The Heifer Project
Each year the Temple and Society and Missions Committees invite members and friends to support the Heifer Project which, in a unique way, is engaged in efforts to end world hunger. A year ago, the congregation contributed some $10,600.

Heifer International is a nonprofit, humanitarian organization dedicated to ending world hunger and saving the Earth by providing livestock, trees, training and other resources to help poor families around the globe become self-reliant. Heifer requires its recipients to “pass on the gift” by sharing offspring of their livestock with others in need, thereby setting off a “chain of giving.”

Tutoring Center at The Chicago Temple
In 2006 the Temple launched a major new program in keeping with its mission goal of ministry with children and the poor.

The Temple’s Tutoring Center kicks of each school year by bringing fourth grade children from the Ruben Salazar Bilingual Education Center, a Chicago public school that serves students from the Pilsen, Little Village and the Back of the Yards neighborhoods. When they arrive at Salazar, all the children are one to three years behind in test scores and are badly in need of one-on-one tutoring assistance. Returning students keep a continuity of support as the progress to higher grades as a new class of fourth graders get involved.

The Center is a joint project of ChildServ, a United Methodist agency, the Salazar Center and the Temple. Marta Miranda, Salazar’s principal, is a member of the Temple. ChildServ has assigned two members of its staff and Ruben Salazar has committed two literacy teachers to provide skill training for the volunteer tutors.

Children will arrive at the Temple at 3:15 p.m. on Wednesdays. They are checked in, provided with a healthy snack and take part in a large group activity. Their one-on-one tutoring sessions with the volunteers will follow from 4:30 to 5:50 p.m.

Those interested in volunteering or getting more information are invited to contact Dr. Cheryl Magrini at 312-236-4548 or cheryl@chicagotemple.org. Volunteers will be screened by ChildServ. The program partners are looking for volunteers who will commit themselves to weekly tutoring. Besides tutors, the program needs volunteers to assist with snacks and check-in.

The Silk Road Theatre Project
This independent theatre company in residence at the Chicago Temple was formed to produce a series of dramas that would showcase playwrights of Asian, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean backgrounds (the countries along the ancient “Silk Road” trading route). This is something that conspicuously is absent from the current American theater scene. Jamil Khoury and Malik Gillani, founders of the company, hope that such plays would portray the complex histories and perspectives of these cultures and challenge American stereotypes. This is especially urgent following the attacks on 9/11.

This relationship between the Chicago Temple and the Silk Road Theatre Project is unique but understandable considering our own congregation’s commitment to such multicultural and interfaith dialogue. We have hosted the interfaith Thanksgiving Service and the annual Memorial Service for the city and county. We are a venue for the Chicago Humanities Festival, often having presenters from around the world who give divergent views on significant topics. Occasionally, we have included people of other faiths in our Sunday worship services and Wednesday noontime services. While we are very certain of our Protestant Christian identity rooted in Methodism, we are open to critical thinking and challenging conversation.

For more information about the Silk Road Theatre Project, go to www.srtp.org

Chicago Humanities Festival
Each year the Temple hosts numerous lectures, panel discussions, and readings as a participating venue for the Chicago Humanities Festival. SInce 1990, world-renowned authors, scholars, poets, policy-makers, artists, and performers have gathered at Chicago’s many cultural institutions to celebrate the power of ideas in human culture. And, each year tens of thousands of enthusiastic audience participants rediscover the rich and vital role the humanities play in their daily lives.

This year’s festival begins October 3 and goes through November 16. The theme will be “Thinking Big!” Program guides will be available at the Temple. For more information go to www.chfestival.org

Temple Hosts Six 12-Step Groups
Six different kinds of 12-step groups meet regularly at the Temple.  Although not sponsored by the church, the groups reflect the church’s efforts to extend its hospitality to those in need.

The present cluster of groups include Narcotics Anonymous, Emotions Anonymous, Al-Anon, Overeaters Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous and Families Anonymous. Some of these categories have more than one group meeting at the Temple.  For more information call the church office-312-236-4548.

Science and Religion Panel
The Chicago Temple has been at the forefront of a major new initiative in the Chicago metropolitan area: “Science Chicago: Life’s a Lab.” Since September 2008 scores of the region’s civic, educational, academic, corporate, and nonprofit organizations will be involved in the sponsorship of programs with the goal of improving science literacy in the region and teaching life-long learning skills of evidence-based discovery. The Temple has already begun this year-long exploration with a reading panel focused on the intersection of science and religion.

The Chicago Temple was invited to be one of the original partners of the “Science Chicago: initiative, which was spearheaded by the Museum of Science and Industry and made possible through the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.