 Elders, family and church leaders lift a prayer of affirmation on Mike Miller (with staff), installed as Lead Pastor of Living Hope Church, Elk Grove Village, IL, April 2024. by Michael Edgar Myers Founding Artistic Director Growing up where and when I did, we did not have pastors in our church.
We did, but we didn’t. Whereas “pastor” is a commonplace term today, in my youth its synonyms were wide-ranging with historical cultural importance (to be outlined at another time). We had “preachers” and “parsons,” “ministers” and “reverends” – especially Ministers and Revs – but, yes, we had us no pastors. We had us no “pastors” to pray. Yet, to borrow from Romeo’s adoration of Juliet (a Shakespearean connection we’ll occasionally adapt), “pastor” by any other name can still be a rose in a community. Or a thorn. These are among the thoughts that percolated over our prayer and coffee conversations during Pastor Appreciation Month. The occasion allowed us as Kingdom Impact Theater Ministries to reflect on clergy who have influenced our lives as we embark upon our 30th year of service.
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 Migrants arrived in Chicagoland in buses similar to this; but transportation within the communities is scarce. Volunteer assistance with transport or housing through Elk Grove Village government community outreach. In September 2022, the government of the State of Texas began sending migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to northern cities, including Elk Grove Village, IL, where Kingdom Impact Theater Ministries is based. Since then, KIT Ministries and the Elk Grove Interfaith Council have monitored progress assisting the original 85 migrants, and the hundreds of others in the Chicagoland area, in the process of being physically and spiritually safe and secure while legal matters are resolved.
Five months later, many matters remained in flux between federal, state and local officials and the individuals awaiting answers. At the February 2023 Interfaith meeting, the Council resolved there was one path to take to overcome the obstacles and repeated ball of confusion: Intercessory prayer. Thus, several pastors participating the council agreed to encourage individual congregations to intervene in prayer. Here are eight specific items of prayer: 
Reading, meditating and living scripture passages early in life can plant seeds for future comfort in difficult situations. -- Photo by Samantha Sophia on Unsplash
by Michael Edgar Myers, Founding Director
Cami Myers, an intern with Kingdom Impact Theater Ministries, has been compiling resources and recommendations for individuals managing mental health challenges and posting them in a series of online essays we call “A Collegian’s Guide to Mental Health.” We outlined Cami's background and how these essays came to be in an earlier post, "College, Ministry & Stress." Today, we provide access to the essays themselves and Biblical connections the KIT Ministries staff made while editing them. Although the essays are not “Christian” in nature, reading them revealed parallels between the practical concepts and Bible basics. There are seven scriptures related to the contents of the four essays themselves, and three other principles that provide perspective on Cami’s spiritual health journey summarized in the four essays. |
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