Students from the Circle, Roosevelt, the Medical Center, the University of Chicago, Illinois Institute of Technology, even Northwestern in Evanston, and many other colleges attended Circle Church regularly. Church-related or religious schools, including Moody Bible Institute, North Park College, Emmaus Bible School, and distant Wheaton and Trinity Colleges were often represented. After several months of operation, we affiliated with a denomination, the Evangelical Free Church of America, and were quite happy with the relationship.
As the days passed, an alternate choice demanded our attention. Either we could have a part-time staff and a full-time building, or a part-time building and a full-time staff. Because the Teamsters’ hall was adequately meeting our needs and the cost of urban properties was quite prohibitive, we chose, at this point, to place our emphasis on manpower. In September of 1967 we forfeited any immediate plans for property when the church voted to take Sherm Williams on the staff part-time to direct the music program.
On a volunteer basis, Sherm had built our miniscule choir from the miniature congregation to a size too large to tuck behind the piano in the corner of the auditorium from which we conducted the services. The group of from fifteen to twenty, sometimes nearly as large as the audience, now sang from behind the congregation.
Unintentionally, we discovered that this simple adjustment enhanced our worship. Personalities no longer interfered with the message being sung. Musically gifted, the choir always sang a cappella, and this harmonious blend of voices floating across us as we worshiped was a unique and satisfying experience. Occasionally soloists would sing from this position also.
We’re continuing to learn key lessons that will prove critical to the development of our distinct philosophy of ministry. I’m sharing these lessons with you in the hope that they will prove useful to you. How grateful we remain for the great outpouring of God’s grace that enabled us to give birth to a new work of His grace in downtown Chicago in the turbulent 1960’s. Please join me, as I continue this narrative.
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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about? Or, what will you preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon? David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help you learn how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons. Just click here to visit David Mains’ website.
For so many of us, the Christmas celebration can be a mile wide and an inch deep. We tire ourselves with an ever-growing list of gifts to buy, activities to complete, and traditions to uphold. And through a maze of cards and calls, outreach and entertainment, we struggle to connect with others in meaningful ways. Our intentions are sincere, but often trivial. When we look back on the season, we’re often left feeling like our holidays somehow lost the Christ in Christmas, and only touched the surface.
Every pastor needs resources to help him or her find appropriate Sermons for Advent and Sermons for Christmas. With Christmas Sermon resources from Mainstay Ministries, you can help your congregation season their Christmas traditions with the flavor of Christ. More than simply helping them to remember that “Jesus is the reason for the season,” you can encourage people to focus on Christ in the very traditions that have become part of our celebration of Christmas: decorating our homes, conveying Christmas greetings, giving and receiving gifts, gathering with family and friends, entering the new year with goals. Click here to see a list of special Christmas Sermon Packages available.
Looking forward to Christmas? Looking for key Sermon Ideas? Wondering what to preach throughout the Christmas Season? Searching for help in preparing for your Sermons on Christmas Day? In addition to the above special offer, Mainstay Ministries has many valuable resources filled with Christmas Sermon Ideas to help you plan for your Christmas preaching and for such Sunday Sermons, including resources for the following: Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermon, Advent Sermon Series, Advent Sunday Sermons, Christmas Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermon, and Christmas Sermon Series. Connect with us on-line by clicking here.
