The Sixth Ward: Dr. John Fuder

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Pray for Chatham today - #PrayChicago

This is a follow-up to a previous post about an effort to pray for all 77 of Chicago's community areas. Today is Chatham's turn.

We posted Chatham's prayer requests, and had some interesting feedback on our Facebook page.

What are your thoughts? Are the requests accurate? What would you ask Chicago to pray for in Chatham?

Here's what PrayChicago posted:

Pray for the ‪#‎Chatham‬ community on ‪#‎Chicago‬'s South side. ‪#‎WestChesterfield‬

Here are some ways you can pray:

- New residents are moving into the area due to the closings of housing projects in other parts of the city. Pray that these new residents and for great respect and care for neighbors and the neighborhood.

- Pray for the elderly residents of Chatham, many of whom are widows and widowers. Pray that they may find community and would not feel overlooked in their later years.

- As the community is beginning to experience socioeconomic transition, pray that class struggles would not cause division among the residents.

- Pray for the followers of Jesus and the churches in this region, that the would be a light to this community!

www.praychicago.us ‪#‎Pray77‬ ‪#‎PrayChicago

And what JP Paulus posted:

PrayChicago is focusing on ‪#‎Chatham‬ Today (including ‪#‎WestChesterfield‬, ‪#‎Chesterfield‬, ‪#‎WestChatham‬ ‪#‎EastChaham‬ ) . I ( JP Paulus) also asked them to include this:
Would you mind re-issuing this later in the day, but also add these requests (feel free to tag/mention me as a Chatham resident if you'd like.):

Pray for unity among the churches. & community groups There are over 100 churches within 1 mile of 79th Street & King Drive. Pray that not just pastors, but members work with each other to complement, rather than compete, in their efforts. Secular community groups (as well as several churches) have undergone dramatic leadership transition in the past few years.

Pray for economic development. Several longtime, as well as new businesses have failed over the past few years, leaving very few businesses for residents to frequent.

Pray for youth: there are few opportunities for youth to grow, be mentored and to make a positive impact in their immediate community.

Pray for young leaders who grew up in the community to come back and take their place in leadership & community development.

#WestChatham (part of the community area, but separated by the Dan Ryan, so a little distinct)

What are YOUR thoughts?

Sunday, November 8, 2015

PrayChicago prays for a Neighborhood a day

OK, some of the major controversy (at least with a member of Greater Chatham Alliance) is that the term "neighborhood" gets confused with the term "Community Area".

There are 77 official community areas. There are dozens more neighborhoods. The problem I mentioned is that some neighborhoods also have the name of the community , such as Chatham. The community area covers more than those who consider the Chatham neighborhood only between State and Cottage Grove, 79th to 87th.

The media labels a community area a "neighborhood", even if the neighborhood has a different name, and perpetuates the confusion.

All this to say, PrayChicago is a movement to have Christians pray for the city of Chicago. They have had rallies in different areas of the city, such as at Salem Baptist's House of Hope on the South Side in January (they return to House of Hope, January 20, 2016). There are a variety of leaders, including Dr. John Fuder, formerly of Moody Bible Institute and now with Park Community Church.

They are spearheading an effort to pray for all 77 community areas (though they are calling them neighborhoods) of Chicago, 1 day until their big even on January 20.

Here are some of the community areas we cover at The Sixth Ward blog: