Brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray you and yours are well.
Those words—”Your church is welcome in our schools anytime”—were spoken by Miss Dora King, the Independent Authority for the North Chicago Public School District (she is the boss). The occasion was a public (and televised) school board meeting. After saying these words, Miss King gave me a big hug and a handshake—well, that might have come after we handed her the check for the funds we raised at our first annual Faith on the Fairway golf outing.
Why do we do Faith on the Fairway? To build relationships so that we can share the love of Jesus. This isn’t about golf. It’s not even about scholarships. It’s about Jesus. Everything else is secondary. Important, yes, but secondary. The first thing is always Jesus.
It is special to be invited to and welcomed into the public schools. Not a lot of churches have this relationship. When we do outreach in North Chicago, we have an “advantage” because people are getting to know Faith on the Fairway. The mayor is a huge fan, and he will be our special guest on September 24. His communications staff person, Hombre D’Arcy, and I are becoming good friends. Hombre has even asked to join us when we prayer walk in North Chicago. Of course we said, “Yes.”
On that note I have to tell you that I wasn’t surprised when he asked. We had a very similar experience in Westfield, NJ, when the Chamber of Commerce asked if a staff person could come along and then write a story. The Chamber was so surprised to see a church asking employees in the business district, “How can we pray for you?” The Chamber said that all they ever saw from churches was them coming to the businesses with their hands out looking for donations.
Please keep Faith on the Fairway in your prayers, not just for this year but for the years to come.
Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Jim