This Week at LaSalle • June 25, 2025 | | |
Worship This Sunday:
Join us for Sabbath & Hymn Sing in the room, or watch the service online.
We will be hearing a message from guest Nathan Samayo, PhD student at Princeton Theological Seminary & youth pastor in the United Church of Christ!
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This Week for Kids
- There will not be childcare at the church this weekend.
- We invite you to Sabbath with your family, you can use this document to go deeper with your kids.
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Events Upcoming
Click on the Date to Sign up!
+ Chicago PRIDE Parade
(email the office to meet up) 6/29
+ Book Club & Brunch Club 7/6 after worship
+ LaSalle Studio Sessions 7/8, 7/22
+ NNUP Jazz in the Park (email the office to meet up) 7/18
+ Bike & Affinity Clubs 7/20 after worship
+ Coffee Connect with Rev. Liz 7/24, 8/21
+ Louis Anderson Park Meetup 7/29
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Book Notes from Pasadena
This week I am camped out in a second-floor classroom in Pasadena, CA, where it's been 72 degrees and breezy - odd weather to leave Chicago and arrive to this, but I am not complaining! I am here for the on-campus teaching week with our D.Min. Cohort on Urban Ministry Leadership at Fuller that I have the fun and privilege of getting to co-teach alongside Dr. Soong-Chan Rah. We've been reading and discussing and laughing and lamenting, and I am reminded of the truth that ministry, leadership, justice work, and community development is complex, beautiful, human work. And that our context matters.
Read more in today's blog post
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Sunday Worship in Leslie Hall
Please note that we will be meeting for Sunday worship in Leslie Hall throughout the Summer as our Foundations & Flooring project is underway in our Sanctuary.
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Sabbath Sunday & Hymn Sing
Our Sabbath services create space to rest in the presence of God wherever you are -- in our Sanctuary, or joining the service online. This year, we are continuing with our hybrid model, including pastors hosting worship in Leslie Hall with a hymn sing afterwards, and keeping our online worship option.
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In-Person - Come to Leslie Hall at 10:00 AM for our contemplate service hosted by our pastors in the room. We will conclude with an informal hymn sing led by Chuck Hogren, where we'll encourage you to crack open a hymnal and sing along. Please note we will not have Nursery staff or childcare / Kid's Church.
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Online - Join the live stream on YouTube for a digital-first worship experience! These services feature a mix of pre-recorded and contemplative elements hosted by a LaSalle pastor. Watch with your family at home, get together with other LaSallers and watch the service as a group, or share your thoughts live in the service via the YouTube chat to participate in the service. You can always find Sunday's service video on our web site.
Whether online or in-person, don't miss this chance to catch your breath in the presence of God!
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Summer Family Fun
RSVP Today!
Looking for ways to connect with other LaSalle families this summer? We’ve got a great lineup of casual events for families—park play, movie nights, museum outings, and more. These gatherings are a chance to build community, have fun, and enjoy the season together.
Click the link below to learn more and sign up!
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Summer Sermon Series Book:
Subversive Witness
Pick up a copy at the Welcome Table
outside Leslie Hall!
This Summer, our sermon series will highlight Subversive Witness: Scripture’s Call to Leverage Privilege by Dominique DuBois Gilliard. In Subversive Witness, Gilliard challenges Christians to confront and steward privilege in a way that resists sin, empowers the marginalized, and creates real systemic change.
We invite you to read along with us! Copies of Subversive Witness will be available for purchase at the Welcome Table outside Leslie Hall after Sunday services—$10 with cash or $12 via our online giving platform. The book is also available for individual purchase.
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Volunteer for the Sunday Tear-Down Crew
We’re looking for volunteers to join the Sunday tear-down crew to help staff break down Leslie Hall after service. This will take about 15-20 minutes after worship. If you can pitch in for just one or two Sundays, we’d be so grateful! Sign up using the form below to let us know your availability.
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LaSalle Studio Sessions
Want to sing in a choir, play your instrument, or just make music with others? Join LaSalle Studio Sessions—a low-pressure, joy-filled space to explore gospel, classical, small group pieces, or even write songs together. Led by Rob on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays each month in Room 306 of Cornerstone Center.
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Connect with Rev. Liz
Summer is a great time to connect and get to know others better outside of Sunday mornings. Sign up for a small group coffee connect in the pastor's office, or a larger family meal hosted by Liz and Peter at their home - we'd love to get to know you and connect a little deeper this summer! RSVP required.
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Join Us at Breaking Bread
Looking for a midweek opportunity to serve our neighbors in the Near North Side? Come to Breaking Bread! We have multiple ways to serve on Wednesdays -- from meal prep, to helping distribute meals to our guests, to delivering meals to some of our senior buildings around the church.
Sign up to help at an upcoming Breaking Bread (there are multiple times to sign up for on any Wednesday) or contact Pastor Julie for more information. Or click the link below to send needed items to directly to Breaking Bread via Amazon!
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Take a Ride Through History in Chicago's South Side
Sign up on the tour web site
Join us for a powerful two-hour bus tour on Saturday, August 9 at 12 PM exploring the rich legacy of Chicago’s South Side. We’ll visit landmark sites like the birthplace of Black History Month, the Ida B. Wells-Barnett mansion, Pilgrim Baptist Church, and more -- celebrating stories of innovation, justice, and cultural impact.
All the tickets we reserved for this event have now been taken, but you can still register directly on the tour web site at the link below. Tickets are $45 per person.
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Join the Foundations & Flooring Campaign
We've officially started our Foundations & Flooring project this summer to strengthen our worship space and honor our 140-year legacy. Over the next 8–10 weeks, we will be replacing the old flooring in the Sanctuary (including necessary asbestos remediation), improve accessibility for all, upgrade our lighting & sound systems, and install a new Hall of History display in the Lower Level. This effort will make our space safer, more accessible, and welcoming, while celebrating the justice movements and faith stories that have shaped who we are.
Make a donation to this project today – or fill out this form to let us know you ‘pledge’ to give a certain amount in installments over the rest of the year!
How to Give: You can give to this project online through Church Center by selecting the fund “Foundations.” You can also mail a check (memo: “Foundations”), or leave a donation in an envelope marked ‘Foundations’ in the offering plate on Sunday. Thank you for helping strengthen our spiritual home for generations to come!
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Save the Date: All-Church Talent Show
Friday, August 22, 6:30 PM
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Happy Pride Month!
"The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is — it's to imagine what is possible."
- bell hooks
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New Summer Church Calendar Handouts
Grab a copy on Sunday! Or print your own.
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🎥 Recommended Movies 🎥
Beginning this Friday, Chicago's Music Box Theatre is hosting a 14-film series celebrating the 40th anniversary of Studio Ghibli, the famed Japanese animation studio. Here are two great Studio Ghibli films that will be playing in the series:
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Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
This film tells the poignant story of Seita and his younger sister Setsuko struggling to survive in wartime Japan. Its quiet scenes—like releasing fireflies in a bomb shelter—carry profound emotional weight, highlighting compassion and vulnerability in dark times.
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The Wind Rises (2013)
Hayao Miyazaki’s semi‑fictional biopic follows Jiro, an aeronautical engineer inspired by a desire to fill the skies with beauty. His journey—marked by dreams of flight, deep affection for his wife, and the turmoil of history—is rendered in elegant animation and underscored by a lyrical score.
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