How Are Christians Responding to Violence in Chicago?
A piece from “Chicago Retold” — A project on the violence in Chicago.
In a 2016 study, the Pew Research Center reported the number of Americans who believe religious institutions contribute to solving important social problems has dramatically decreased in recent years. In cities like Chicago, where gang violence and resulting social and ethnic tensions seem only to be increasing, Christians are faced with the ongoing issue of gun violence and how they ought to engage it as men and women of faith.
According to a survey done by Pew in 2015, approximately 71 percent of Chicago residents identify as Christians (35 percent Protestant, 34 percent Catholic), meaning there are hundreds of churches in Chicago.
Yet in 2016, 762 individuals were murdered, and more than 4,331 people were victims of shooting incidents (ABC). How are these numbers reconciled? Do the hundreds of churches and thousands of Christians care about the violence happening in Chicago, and if so, are they doing anything about it?
Do the hundreds of churches and thousands of Christians care about the violence happening in Chicago, and if so, are they doing anything about it?
While many people, even those who identify as Christians, are losing trust in churches and religious institutions to have a positive impact on social matters, there are Christians who are engaging with the needs of people in their communities and are hopeful for a safer future for this city.
In various ways and in neighborhoods scattered across the city, Christians are coming together and investing in their communities to do what they believe is their part in seeking peace in Chicago.
By welcoming people into relationships with one another and affirming their inherent value and beauty, by teaching the next generation and empowering them with hope for change, and by reaching out across racial and denominational differences and praying for mercy, there are many people of the Christian faith in Chicago who are striving to stand for justice and for peace.
Kusanya Café: A Place to Gather
Nerves ran high the day Phil Sipka moved into Englewood. He didn’t know a single soul in this Chicago neighborhood, and he quickly stood out as a white male in a predominately black community.
As he began to unpack his belongings from his “crappy grandma car” he could tell he was being watched by people sitting in the court area. Sipka noticed one gentleman in particular who was “eyeing” him up as he moved into his new home.
After watching Phil unpack his belongings, this man, Ron, spoke up, “You play guitar, man?”
“Yeah, I do”
“I thought you did.”
Sipka’s guitar quickly became a bridge of connection between him and the Englewood community. “Music was probably the best liaison to this neighborhood,” he said.
Music has been one of Sipka’s passions for quite some time. When he graduated college he aspired to be in the music business in Nashville, but decided to take a year off to do missions work in Atlanta. During this time, Sipka began to see beyond his aspirations of success in the music industry and to grow in his desire to invest in under-resourced neighborhoods.
After living on an Indian reservation for two years and eventually attending seminary in an attempt to “figure things out,” Sipka decided to move somewhere closer to family and looked into the Chicago area.
Friends who were aware of what kind of neighborhood he wanted to live in made housing recommendations. When he heard about Englewood, a low-income neighborhood with a reputation of violence, it popped off the map, and he decided to move in.
In the eight years since, Sipka has continued to invest himself in the Englewood community. He has specifically sought to bring people in his neighborhood together by opening and running Kusanya Café.
Kusanya is a Swahili word which means “to gather, to assemble.” Sipka wants Kusanya Café to be a place where people of diverse racial and economic backgrounds can do just that — and enjoy interactions with people with whom they would not normally interact.
Already, Kusanya has hosted everyone from a local mechanic to a wealthy businessman, from a drug dealer on the block to Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Kusanya’s role in alleviating violence, as Sipka described it, is an indirect one. He recognizes the complexity of the ongoing issues of gang activity and gun violence.
“There’s a lot of causes for why people shoot people. It’s not out of nowhere,” Sipka said. “Our approach to violence is to try to create beauty in all the forms we possibly can. We’re in the business of making people see themselves as worth something.”
As a follower of Jesus, Sipka believes the church has gotten off track to the point where many have completely missed the teachings of Jesus concerning love and justice.
He expressed his frustration with middle-class Americans who complain about segregation in Chicago public schools, yet who further segregation because of their decision to pull their own children out of public schools and put them in private schools. He believes many middle-class Christians cling to the “idols” of safety, education, and comfort and use them as an excuse to not invest in under-resourced neighborhoods.
“The only solution to the problems that we have is for people to live out the teachings of the gospel, which I don’t think are getting preached very much anymore,” Sipka said. “There’s going to have to be some self-sacrifice, and it’s going to be on the idols of our culture right now.” Sipka believes the church needs to see love, justice, and missions work, “Not as charity, but as duty.”
Sipka believes the church needs to see love, justice, and missions work, “Not as charity, but as duty.”
Sipka continues to use his love for music as a way to build relationships. Not only does Kusanya regularly host open mic nights, Sipka also interacts with others through his music in everyday interactions just walking down the street with his guitar.
Ron, the man Sipka met on the day he first moved to Englewood, is now one of his best friends. The two of them spend time together playing guitar out in the courtyard. “It was amazing how that broke down barriers… just being out, being vulnerable in public and playing music, which is awesome,” Sipka said.
Humility is indispensable in building relationships and making a positive impact, he said. “When we begin to demonize people, that’s when the conversation ends. When we begin to believe that we’re better than somebody else because we make better decisions, that’s when the conversation ends.” And to truly invest yourself in a neighborhood takes time, he said. “Nothing is quick… Relationships take time. Economics take time. Hope takes time. Trust takes time. There’s nothing that comes in a day or two.”
“Nothing is quick… Relationships take time. Economics take time. Hope takes time. Trust takes time. There’s nothing that comes in a day or two.” -Phil Sipka
One time, when Sipka was invited to a gang’s party, the crowd left their barbecue and hip-hop music to listen to him sing and play his acoustic guitar. He played one of his favorite songs, “A Change Is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke. While Sipka realizes the change he sings about comes very slowly, he is content to do his part through Kusanya Café and through his presence in the Englewood community.
“It’s been a long, a long time coming.
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will”“A Change Is Gonna Come” -Sam Cooke
Sarah Gonzalez: Teaching Hope
Growing up, the last thing on Sarah Gonzalez’s mind was to be a teacher. She graduated high school with a 1.2 GPA and had no intention of going to college, much less of becoming an educator herself. Her desire to be involved in her community eventually led her to volunteer as an English teacher. Now, she teaches English in a high school in the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago.
Gonzalez lives and teaches in Pilsen largely due to her father’s influence. Gonzalez’s father was a gang member involved in violence, but he was transformed after having multiple encounters with God, one of which took place while he was in prison. In order to cut ties with his gang in Los Angeles, he moved to Chicago.
In Chicago, he reached out to inmates at Cook County Jail with the desire to share his newfound faith and hope. When Gonzalez was six years old, her father passed away; she rests knowing he joined Jesus in heaven. Gonzalez sees herself as connected to her father’s story and as a continuation of his legacy.
“[He] has completely shaped who I am, what I do, and he’s been gone for 20 years,” she said.
It was not until later in life that she had her own encounter with God. During a trip to California, Gonzalez was intrigued by a group of Christians who maintained their culture alongside of their faith and even used their culture as a way to reach out to others. At the time, however, she was not looking to have her own relationship with God.
Shortly after her experience in California, she flew to New York. Her first evening there did not go as expected. “I had a very intense demonic attack,” Gonzalez said.
The day after this experience, Gonzalez received a phone call from her mother, who said that she had been praying for her the night before because God woke her up and told her that her daughter was in danger.
“That was the moment that shifted everything for me,” Gonzalez said.
Before this experience, Gonzalez did not know how to present hope to her students because she found herself overwhelmed and anxious with the constant violence in Pilsen. Whenever she heard gunshots outside her window she always wondered if one of her students was involved.
“I myself was struggling with having a sense of hope… When I got saved that shifted,” she said.
Gonzalez has experienced many hardships while teaching in Pilsen; she lost four students to gun violence in a period of four months. Despite the tragedies that have occurred, she continues to invest in the lives of young people in Pilsen, some of whom are involved in gangs.
“There are many things that people can steal from us,” she said. “Our lives can be taken from us, our money. But the inner transformation in your heart is something that no bullet can pierce.”
“There are many things that people can steal from us… But the inner transformation in your heart is something that no bullet can pierce.” -Sarah Gonzalez
Gonzalez shared a story of a young man in her life who was a part of a gang. She told this young man that she regularly prayed that any gun used against him would jam up, that any gun he used would jam up, and that any bullets that he shot would ricochet.
Months after she told him that she was praying for him, he approached her about an incident that had occurred. This young man told Gonzalez that he tried to shoot someone at close range and all of the bullets ricocheted off that person. He told her that his first response was to blame Gonzalez because he knew that she was praying for him. “I know that he [understands] he witnessed the hand of God in that situation,” Gonzalez said.
While Gonzalez shared some of the things she faces working with young people, her face brightened as someone walked by on the nearby sidewalk.
“That’s one of my students!” she exclaimed before greeting the young woman.
As a daughter of a former gang member and as a teacher who lives in a community with young people involved in gang activity, Gonzalez sees great potential in people who are often looked down upon.
“I would want people to know,” Gonzalez said, “that when they look at a gang member, they’re looking at someone’s son or daughter, they’re looking at someone’s brother or sister. These [people] are not savages. They’re not people who we can just throw up our hands in the air and say, ‘They’re just too far gone. There’s nothing we can do.’”
She wants others to know that there is hope and that change is possible. “The love of God is for every single person. It’s for killers, it’s for gang members, it’s for anybody.”
“The love of God is for every single person. It’s for killers, it’s for gang members, it’s for anybody.” -Sarah Gonzalez
When Gonzalez looks at young people in her community who are involved in gangs, she sees future ministers. Future youth mentors. She sees young people who have the authority to relate and connect to the experiences of the many future gang members that are recruited daily. “These gang members are the people that I want to see as ministers. These gang members are the people I want to see going into the neighborhood and sharing the love of God with the people there because they can relate,” she said. Gonzalez carries with her the legacy of her father, and she prays that the transformation that occurred in his life would happen in the lives of young gang members in the Pilsen community.
Pray Chicago: Uniting Against Violence
As the streets of Chicago continue to be filled with violence and division, churches have recognized the need to come together in prayer on behalf of the city. PrayChicago is a movement born of Christians’ desire to seek peace in the city.
PrayChicago is propelled by the biblical mandate found in Jeremiah 29:7, which says,
“Seek the welfare of the city…and pray to the Lord on its behalf.”
Dr. John Fuder, the director of city engagement at Park Community Church and a leader of the PrayChicago movement, described the initiative as “A response for the broader Body of Christ to respond to what has been such a serious spike in violence in Chicago.”
While Fuder’s background was anything but urban, he has dedicated the larger part of his life to investing in urban communities under the gospel of Jesus Christ. His passion: equipping Christians to engage the needs of the city and to come together in service and prayer.
As someone who raised his family in Chicago and who serves in roles which seek the betterment of the city, Fuder is concerned with the ongoing issue of violence.
“I’ve asked God to break my heart for Chicago,” he said, “not only for tears but for the capacity to roll up my sleeves and engage the needs. I would say He’s doing that and I don’t think it’s a finished project.”
God has apparently answered Fuder’s plea for tears. “I ache, I lament the violence in Chicago,” he said.
But he also sees hope amidst tensions in our nation and in Chicago.“I think this is a glorious opportunity for the church to really step into the gaps, the crevices, the broken places,” he said. “The problem is not the darkness; the problem is the lack of light. Light always wins. It always compels darkness. Jesus says you’re the light of the world, you’re the salt of the earth. When salt loses its savor, that’s the problem. When light is hidden, then darkness seems to get greater traction. We are the light, we are the salt. I think we advance with greater clarity and understanding as we know that.”
“I think this is a glorious opportunity for the church to really step into the gaps, the crevices, the broken places. The problem is not the darkness; the problem is the lack of light. Light always wins.” -Dr. John Fuder
Fuder wrote the Chicago Neighborhood Prayer Guide as a way to facilitate Christians’ prayers for the city. The book features specific ways Christians can pray for each of the 77 neighborhoods in Chicago. Close to 5,000 prayer guides are in circulation and hundreds of Christians have committed to praying for Chicago on a daily basis.
The PrayChicago movement has brought Christians of diverse racial, economic, and denominational backgrounds together in prayer to God on behalf of the city of Chicago.
“Race matters in Chicago, and that continues to be a great challenge to evangelical Christians,” Fuder said. He hopes Christians will learn to celebrate their commonalities and shared status before God, rather than lamenting their ethnic differences.
“When God wants to do a greater work in a place, He calls His people to pray. And as we come and pray together, what happens is black and brown and yellow and white are praying together, and in that you have Baptists praying alongside Presbyterians, alongside Assemblies of God, etc. Even though doctrinally there may be a bit of a different perspective… the reality is we share far more in common than we differ over,” Fuder said.
“When God wants to do a greater work in a place, He calls His people to pray.” -Dr. John Fuder
So far there have been 10 city-wide PrayChicago gatherings, drawing thousands of people to ask God for mercy on this city and for a decrease in violence.
“As a man who just turned 60, I’m asking God for another 20 years to stay in the battle ministry-wise,” Fuder said. “What if we gave 20 years? What if, 20 years from now, having committed, given our due diligence to prayer, to serve, to love to raise our children in these neighborhoods, what if the church, by God’s grace, could be a part of changing the DNA of Chicago? But I think it’s gonna take that kind of an all-in commitment. A marathon, if you will, not a quick sprint.”
by Lauren Bortz
