News and Events

Magazine profiles two women from Seminary

CHICAGO, IL (November 25, 2008) – North Park Theological Seminary graduate Lisa Orris and current Seminary student Catherine Gilliard are profiled in the latest issue of Called, a magazine for female pastors and women in ministry.

Each have leadership roles in the Evangelical Covenant Church—Orris as the director of evangelism for the Department of Church Growth and Evangelism, and Gilliard as pastor of Commissioned Disciples Covenant Church in Stone Mountain, Ga., and president of both the African American Ministers Association and the Association for Covenant Clergy Women. Gilliard was also the first woman to chair the denomination’s executive board.

Orris expresses in her article that the church must not change the gospel it communicates, but rather the way it communicates the gospel. Fifty years ago, people still trusted the church, she observes. “People still thought Christianity was a good thing. Not everybody thinks like that today.”

This change in perception requires those within the church to be better listeners, Orris adds. “Our approach to evangelism can’t be this idea of ‘I have all the answers, you know nothing; I’m saved, you’re not; I’m churched, you’re not,’ ” she says. “It’s got to be more of a sharing, and a listening, and appreciating people’s stories and where they’re at.”

In Gilliard’s article, she shares how she has had to overcome racism and the belief among some in the church that women should not be pastors.

So how does she encourage other women who may find themselves in this position? “You just faithfully stand and wait on God,” Gilliard advises. “Eventually, He makes room for your gifts.”

Her church, Commissioned Disciples, is now four years old, and is committed to embracing the marginalized, including ex-offenders who have been incarcerated. “I’ve watched over and over again people who’ve entered into our community say to us, ‘I’ve read about this kind of love . . . but I never would have believed that there was a place where I could personally experience it myself,’” says Gilliard.

Her diverse congregation is small, and she cautions ministers against accepting the notion that bigger is better. “I often ask people who are struggling to stay faithful to calls in small ministry, ‘What if this is all God has for you? What if these 20 people are all He wants you to mentor for the rest of your life? Will that be enough for you?’” she says. “The question is, 'Is my church doing anything to impact lives, change communities, dismantle systems of injustice?'” Notes Gilliard, that is the real measure of fruitful ministry.

Oct. 22 - A Dialogue Between Faith & Politics

People of faith believe God works in history, in our lives and has the power to respond to our daily needs. Politicians engage the political process with optimism and the hope of creating opportunities for the betterment of society. Can people of faith engage responsibly in the work of politics? Can political leaders serve people with a spirit of reflection and moral honesty? How will you respond in the national elections?

The Center for Justice Ministries invites you to dialogue with our guest speaker and panelist North Park Professor Joseph Alulis as they talk about the upcoming national elections and the role of the faith community in addressing political issues.

Adam Russell Taylor, our guest speaker, currently serves as the Senior Political Director at Sojourners, a 34-year old Christian organization that integrates spiritual renewal with social justice. He formerly served as the Executive Director of Global Justice, an organization that educates, trains, and mobilizes students around issues of global human rights and economic justice. Taylor also serves as the Associate Minister at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington D.C.

Wednesday, October 22 - 12:00-1:30 p.m.
Olsson Lounge, Nyvall Hall

Forum to address professor's experience with modern-day slavery

CHICAGO, IL (September 3, 2008) – As a boy growing up in the slums of New Delhi, North Park University theology professor Boaz Johnson remembers that a number of his childhood friends would suddenly vanish. He later realized that some had been forced into labor in the carpet industry, working from 4 a.m. to late at night, until their young hands were raw and disfigured. Others, especially the girls, would be abducted and taken into sexual slavery.

It is a reality that seems far removed from his present one, living in a suburb of one of the most prominent cities in the United States. And yet, as Johnson explains, many of the evils he witnessed still exist today, and not just in India.

On Monday, September 8, Johnson will draw on his firsthand experiences to raise awareness on the pressing but largely hidden problem of modern-day slavery and human trafficking in a forum hosted by the Center for Justice Ministries. The discussion will take place from 12–1:30 p.m. in Olsson Lounge on the North Park campus.

The Center for Justice Ministries, a division of North Park Theological Seminary, challenges individuals to bridge the gap of injustice by their choices, their thinking, their work, and their faith. Its resources, which include workshops, conferences, publications, and training, aim to promote a deeper understanding of social injustices, and to empower people to get involved in preventing them.

Unbeknown to many Americans, approximately 27 million people live in slavery today—which is almost three times the number of slaves brought from Africa to the Americas during the four centuries of the transatlantic slave trade. Kevin Bales, co-founder and president of the nongovernment organization Free the Slaves, defines modern slavery by three conditions: 1) Individuals cannot walk away, 2) they are controlled by violence, and 3) they receive no payment beyond mere subsistence.

How does this occur in the 21st century—a time when slavery is technically illegal nearly everywhere in the world?

Sometimes victims are kidnapped and sold to traffickers. Women may respond to a false employment advertisement and be coerced into the sex trade. Families living in extreme poverty may borrow money to pay a debt (sometimes an unexpected medical bill for as little as $30) and find themselves forced into bonded labor, where the debt is used to keep them in subjugation, unable to escape. For this reason, the world’s poorest countries tend to be the highest sources of slave labor— but not to the exclusion of more affluent nations.

According to Bales, Americans tend to avoid using the word “slavery” to talk about current conditions of enslavement, reserving that word for history-book references to the legalized slave trade, and preferring the term “human-trafficking.” In truth, he says, trafficking only refers to what happens at the end of the trip.

In the United States alone, between 18,000 and 20,000 people are brought into the country through human trafficking, a practice that includes the harboring of people for the purposes of slavery, debt bondage, forced labor, sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude. That range of numbers rises as high 600,000–800,000 internationally. But while statistics for these abuses are startling, even more alarming are stories behind them—stories to which Johnson himself can attach actual names and faces.

“I remember this little guy by the name of Keshav who disappeared,” Johnson recalls. “We were told that he’d gone to a nice place.” But when Johnson reconnected with him at age 14, his hands were shriveled from carpet making. “When his fingers were no longer good for the fine work that needed to be done he was discarded,” Johnson explains. He notes that the only reason he was able to escape a similar fate was because his parents sent their children to a high-caste Hindu grammar school far away from the slum.

Another girl Johnson knew was taken away when she entered adolescence and sold into prostitution in the red-light district of New Delhi. “Her parents were poor—I think they may have been given $150 or something like that,” he says. “People will do anything to get out of their poverty.”

When Johnson and his wife moved to the Chicago area, they began an international church, where he would mention his experiences in his preaching. After hearing the stories, his congregation, which was composed of immigrants from various countries, began to recognize the signs of slavery in their own community. And they resolved to help.

Many nongovernment organizations exist to stop the abduction and sale of human beings. Some try to get children off of the streets, others offer skills training for destitute families, and still others work to halt government corruption and bring traffickers to justice. The Administration for Children and Families has established a trafficking information and referral hotline (888-373-7888) for those who suspect they have encountered victims of human trafficking. Social service workers at the hotline will connect callers with local resources and agencies.

“Your neighbor’s house may be a holding place for slaves that are brought in from other countries,” Johnson says. “You have to keep your eyes open and be willing to get involved.”