Oak Park - River Forest

Community of Congregations

The Community of Congregations is an interfaith organization serving the greater Oak Park - River Forest, Illinois area. We support PADS [Public Action to Deliver Shelter], the Cluster Tutoring Program, the annual Crop Walk, the Walk-in-Ministry, the Oak Park/River Forest Food pantry, and the Holiday Food and Gift Basket program, under a grant provided by Youth Services of Oak Park and River Forest Townships. In addition to these ministries we sponsor a variety of programs including the community's annual Interfaith Thanksgiving Service, one of the oldest such programs in the Chicagoland area.

Upcoming Events

Sunday, May 4, 2008
CROP WALK
Pilgrim Congregational Church
460 Lake St
Oak Park
For additional information go to www.oakparkhungercropwalk.org

2007 Thanksgiving Service

Visit the Community of Congregations Photo Album
If you have digital pictures of Community of Congregations events you would like to share, let us know.

Photos of our Annual Dinner are now on line.

The following materials are available online:

A complete copy of the pogram for the 2006 Thanksgiving Service, including most of the prayers and readings, is available for download in .pdf format. [Download Many Voices Program ]
Message delivered by Rev. Young-Mee Park, Pastor, First United Methodist Church of Oak park at the CofC Thanksgiving Service, 2005.
The President's Annual Report, January, 2005.
Directions prayer, offered annually by Fr. Thomas Dore at our Thanksgiving Service.
A History of the Oak Park Food Pantry by Pat Koko.
The President's Annual Report, January 2003.
Homily delivered by Rev. Bobbi Wells Harglerode, Thanksgiving, 2000.

Sacred Space - Architecture and Liturgy

The Community of Congregations has initiated an ongoing series of programs designed to explore the richness of our architectural and liturgical heritages. Each Community Meeting is proceeded at 7:00 p.m. with an introduction to architectural features or liturgy of the host congregation.

Community Meetings

Community Meetings are held regularly throughout the year. In addition to the Sacred Space program and reports relating to the various ministries sponsored by the Community of Congregations, representatives of community congregations with active ministries and community service programs are invited to make presentations.

The public is invited to participate.

A time is also provided for participants to ask questions, and share traditions and stories from their own faith traditions in order to strengthen and deepen our sense of community.

If you have issues you would like to see raised or a program you would like to present please contact a member of the executive committee.

Food Pantry Expands

First United Church, 848 Lake Street, Oak Park, has generously expanding the space available for the Food Pantry, Oak Park, where it is open every Saturday from 9:00 to noon. It has also been open the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. The work of the Pantry has never been more important. In these times of reduced government aid, more families are increasingly vulnerable. Volunteers are always welcome, especially in view of the increasing need for this service.

There are many ways you can assist this vital community service.

Please make your check payable to:
Hunger Task Force Food Pantry.
c/o Community of Congregations
P.O. Box 3365 Oak Park, IL 60303-3365

Ministry Contact Information:

Food Pantry -- Contact Coordinator, Kathy Russell at Krussell1310@sbcglobal.net.
Holiday Food and Gift Basket Program -- Write holidaybasket@hotmail.com or contact Alice Bode atat avbode @ yahoo . com.
Walk-In Ministry -- contact Janet Haisman at jhais @ sbcglobal.net . If you wish to make a contribution please make checks out to to Walk-in Ministry and send to
Attention: Walk-in Ministry
c/o First United Church
848 Lake Street
Oak Park, IL 60301
PADS -- Write contactus @ westsuburbanpads.org.
Note: when writing to the above addresses omit the spaces in the addresses, which cut down automatic spamming.

Affiliated congregations on line:

If your congregation is online and is not listed here, please send a note with the link to Leonard Grossman

Legacy Partners of Oak Park and River Forest is a consortium of more than forty Oak Park and River Forest nonprofit organizations who ask you to consider planned giving through your will or through a gift that endows.
For more information about the Oak Park-River Forest Community visit The Oak Park Tourist.
You can find a list of Oak Park-River Forest religious organizations and places of worship, including addresses and phone numbers in the Wednesday Journal's Answerbook.
A collection of Volunteer Web pages from the Oak Park area can be found on a special page at The Oak Park Tourist.

Community of Congregations: Offices provided by St. Catherine-St. Lucy, 38 North Austin Boulevard. Officers and members of the Executive Committee: President, Rev. Lowell Eckberg, First United Methodist Church; Vice President, Rev. Harriette Cross, Cornerstone United Methodist Church; Secretary, Pat Eichenold, Unity Church ; Members at Large: Harriette Robinetteand McLouis Robinet, Sty. Edmund; Administrative Secretary, Jane Wood; Immediate Past President, Rev. Dwight Bailey, Austin Boulevard Christian Church.

Mailing address P.O. Box 3365, Oak Park, IL 60303-3365; Telephone (708)386-8802; Fax (708)386-1399

Called by our spiritual experience to be a Tent of Meeting, we affirm and honor the diverse ways in which the One we call God leads and blesses all peoples and brings us together. This common insight leads us to value a "harmony of respect and individuality" in persons and religious traditions. From this vantage point, we hope to foster community among communities, to speak with a common moral voice in our own community, and to sponsor events and activities which affirm the worth and dignity of all whom God has created.
-Vision statement adopted by the Community of Congregations, May, 1996.

Enjoy brilliant images of scenes from Genesis: The Gropper Windows Dove Icon

Messages sent to this address will be forwarded ot the organization. e-mail.

The image used as the left border of this page is the "Window of Creation" from the Gropper Windows at West Suburban Temple Har Zion in River Forest. Used with permission. Digital Image Copyright West Suburban Temple.

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maintained by Leonard Grossman.

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This page created and maintained by Leonard Grossman who has his own wholly unrelated pages
Updated: 4/28/2008 8:46:48 PM
Special thanks to Joyce Marco for her assistance in updating this page.