UPDATE on Partners:
Chicago Office
This past October, the Chicago Office celebrated its fifth
anniversary! In five years, the office has built strong
relationships within the faith community, as well as with
local philanthropists and community development leaders.
Partners has launched several programs and trainings
locally and regionally, received the Chicago Landmarks
Preservation Excellence Award, recorded its first public
policy victory with the City of Chicago, partnered with local
universities and seminaries, and worked with more than 500
community-serving congregations across the City.
audience as well. In 2013, the congregation coordinated the
World of Women Praying Convocation, which attracted more
than 2,500 women from across the globe.
While Partners celebrates its achievements, the best
testaments to its impact in Chicago are the achievements of
congregations and parishes it has served. In recognition of
the office’s fifth anniversary, Partners’ staff reached out to
five congregations and asked them to describe their top five
achievements since working with the organization:
Congregational Growth – The church’s membership has
increased from less than 30 to more than 300.
Quinn Chapel AME Church, in danger of closing when the
Reverend James Moody and his wife, Corlis, were assigned
to the congregation, was part of the first New Dollars/New
Partners class in Chicago, and has put those lessons into
action to achieve:
Community-Wide Capital Campaign – Quinn
successfully completed the first phase of a multimilliondollar capital campaign to restore its historic Gothic Revival
facade and interior, receiving grants from
private foundations and the local and federal
government.
Celebrating its Heritage – When the Governor of Illinois was
looking for a venue to host the state’s official celebration of
the 60th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic
“I Have a Dream” speech, he called on Quinn – a wonderful
testament not only to its rich history of African American
legacy, but also to the role it plays in serving the local
community and living out Dr. King’s legacy.
The Second Presbyterian Church of Chicago, just down
the street from Quinn Chapel AME, graduated from one of
the first New Dollars/New Partners trainings in the Midwest.
The congregation and its affiliated Friends of Second
Presbyterian have leveraged the lessons of New Dollars (and
the first local Arts in Sacred Places training) to explore and
expand their role in the future of the City’s South Loop:
National Register Listing – In 2013, the congregation received
formal recognition as a National Historic Landmark.
South Loop Concert Series – Not only did this series of
concerts attract prominent musicians, but it has been a
critical tool for community building in the rapidly changing
Preservation as Job Training for Ex-Offenders – The
congregation used the occasion of its restoration
as an opportunity to develop an innovative and
award-winning job training and placement
program that helps ex-offenders find work in
the construction and building trades. Under
the supervision of a certified architect and
foreman, local gang members were recruited to
paint, strip, and plaster the building. With the
lessons learned, several of these individuals have
graduated from the program and found full-time
work – many have also joined the congregation,
and continue to pay it forward.
Thinking Locally, Acting Globally – Quinn’s reach
is first and foremost in its community, but it
brings its local ethos and mindset to a global
FOCUS at Greater Bethesda Missionary Baptist provides clothing and offers
referrals for social services through its annual Social Service Fair.
11 • Sacred Places • www.sacredplaces.org • Fall 2013