congregation s initiatives: the Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, the Holiday Food and Gift Basket program, Celebrating Seniors, and Sacred Spaces. Len Grossman, outgoing President, offered remarks about the past two years. We saw that the organization is in good financial health and approved the 2014 budget, amended the bylaws to expand the board, and approved the slate of officers and board members proposed by the nominating committee, chaired by Lowell Eckberg. What a wonderful annual meeting! I would like to thank Len Grossman for his leadership as President of CoC these past two years. Len stepped into the breach and breathed new life into this vital organization. We are all fortunate that Len was willing and able to do that. Thank you also to Lowell Eckberg, who served as past president these last two years and chaired the nominating committee. We are grateful to Lowell for his commitment to CoC. We would also extend our thanks to Bud Hayes who has served as an at large member of the board. Thank you to all of you for keeping CoC engaged in the life of our communities. (Continues on page 2)

2 Page 2 T I M E TO R E N EW About 50 congregations in Oak Park, River Forest, and surrounding areas participate with the Community of Congregations through membership or support of our ministries like the Holiday Food and Gift Basket, Celebrating Seniors Coalition, and the Annual House of Worship Walk. January marked the start of our renewal season and we hope you will recommit to the Community of Congregations as we prepare for Please consider contributing at one of the recommended levels: Up to 25 members: $ members: $ members: $ members: $400 More than 200 members: $500 Feel free to send your membership dues to: Community of Congregations P.O. Box 3365 Oak Park, IL Please contact Katie Avalos with questions at or oprfcoc@gmail.com. P R E S I D E N T S MESSAGE CONTINUED Common Call Community of Congregations is fortunate to have so many people involved in the work we do together. For the past few years, Joe McDonald, Vice President of CoC, has worked with the host congregation to ensure a wonderful Interfaith Thanksgiving Service the Sunday evening before Thanksgiving. He has also been a mainstay in Sacred Spaces: House of Worship Walk. Joe has been helped enormously with Sacred Spaces by the great work of Harriette and McLouis Robinet who are emeritus members of the board. Jim Flanagan created Celebrating Seniors Coalition several years ago and it has grown by leaps and bounds. Pat Koko serves as Treasurer of Celebrating Seniors and is a regular participant in CoC board meetings, keeping us apprised of the Coalition s activities. Patty Henek has been doing tremendous work building up our capacity to help others through the Holiday Food and Gift Basket program. A wonderful three-minute video was created showing the food and gifts being taken out of United Lutheran Church on the day of delivery. You can find it under the title: HFGB 2013 Holiday Food & Gift Basket on YouTube. It is so uplifting! I am also grateful to Mike Prus who continues to serve as Treasurer of CoC and Katie Avalos, our very organized administrative secretary. I look forward to serving as President of Community of Congregations for the next two years and am grateful to all those who have joined the board or continue on the board: Len Grossman, Past President, Joe McDonald, Vice President, Mike Prus, Treasurer, Members at Large: Cheryl Speight, Kathy Nolte, Emily Gage, Dennis Bushkofsky, Bob Hahn, Jim Robinson, Marrey Picciotti. Together, let us continue the work of bringing our congregations together with the wider community. Blessings to all, Sally Rev. Sally Iberg, President Oak Park River Forest Community of Congregations Senior Pastor, Pilgrim Congregational Church sally.iberg@pilgrimoakpark.org

3 Common Call Page 3 O A K PARK S COMMUNITY RELAT I O N S COMMISSION The Village of Oak Park's Community Relations Commission was created by the Village in The Village through the Commission wanted to become known as a community that values diversity within all contexts especially housing, education, and community life. The Commission's definition of diversity includes racial, ethnic, religious, sexual orientation, age and economic diversity. The Commission's major activities to promote diversity are our Diversity Dinner's, efforts to eliminate discrimination in the rental housing market, Day in Our Village, and the Fourth of July Parade. In addition, the Commission is working with the Community of Congregations on the effort to change the perception of Austin, work to build a better relationship between Oak Park, River Forest and Austin to improve the wellbeing of Austin residents. If you are interested in learning more about the Commission please feel free to attend our next monthly meeting on February 19 at 7:00 PM or call Mr. Cedric Melton, Director of Community Relations, Also, the Commission is seeking individuals to host or attend a Diversity Dinner. To learn more about the Diversity Dinner concept please link into our-community/ community-relations/ dinner-dialogue or contact Mr. Melton by phone or community@oakpark.us. Submitted by Tom Zapler CROP WALK WEST PRAISE T H E HOLY SUNSHINE Our 30 th Crop Hunger Walk was represented by 32 organizations, sponsored by 29 local businesses, and included 420 walkers. With all of the joy and excitement in the air, from start to finish, we couldn t help but feel that our 30th CROP Walk was the best ever! We were so thankful for the peace and blessings, holy sunshine, blessings from Pastor Kathy Nolte, singing and clapping, face painting and balloons, inspirational walk signs, Rest Stops at Ascension Church and St. Paul s Thai Like Us On Facebook: Lutheran Church, the hunger advocacy table, homemade cream cheese and homemade CROP oatmeal cookies, the Kingdom Runners cheering at the Finish Line, and of course, all of the wonderful walkers! We are so excited to welcome Terry McIntyre and Joanne Despotes to our Team. They have agreed to be mentored for our 2014 CROP Walk. Next year they will serve as "Co- Coordinators" of the 2015 Crop Walk. We bless them, we welcome them, we look forward to working together. The total amount collected was over $61,000. We are happy to report that 25% of this year s proceeds were disbursed to our eight recipient agencies as follows: Cluster Tutoring - $1,000 Forest Park Food Pantry - $2,000 OPRF Food Pantry - $2,000 Pine Avenue Food Pantry - $3,000 Prevail $500 Proviso Food Pantry - $3,000 St. Eulalia Quinn Center Food Pantry - $2,000; West Suburban PADS - $2,000 The Crop Team is always humbled to see the enormous generosity displayed by the people in our community, with both their time and finances. Working together, we look forward to continuing this inspirational community event for the next 30 years! Submitted by Pat Eichenhold

4 Page 4 Common Call E V E N T S A T UNITY CHURCH MOVIE NIGHT: Fri., Feb. 14, at 7:00 pm. Join us for the movie Razor s Edge, popcorn, and a lively discussion. Facilitated by Tallie Trabert.. LET S CREATE: Sun., Feb. 23, from 12:15 1:15 pm. At this workshop led by Unity Friends of Animals poster board designer Lori Kozon, you will have the opportunity to have fun working with others while creating materials to display on our Unity Friends of Animals poster boards. Please bring animal pictures, articles, quotes, and decorative items to include on the boards. THE SPIRITUAL BUSINESS NETWORK:Thurs., Feb. 27, from 7:00 8:30 pm. For many people, the business world can be challenging as we seek to integrate our spiritual beliefs with our business practices. Join us as we explore the spiritual principles of the Unity movement and ways each one can achieve both business and personal success. For more information, call or visit unityoakpark.org. Community of Congregations Board of Directors Officers: President, Rev. Sally Iberg Pilgrim Congregational Church Vice President, Joe McDonald Ascension Catholic Church Treasurer, Mike Prus Ascension Catholic Church Secretary vacant Past President, LenGrossman West Suburban Temple Har Zion At-large members: Rev. Dennis Bushkofsky Grace Lutheran Rev. Emily Gage Unity Temple Bob Hahn First United Rev. Kathy Nolte Good Shepherd Lutheran Marrey Picciotti St. Giles Catholic Parish Jim Robinson Oak Park Temple Cheryl Speight First United Methodist Delegates Emeritus: Harriette Robinet and McLouis Robinet St. Edmund Parish To learn more please visit: If your organization has a special celebration or activity that you would like to share with the Community of Congregations network, please send your information to Katie Avalos at oprfcoc@gmail.com or call by the 25 th of the month.

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