Toni Preckwinkle

“To live and die alone is a human tragedy, but not to be remembered and mourned after earthly life is an ugly blemish on human dignity.”

This call-to-action statement by the late W. Earl Lewis, founder of the Interfaith Memorial Service for Indigent Person, resonates with all looking to preserve the memories of those simply, known by God alone.

On Wednesday, May 30, the spirits of the people from the Office of the Cook County Medical Examiner will be recognized in a special service from noon until 12:50 p.m. in the Sanctuary. Now in its 27th year, the service has recognized more than 7,000 babies, children and adults who would otherwise not be acknowledged without this service.

This year Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board President, will be the keynote speaker. In the past the service, which features special music, interfaith devotional statements from Jewish, Muslim, Christian, has included local government and non-profit professionals interested in raising awareness. Past participants have been Cook County Commissioner John A. Fritchey and Jim LoBianco, executive director of StreetWise Inc.

Phil Blackwell

The G8 and NATO summits will be held in Chicago May 19-21. We are hearing a lot of speculation and planning related to events on those dates, as well as what might transpire before and after. Given our location in the Loop, we at the Temple will be impacted, but we do not know in what ways. We will share with you everything we know as soon as we know it.

For instance, will people be able to get to the church that Sunday morning? Will traffic be limited, public transportation be rerouted, and sidewalks be passable? We do not know yet, but please know that we will have worship services that weekend. We will not call off church because it might prove to be inconvenient. If none of you can get into the Temple that will mean that I cannot get out of it, so there will be at least one in attendance (though if that is the case, the sermon will be mercifully short).

I suggest, as we anticipate some inconveniences over that time period, that we also use these weeks leading up to the events to consider some things. For instance, as the city plans to manage the influx of thousands of dignitaries and even more thousands of protesters, what makes public space “public” and free speech “free?” These are complex issues, not simple ones.

For instance, the city closes streets for the Chicago Marathon, and while that makes it hard for us to get to church on one Sunday in the autumn, it makes good sense for the safety of the runners and the enjoyment of the fans.  Public space is made “private” for a while. But what decisions will the city make to limit use of public space during the G8 weekend and with what rationale?

And while I can hear a lot of “free speech” in Daley Plaza throughout the year, I confess that I was pleased when a church group unloaded its bus full of parishioners and set up a portable sound system across the street at 2 a.m. one Sunday morning to pray to the heavens for a more responsible city government that the police enforced an “amen” to their vigil at about 3:15. But what choices will the city make about tolerating free expression on that weekend in May?

Even more crucial questions for people of faith, I suggest, who are the representatives constituting the G8 and NATO groups, and what is on their agendas? I sense that the topics they will be talking about for those few days is what we in the church talk about all the time – wealth and poverty, war and peace, the quality of human life, and the preservation of the planet. It will be important for us to study the issues and understand what is at stake.

To that end, I am working with people in the Northern Illinois Conference and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary to have a study guide posted on their respective websites for individuals and groups to use that will address who is involved, what are the issues, and what should be the church’s concerns.

Perhaps that can be the basis for a “teach-in” for seminarians around Chicago. We are blessed in this city to have some of the best theological schools in the world. I am looking to see if we at the Temple might host a day-long ingathering of students and faculty members to look rigorously at issues of faith implied in the G8 and NATO agendas.

It might be that the Council of Religious Leaders of Metropolitan Chicago will hold a panel discussion. It would be fascinating to know what Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, and Christians from around the world have to say. I also see a kind of “ethical summit” at which a few of the best social ethicists would hold a roundtable discussion that could result in essays that would provide a global perspective for interpreting our faith.

It is not clear which of these possibilities will become a reality, and which ones we might host here in the Loop. But I think many religious voices need to be heard in April and early May. By May 19-21 when the city hosts its international guests, the delegates meet behind closed doors to decide policies on behalf of all of us, and the protesters make sure that their voices are heard, it may be too noisy for us to be heard.

We will keep you posted on developments; in the meantime, we can become smarter, wiser, and more faithful.