Oak Park - River Forest

Community of Congregations

The Community of Congregations is an interfaith organization serving the greater Oak Park - River Forest, Illinois area. Its ministries include PADS [Public Action to Deliver Shelter], the Cluster Tutoring Program, the annual Crop Walk, 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. We seek to address community matters ranging from senior services to issues concerning our youth, and much more. The Community of Congregations includes a wide spectrum of faith communities and invites your participation.

Upcoming Events

WATCH THIS SPACE

Community of Congregations Leadership -Annual Dinner 2005

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

The following materials are available online:

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 on the third Thursdays of February, April, June, September, and October at 7:30 p.m. 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 as 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 Serves More

The Food Pantry has moved from its store front site to a new setting at First United Church, 848 Lake street, Oak Park, where it is open every Saturday from 9:00 to noon, and 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.

Your financial assistance is urgently needed.

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

For further infomation contact Karin Pietrini or Leah Beckwith

Affiliated congregations on line:

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

Leave a Legacy 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. The Community of Congregations is a Leave a Legacy in Oak Park and River Forest Project Partner
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: Patricia Koko, Administrative Secretary, with offices provided by St. Catherine-St. Lucy, 38 North Austin Boulevard. Officers and members of the Executive Committee: President, Rev. Marnie Rourke, Good Shephard Luheran Church; Vice President, Kathy Russel, Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church; Secretary, Joyce Marco, Unity Temple / Unitarian Universalist Church; Treasurer, Rev. Dwight Bailey, Austin Boulevard Christian Church; Members at Large: Rev. Edgar Hiestand, River Forest United Methodist Church; Charles Muuhammed, Muslim Community; Robert Williams, Baha'i Community; Administrative Secretary, Patricia Koko.

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

Please sign our public GUEST BOOK and leave a note or send a private message by 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 1/30/2005 1:23:58 PM