LWCC ByLaw Edits and Budget Documents Available for Review
Posted in: Living Water by LWCC Office on May 17, 2018
LWCC 2018-2019 Budget Proposal Final
LWCC Narrative Budget 2018-19 FY
BY-LAWS OF LIVING WATER COMMUNITY CHURCH – Edits Reflected
Vote Here – https://goo.gl/forms/pxwrKV4qfiynBUnn2
Resurrection Sunday
Posted in: Living Water by LWCC Office on April 6, 2018
Click here to view a wonderful video of Balloon Drop preparation!
Meet Some of LWCC’s New Members
Posted in: Living Water by LWCC Office on March 22, 2018
John Betten
My parents raised me up as a Messianic Jew in Dallas, TX. My father became a Christian when he was in high school, which his Jewish family and community deeply resented. He and my mom taught our family to understand ourselves as both Jewish and Christian; we believed that our belonging to the Jewish people helped us respect the Gospel in its original context, and that our faith in Jesus gave us a clearer understanding of the story and mission of the Jewish people. My family’s faith and life together was vaguely Evangelical, but with Jewish holidays, songs, and culture replacing more traditional forms of Christian worship.
When I moved away from Dallas, I never found another Messianic congregation to belong to, and I became very turned off by Messianic Judaism’s focus on militant Zionism and by the Evangelical church in general. I wanted to know and love the international church and discover a way around the segregations of race and class that divide the church in America. I wanted to learn how to follow the commandments of Jesus literally in my mundane life and not merely focus on the theology or prophecies related to the death of Jesus. I still consider myself Jewish, but I never returned to the Messianic movement.
Finding a new spiritual home in the world has been very difficult. I’ve tried out all kinds of communities: leading worship for Charismatic churches; studying Hindu philosophy and worshipping primarily as a Muslim in Southeast India; organizing with a community of secular Socialists and Anarchists. My most formative community was a Catholic Worker intentional community I helped start in Denton, TX. At first, we were all voluntarily homeless and ran a community house for the homeless. We all worshipped together as Roman Catholics. Eventually, we all moved in to a house together and opened up a sharing-based, farm-to-table restaurant next door. As we shared our possessions and decisions, I discovered a common life and discipline that reminded me of the life of the disciples of Jesus much more than the churches I had tried to be a part of.
After living in the Catholic Worker for a few years, both my personal life and the community in Denton fell apart. I had tried to be a leader and a hero for all my adult life, but I realized that I needed to heal and mature through more friendship and discipleship with older, mature believers who shared my vision for Christian life. I moved to Chicago in 2016 to seek counseling and discern membership with Reba Place Fellowship in Roger’s Park. I started attending Living Water at the same time. I have been deeply impressed by the care and commitment that members in this neighborhood demonstrate towards one another, and I have enjoyed my own participation in the life and mission of this church as I try to learn how to follow Jesus in this neighborhood.
Dennis Bradley
How I got here
During my Sophomore year at Purdue, a traveling evangelist met with my roommate in our room to convert him. I was not much of a Christian, I knew the bible, but had no interest. I was to ticked off at him that I went out and bought a new translation so that I could show him up.
But when I started to read the Gospels, WOW this guy Jesus really spoke to me! That was the beginning of my journey. It was also when I saw no justification for violence. As my wife and I moved around and tried churches, one of the best we found was a Church of the Brethern. It had a pacifist heart and an informal service. When we moved to Michigan, we began attending a Mennonite church.
When I moved to Chicago, good old Google located 3 churches in the area and I tried this one because it was closest and I could not find Reba Place.
So Here I Am!
David Tolen
David came to the United States from Veracruz, Mexico in 1998, possessing — like most immigrants — little more than a dream of achieving a better life for himself and members of his family still in Mexico. David grew up as a Christian child, and was regularly involved in Bible study, preaching, and service. Upon arriving in Chicago, the Adventist church was instrumental in helping David to settle, and to establish himself in the local and faith communities.
Learning about issues of social justice at the Erie Institute of Social Justice sparked a journey toward finding a more accepting, open minded Christian community, rather than the conservative beliefs of most of the Christian churches David had attended. David learned the importance of being involved in community organizing and talking about things that matter: Equal opportunities, the right to education, housing and health care, women’s and LGBTQ rights, immigrant rights — but foremost, the right to live with dignity and without the fear of being cast away from a society reluctant to accept those born on the wrong side of the fence. David found a lack of social justice action, and a silent attitude among faithful Christians. His faith in the reality of Christianity began to erode, and he stopped attending church.
When David’s son, Joshua, was born in 2017, David began to feel a pull towards returning to the church. He gave his son the name Joshua because of the meaningful importance of Joshua’s work accomplishing the conquest of Canaan and, the courage and resilience the Patriarch had to follow God’s instructions. David likes the part in Joshua 2:9 that refers to not being afraid, and to having courage, because the Lord our God is with us wherever we go. David has seen God provide in so many ways in his own life, during difficult times. He wants his son to grow up as a man of faith, who will do God’s work in our society, and have the courage to stand up against injustices.
David was first introduced to Living Water Community Church when they hosted a Protect Rogers Park (Protect RP) meeting for community members concerned about the executive actions proposed in early 2017 by our current President. As David became more involved with the Protect RP group, he kept meeting people from Living Water who were so nice, friendly, and genuine. David began attending services at Living Water, and loved the multi-cultural membership, the church’s community focus, people’s love for one another, and their belief in social justice principles.
David has been attending Living Water regularly, since, and looks forward to becoming a member.
Gospel of Mark Reading Plan
Posted in: Living Water by LWCC Office on February 15, 2018
Gospel of Mark, Lent 2018
Ash Wednesday
February 14 Mark 1:1-20
February 15 Mark 1:21-45
February 16 Mark 2:1-17
February 17 Mark 2:18-28
February 18 Sunday
February 19 Mark 3:1-19
February 20 Mark 3:20-35
February 21 Mark 4:1-20
February 22 Mark 4:21-29
February 23 Mark 4:30-41
February 24 Mark 5:1-20
February 25 Sunday
February 26 Mark 5:21-43
February 27 Mark 6:1-29
February 28 Mark 6:30-44
March 1 Mark 6:45-56
March 2 Mark 7:1-13
March 3 Mark 7:14-23
March 4 Sunday
March 5 Mark 7:24-37
March 6 Mark 8:1-21
March 7 Mark 8:22-38
March 8 Mark 9:1-13
March 9 Mark 9: 14-32
March 10 Mark 9:33-50
March 11 Sunday
March 12 Mark 10:1-16
March 13 Mark 10:17-31
March 14 Mark 10:32-52
March 15 Mark 11:1-19
March 16 Mark 11:20-33
March 17 Mark 12:1-12
March 18 Sunday
March 19 Mark 12:13-27
March 20 Mark 12:28-44
March 21 Mark 13: 1-23
March 22 Mark 13: 24-37
March 23 Mark 14: 1-11
March 24 Mark 14: 12-26
March 25 Sunday
March 26 Mark 14:27-42
March 27 Mark 14: 43-52
March 28 Mark 14:53-72
March 29 Mark 15:1-20
March 30 Mark 15:21-47
March 31 Mark 16:1-20
April 1 Easter Sunday
Weekly Plan:
Week #1 February 14-17
Mark 1 & 2
Week #2 February 18-24
Mark 3-5
Week #3 February 25-March 3
Mark 6 & 7
Week #4 March 4-10
Mark 8 & 9
Week #5 March 11-17
Mark 10-12
Week #6 March 18-24
Mark 13 & 14
Week #7 March 25-31
Mark 15 &16
Listen in
English:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICCpFKi7puI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glmPENTGhJQ
Espanol:
https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/viva/nvi/Mark.1
Khmer:
https://listen.talkingbibles.org/en/language/khm/02_mark
Kinyrwanda:
https://listen.talkingbibles.org/en/language/kin/02_mark
Kiswahili:
https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/biblica/snt/Mark.1
Nepali:
http://www.divinerevelations.info/documents/bible/nepali_mp3_bible_nt/
Watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVRixfameGY
Animated five minute summary of Mark from
The Bible Project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un3gSYkd0ds&list=PLz7sbgsselWMIDnxcTORi4BS5792r0Ta3
Watch it performed as a one person show
LWCC Participates in MCC Summer Service
Posted in: Living Water by LWCC Office on January 26, 2018
LWCC Workforce Development featured in The Mennonite
Posted in: Living Water by LWCC Office on
This article originally appeared in the September issue of The Mennonite magazine. To read more features on new models for church, read our current issue online or subscribe today. Photos of Francine Maombi by Charissa Johnson Photography.
Living Water Community Church sits at the crossroads of Pratt Blvd. and Ashland Ave. in Chicago. But this is not the only crossroads the congregation fronts. Located in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood, the congregation is in the heart of one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods and the congregation’s composition has shifted over time to mirror its community.
If you arrive at the church building on a Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m., you’ll find simultaneous worship services led in English, Khmer and Swahili. The congregation has four pastors, each with a different role and primary responsibility to a particular community in the congregation and local community. The congregation works hard to identify and raise up leaders from within the congregation and community to serve in staff and leadership roles.
Recently, the congregation has partnered with Mennonite Central Committee Great Lakes to pioneer a new group program, focusing on empowering some of the most recent arrivals to their congregation, many of them recently resettled refugees who have sometimes had a difficult time finding sustainable employment.
“The grant program came out of the desire to better the lives of our brothers and sisters who we basically don’t think are getting a fair shake,” said church member Autumn Williams, in a January 31 phone interview. “Sometimes this is because they don’t have a traditional American education or strong English language skills. So even if they have education from other countries, that’s not being valued and the jobs they are getting are substandard at best.”
“A big part of this is acknowledging power,” said Stephen Lamb, associate pastor of youth ministry at Living Water. “It’s about seeing our brothers and sisters as people who have worth and being a part of redistributing opportunities for people.”
Lamb was part of a team that worked alongside Jean Marie Bikorimana, a member of the congregation who grew up in Tanzania and recently moved to Chicago with his family. In 2016, Bikorimana was a senior in high school and was also working 60-70 hours per week to try to support his three brothers and sisters.
The church talked with Bikorimana about ways they could walk alongside him and what emerged was a plan to help Bikorimana network and get better equipped to find a job after graduation. With support from the congregation, Bikorimana enrolled in 12 weeks of training at a trade school. By the time he graduated, Bikorimana had found a skilled labor job that allowed him to earn well above minimum wage and had a regular Monday-Friday schedule.
Once he started work, Bikorimana started to become aware of other job openings within his company 
and sister organizations as well. He used his network to help other members of Living Water complete applications, develop their resumes and get a foot in the door for job interviews.
Lamb says that this model of leadership develop and the ripples it created inspired the church to start dreaming bigger.
“It felt like Jean Marie was blazing a new trail,” said Lamb. “This was something we went to MCC [Great Lakes] with. We told them what was going on and basically said, ‘We would love to partner with you.’”
MCC Great Lakes helped to provide a stipend for Bikorimana while he completed trade school and is talking about additional funding for the congregation to help them experiment with additional job creation and apprenticeship models. MCC’s funding supports 75 percent of the efforts and the congregation is committed to funding 25 percent of each project.
““We’re excited about this model of ministry,” said Krista Dutt, MCC Great Lakes Chicago Program Coordinator. “In order for people to be able to take care of themselves you have to have a way of working at vocational training that emphasizes each person’s dignity and these programs seem to do that.”
The congregation has now partnered with another member, Francine Maombi, who is originally from DR Congo. Maombi was very involved at the church, but struggled to find steady employment that could provide for her family and also allow her to be home at reasonable hours. Williams runs a catering business, Urban Tables, at the church and, using grant funds, she was able to hire Maombi. While Maombi worked and learned about the business, she was able to take time to earn a food-handling permit that would allow her access to a broad range of food service jobs.
“I love that this job is in the church and in my community,” wrote Maombi in a March 30 e-mail. “I enjoy what I am doing and I like the people I am working with. My kids are close and I can set my schedule around what my family needs.”
“The whole concept of Urban Tables is to decrease stress for urban families by getting work and providing jobs that don’t take people away from families,” said Williams.
Maombi has also left her mark on Urban Tables’ style, too. She helped to host a pop up café for the congregation and community that featured Congolese food and music and art by local musicians.
Emanuel Kalimili, a member of the congregation originally from Tanzania, displayed some of his art at the café event and was able to sell 7-8 paintings in one evening.
“My hope is that Urban Tables will grow that so we can help others who do not have jobs from our church or our community,” wrote Maombi. “We can teach them and train them so that they can work with us instead of going far away to do really hard jobs.”
The congregation also has a number of other pilot projects in the works, with ideas ranging from hiring teenagers to go out on “bulk shopping trips” to buy basic groceries in bulk that could then be sold conveniently at the church. Williams says she realized that not only is getting to a grocery store sometimes difficult because of transportation and city traffic, but church members may not have the ability to compare costs from store to store and might end up overpaying. One example of this is selling eggs for $1 per dozen, roughly $4 less than many of the people purchasing the eggs were paying at local chain grocery stores.
Several women in the church have also worked to start a small sewing business, making fabric shopping bags and aprons that the church is helping to sell. The business is being subsidized right now in hopes that it will eventually grow to be self-sustaining.
“We’re trying to look at the skills that already are there in our community,” said Lamb. “How can we redistribute opportunities or come alongside someone and say, ‘We see that you have gifts and we want to work alongside you so you have opportunities to use those gifts.’”
“Our faith commitment is to being a part of this neighborhood. When our neighbors do better we do better,” he said. “That’s part of the gospel: helping people put food on the table no matter who they are.”
https://themennonite.org/feature/living-water-pioneers-new-kind-grant/https://youtu.be/iTO7uyQP2oo
All Church Worship Service to Close out 2017
Posted in: Living Water by LWCC Office on January 2, 2018
Sent 2016: The Great Commandment and the Great Commission – Two Sides of a Coin
Posted in: Living Water by LWCC Office on December 8, 2016
Sent 2016: A gathering of Mennonites planting Jesus-centered communities, was the first gathering of Anabaptist-Mennonite church planters of its kind. Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Mission Network brought together church planters, groups testing the call, pastors, missiologists and conference leaders March 31-April 2, to explore approaches, best practices and the variety of perspectives that exist on church planting through an Anabaptist lens. This is the second post in a series from participants in Sent 2016.
Olak B. Sunuwar was born into a Hindu family in Nepal and converted into Christianity when he was in high school. He taught at Himalayan Bible Training Centre, and was actively involved in church planting ministry and working for the Church’s unity and peace in Nepal. He worked among socially marginalized communities (ethnic minorities, drug abusers, refugees) in Hong Kong and led Nepalese Christian Council Hong Kong for several years. Now he is pursuing a doctorate in Christian Ethics at the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, and is involved in Living Water Community Church, helping with the Nepalese-speaking congregation. He is married to Mona, and together they have two daughters.
Jesus Christ has given two important tasks for his people. The first one is the Great Commandment – loving God with all our heart and mind and loving neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). The second one is Great Commission — preaching the Gospel and making disciples all around the word (Matthew 28:18-20). I believe that loving God and people through the work of peace and justice in the community is not complete unless we are sharing the redeeming power of Jesus Christ to fulfill the Great Commission. The Great Commandment and Great Commission of Christ are two sides of a coin — we can’t follow the Christ merely accepting one part. Without sharing the good news of Christ, Christian’s good works such as feeding poor, giving to those in need, helping the stranger and more are just doing philanthropy work which become the motto of many social clubs and secular organization.
Sent 2016 reminded us of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It was very interesting to hear that many local church planters felt that we Americans are sending missionaries to plant new churches in foreign lands but we have forgotten our own land. I think our fellow Mennonite brothers and sisters felt urgency to preach the gospel of Christ and plant new churches in the USA along with good works inspired by Christ to show love and care to the community.
Therefore, I believe that Sent 2016 combined our action and urgency to preach the 
gospel and plant churches in the USA.
The Nepali group of Living Water Community Church in Chicago has been engaging with the non-Christian Nepali community in Aurora which is around 40 miles away from Chicago, helping the community with family counseling. Since the beginning of the 2015 we often visit them and have already built a good relationship with them. At the same time we are witnessing and sharing the love of Jesus Christ. There are many people who are ready to receive the gospel, but we have been wondering how to plant a church, since we were not aware of any guidelines for a church planting ministry. Literally we have been waiting for the Sent 2016 conference to get more ideas and learn how church planting functions within Mennonite Church USA and to meet the contact person for the church planting mission. It was helpful.
I think Sent 2016 provided opportunities for church planters to share and hear church planting stories in different parts of the USA and among different groups. Overall the conference was about hearing stories and encouraging each other for the church planting mission rather than discussing practical church planting strategies and planning.
Through hearing others’ stories about how God is working in the community, as well as the challenges we have faced and how we overcome those challenges, I realized that my church (LWCC) is part of this mission too, because we also have similar experiences where God has been faithful to us in our missional journey.
The workshops were amazing! We explored different topics of church planting and mission that helped participants to understand the notion of mission. I think Mennonite Church USA took the right initiative – offering participants the opportunity to become familiar with situations in church planting and churches’ progress across the USA.
Sent 2016 reminded us that loving neighbor is also telling them about the way of eternal peace and life – believing in Jesus Christ. I believe Sent 2016 refreshed and recharged church planters to preach the gospel and plant new churches. Thank you so much to the organizing team and church that kindly hosted this event.
Amos Shakya Named one of 20 under 40
Posted in: Living Water by LWCC Office on June 16, 2016
It’s an old trope: the lament that young adults are falling away from the church and a sense of despair for the church’s future.
And it may be true: What church looks like, where church happens and how young adults engage is likely changing. But this is nothing new. Popular religious historian Diana Butler Bass describes a familiar transformative rhythm for churches that includes three phases: “letting go, letting be, [and] letting something new come.”
Mennonite Church USA is full of young adults who are committed to following Jesus, attend church and find value in Christian faith and community. They may be pastors, artists, community developers, parents, educators, gardeners, writers, mission workers, musicians, advocates for justice and anti-oppression and many other things. They can be, as Philipp Gollner of Kern Road Mennonite Church in South Bend, Ind., wrote, “folks who simply are there faithfully and, without outspoken activism or academic degrees, carry their family of faith forward.”
Last November, we invited readers to nominate people in their congregations under 40 who are committed to following Jesus, attend church and find value in Christian faith and community. We received more than 120 nominations of almost 90 individuals. From that impressive list of gifted individuals, we chose 20, seeking a mix of gender, racial/ethnic identity, experiences and geography.
20 under 40:
- Allen Bohnert
- Natalie Becker Bott
- Andy Gingerich
- Nathan Grieser
- Sarah Hooley
- Russell Johnson
- Kate Lichti
- Jenna Liechty Martin
- Mike Martin
- Xaris Martínez
- Mike Metzler
- Jessie Pierce
- Kevin Ressler
- Amos Shakya
- Mary Short
- Chantelle Todman Moore
- Jason Storbakken
- Rosemary Till
- Jerrell Williams
- Jay Yoder
To read the full article, click here – 20under40.
Black Lives Matter
Posted in: Living Water by LWCC Office on January 6, 2016
On Sunday morning December 7, 2014, the Living Water congregation walked out of the meetinghouse and into the street. We fell to our knees and lifted our hands, together insisting that Black Lives Matter. Several days earlier, a grand jury in New York City had failed to issue an indictment in the death of Eric Garner, who had repeated “I can’t breath” while a police officer held him in a chokehold before he died.
Throughout 2015, we continued to lament, both corporately and individually, the deaths and sufferings of the many African Americans whose lives were cut short or were devalued through other means of injustice.
In the fall, two women spoke at a Racial Justice Group meeting at Reba Place Church about their efforts to post Black Lives Matter signs. Their talk set in motion many conversations within our own congregation about the history and present realities of racism in our country, about the Black Lives Matter movement, and about the implications of hanging a Black Lives Matter sign. Many in our congregation initially came to the United States as refugees. These brothers and sisters from Cambodia, Nepal, Bhutan, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, and elsewhere have much to teach the rest of us from their own experiences of responding faithfully to oppression, racism, and violence. We made sure that our discussions about hanging a sign included people of all language groups in our church, as well as members of minority groups who might be affected by the hanging of a sign in ways we hadn’t anticipated. The conversations are ongoing and have so far been deeply enriching and unifying for us as a church.
While these conversations developed, some of us participated in protests after release of a video depicting the police shooting of 17-year-old LaQuan McDonald. It seemed a crucial time to make our collective voice heard in our neighborhood. On Epiphany Sunday, Pastor Kristin Jackson preached about Paul, a Jew with much privilege, who used his privilege to advocate for inclusion of the Gentiles. Together we read a litany and walked outside to see the Black Lives Matter sign unfurled.
By hanging the sign we are stating publicly that as a congregation we affirm the value of black lives, which our society has too often to devalued. We express to black sisters and brothers in our church and neighborhood that their lives and experiences matter to us.
The hanging of this sign is not intended to be an end in itself. Rather, it is an invitation and exhortation to each other and to our neighbors from all backgrounds to reflect more deeply, to learn and grow, to love our neighbors, and to work hard to affirm the value of people whose lives society has devalued.
We long together for the day when it is no longer necessary to proclaim—with our voices or bodies or signs—that Black Lives Matter. We long for the day when all people understand that every life matters.