And, increasingly, people experience the “more, faster, bigger, better” solutions of modern life to be too flat, too empty, too unjust to provide that help. Could healthy spirituality and community meet our needs?
Brown Line Church (named for Chicago’s Northside “L” train) is a community both in Chicago and online (reaching many beyond Chicago). Through Sunday gatherings for prayer & meditation, small group community building, and empowering individuals to contribute to justice and healing in the world, we try to help people connect with a God of love and find deeper, fuller, less self-centered lives — especially people who feel more at home culturally in progressive settings, rather than religious settings.
We embrace diversity in perspectives and religious/cultural backgrounds, we are committed to economic justice and anti-racism work, and we are LGBTQ-inclusive. Our guide in all this is Jesus. Many present “faith in Jesus” as an exclusive thing, over and against other religious or non-religious approaches to life, but our experience has been entirely different…
For the second Sunday of Advent, Hayley reflects on the beauty of slowing down and the gift of the tender mercy of God. (Art: Jesus Offering the Light, 2004, by Jyoti Sahi)
A big financial update on our church (it’s good news!) and a time for questions about the financial side of running our church. All are welcome to listen, whether you consider yourself a stakeholder in BLC or you're just curious how this church does "family conversations".
Discord is an online platform for community. Join Brown Line Church’s Discord server to discuss our Sunday messages, connect with volunteer opportunities, ask for prayer, swap stuff, or just laugh at gifs people share.
The commodification of the stories we return to every Advent can neuter their power to frame the good life for us, so this week enjoy a fresh imagining of the Mary & Joseph relationship (and some original art) from open and relational theologian Jonathan Foster.