Chicago

Aaron and I are on week two of our S.C.U.P.E. (Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education) course. We are part of a group of 23 seminarians traveling through Chicago to hear from community visionaries and leaders. Our Professor is internationally known and has been called the best African American preacher in the U.S. Her network has allowed us to hear from THE leaders in the city. We’ve traveled to infamous areas Cabrini Green, Robert Taylor Homes, Cicero, South Chicago and many other places. We’re learning about the projects and issues that these leaders now face as gangs fight for new turf after being displaced. We're hearing the problems associated with gentrification and how racism, economic injustice and violence are perpetuated by the powers and principalities.

By day we learn and by night we explore Chicago’s nightlife. Last night we were at the Green Mill. “One of famous gangster Al Capone's former speakeasies from the Prohibition-era roaring '20s (check out his photo on the baby grand behind the bar); it was also a fav of Charlie Chaplin and Gloria Swanson. The oldest jazz club in the US (and presumably the world), under Dave Jemilo's care, it remains one of the city's liveliest jazz venues and still serves a mean Manhattan and martini.” Tonight it’s off to Rush Street for my fav Chicago piano bar/ steak house, Gibson's.