Things to Know (December)
Merry Christmas, Chicagoland Baptists!!!
I’m praying that the message of Christmas brings renewed comfort to you this year. And that through you and your churches, many in our region would hear of and respond to the grace of the Savior.
If you are having any special events like a Christmas Eve Service, share it on our private Facebook Group!
And if you’re still looking for a gift, consider getting something off of Starting Point’s Amazon Wish List. They are one of our churches that is doing amazing work with the migrants in the city.
Here is someone to know about – Mindy Cobb.
When Mindy and her husband, Lindsay, wrote to the Home Mission Board (now NAMB) asking about mission opportunities, they were asked if they would consider Chicago. Lindsay said, “Yes!” Mindy said, “I think people get shot in Chicago.” But after their first visit they never doubted God called them here. And 47 years later she still loves this city and can’t imagine being anywhere else!
Mindy and Lindsay officially arrived in Chicago as volunteer missionaries on December 1, 1976, to help with the planting of Uptown Baptist Church, then just a few people meeting in a condemned storefront on Broadway. Lindsay soon got very interested in reaching different language groups and eventually ended up working for the state and local associations in those areas. Mindy found her niche leading a women’s Sunday School class and helping with the Women’s Ministry at the church. She began working for the association in 1998 to get ready for ‘Strategic Focus Cities’ in 2000, which involved bringing mission teams here to develop partnerships, something she continues to coordinate to this day in her role as Office Manager at the Rockwell.
Over the years here Mindy has seen and experienced a lot. There are two major events that she says “rocked her world.” The first was learning that their oldest of three daughters was severely mentally handicapped, leading to the hardest decision of her life to put her into a home for special needs kids when she was 9 years old and where she still lives today. The other was dealing with her husband’s mental illness which eventually led to his death by suicide. But Mindy has learned to say, “In every rocking of my world God has shown me He is faithful. He is my all in all. He is my Rock, my shelter, my strength…. God is good all the time!”
You can see all past ‘Someones to Know’ here.
One of our goals for 2024 is to help facilitate more relationships among Chicagoland Baptist women. Mindy will be gathering pastor’s wives for informal fellowship. If your wife would like to meet Mindy and other women here in Chicagoland, there’s a lunch on 1/18 and/or dinner on 2/20. And, of course, the annual Women’s Conference is coming up on 3/2! See more info below…
Here are some events to know about –
Weekly Prayer Calls every Wednesday from 9:00 to 9:30 AM. Just click here to join anytime.
Monthly Discussions on the first Wednesday of the month from 9:00 to 10:00 AM.
On 1/3 we will all share our Year In Review/Year Ahead thoughts.
Upcoming Pastors’ Lunches for fellowship:
Our first Women’s Hangout (see above) is on 1/18 at The Rockwell in the daytime. RSVP HERE.
The Midwest Leadership Summit in Springfield is 1/23-24. More info here.
The annual Prayer Bus Tour will start this year at Ashburn Baptist Church in Orland Park and stop at Bethel Romanian in Park Ridge with stops in between at Jesus Is the Life in Chicago and Beautiful Church in Evanston. Save the Date for 2/10 and look for more details coming soon!
Our second Women’s Hangout is on 2/20 at The Rockwell in the evening. RSVP HERE.
The next Send Network Español Workshop is on 2/24 from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM at The Rockwell.
The annual Chicagoland Baptists Women’s Conference is 3/2 at Faith Tabernacle Baptist Church. More information and registration is here.
IBSA’s next Chicagoland Multiply Hub will be on 3/21 at All People’s Fellowship starting at 9:30 AM.
Here is something else to know about –
We recently switched our internet provider at the Rockwell to T-Mobile and are going to save over $1,000 next year! Let me know if you’re paying too much for business internet at your church and I can send you more information!
Also, if you haven’t filled out your ACP, please do that ASAP!!!!!!!!!
For the Sake of the Name,
Nathan Carter
Chicagoland Baptists
Executive Director/AMS
1356 N. Rockwell Street, Chicago, IL 60622
nathancarter@chicagolandbaptists.org
312.493.3726
You can apply to officially affiliate with Chicagoland Baptists here.
You can donate to Chicagoland Baptists here.
You can see past editions of ‘Things to Know’ here.
You can sign up for our weekly ‘A Quick Word’ here.
The mission of Chicagoland Baptists is to facilitate relationships among the Baptist churches of this Great City so that they can more effectively fulfill the Great Commission and live out the Great Commandment.
Here are our state and national partners for resourcing the church and reaching the lost:
Dr. Bryan R. Price
Illinois Baptist State Association
Zone 1 Church Consultant
bryanprice@ibsa.org
630.908.0853
Dr. Scott Nichols
North American Mission Board – Send City Missionary
snichols@namb.net
630.668.5900
Jorge Rodríguez
North American Mission Board – Send Español
Midwest Champion
jrodriguez@namb.net
312.934.4040
