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The Chicago Urban Strategy Summit was convened by the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church under the leadership of Bishop Sally Dyck on Saturday, May 18, 2013. The summit was held at South Shore International College Preparatory High School, a public school on Chicago’s south side. This date also coincided with “Change the World” weekend and Pentecost Sunday was the next day.
It is prayerfully anticipated that Pentecost winds of change will continue to stir the hearts and minds of United Methodists into a cohesive movement that will sweep across the City of Chicago long after the Chicago Urban Strategy Summit.
In March 2013 some 30 leaders from across the Northern Illinois Conference met to discuss ways in which United Methodist churches in Chicago and the Chicagoland area might be in ministry with the people of the city of Chicago. The consensus of this meeting was that if as United Methodists we are going to “seek the salvation of the city” and have the greatest positive influence in transforming Chicago, a strategic focus targeting the four areas whose underlying cause is poverty was needed.
These four strategic areas include Community Safety, Education & Literacy, Restorative Justice and Food Security. It was also agreed that a “Chicago Urban Strategy Summit” calling United Methodists throughout the City of Chicago and surrounding Chicagoland area to come together to address challenges facing residents of Chicago and to begin the development of an urban strategy for the United Methodist Church in Chicago.
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