COMMITTEE ON ANTI-RACISM & EQUITY (CARE)

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We're so glad you're here! We are a Matthew 25 church, which means we are committed to dismantling structural racism by advocating and acting to break down the systems, practices and thinking that underlie discrimination, bias, prejudice and oppression of people of color.

THE WORK

The Committee on Anti-Racism & Equity (CARE) strives to provide opportunities for members of our congregation and wider community to learn and grow in their understanding of anti-racism; establish and grow deeper partnerships that foster racial reconciliation with accountability to people of color, and communicate about this work both within our congregation and in the wider world.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

The Committee on Anti-Racism & Equity (CARE) strives to provide opportunities for members of our congregation and wider community to learn and grow in their understanding of anti-racism; establish and grow deeper partnerships that foster racial reconciliation with accountability to people of color, and communicate about this work both within our congregation and in the wider world.

 

  • First Pres Coffee & Conversation with the folks from the Center for Immigrant Progress in Lake County - Sunday, August 10 at 11:30 a.m. in the Dougherty Room. Find out more

  • Potawatomi Trails Pow Wow - August 22, 23 & 24 in Shiloh Park, Zion Ilinois. Find out more

 

JUNETEENTH EVENTS IN LAKE COUNTY

 

June 19 is “Juneteenth”, the holiday marking the end of slavery in the U.S. It celebrates the day in 1865 when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and informed the last enslaved people in the country of their freedom.

 

The First Pres CARE Committee is commemorating Juneteenth by providing take-home worship bags for children this Sunday, June 15. CARE will also be handing out a resource flyer packed with information and Juneteenth-focused events open to the public being held in and around Lake County beginning Saturday, June 14 through Sunday, June 22.

 

Click here to see what's in the children’s worship bag and here for the Juneteenth event calendar!

SUMMER BOOK READ

 

C.A.R.E. Summer Book Read discussions of The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande - Sunday, August 24 at 11:30 a.m. in the Dougherty Room and Wednesday, August 27 from 7-8:15 p.m. on zoom. Find out more

CARE COMMITTEE MEETINGS

CARE generally meets on the fourth Wednesday of the month, most often via Zoom and occasionally in person. 
Contact the CARE Team for a Zoom invitation to the meeting.

BELOVED COMMUNITY NEWS

We hope you will enjoy these newsletters and share with other people in your life who may be interested in uprooting racism and growing Beloved Community!

ISSUE 11 MAY/JUNE 2025
NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES

BRIDGE PARTNERS

These vetted organizations accomplish critical community support work in Lake County and beyond. We invite and encourage all whose hearts are open to the work of uprooting racism and growing Beloved Community to choose one way to build relationships and cross boundaries with a spirit of love and repair.

BRIDGE PARTNERS BROCHURE 
JOIN A CARE BRIDGE WORK GROUP
BIG BROTHERS BIG SISTERS IN NORTH CHICAGO
LAKE COUNTY UNITED
MOSAIC HOUSE MINISTRIES + MOSAIC HUB
ROBERTI COMMUNITY HOUSE
THE LEGACY REENTRY FOUNDATION
THE COALITION TO DISMANTLE THE DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY
YOUTH CONSERVATION CORPS
WAUKEGAN TO COLLEGE

CALL FOR FUTURE BRIDGE PARTNERS - First Pres is interested in connecting individuals with new ways to take anti-racist action and build relationships. If your organization would make a good Bridge Partner or you know of an organization that helps uproot racism and grow Beloved Community. Contact Rev. Amy Heinrich to share your idea.

"But the end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the beloved community. It is this type of spirit and this type of love that can transform opposers into friends. The type of love that I stress here is not eros, a sort of esthetic or romantic love; not philia, a sort of reciprocal love between personal friends; but it is agape which is understanding goodwill for all men. It is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. It is the love of God working in the lives of men. This is the love that may well be the salvation of our civilization."

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.  "The Role of the Church in Facing the Nation's Chief Moral Dilemma," 1957

Additional information can be located on these pages

Information Page

Resources Page