Gilead Chicago: LIVE

Hey there, welcome back to the Gilead podcast. And WELCOME to the final sermon of Gilead! With a last will & testament, pomp & circumstance, on May 4, 2025, we closed the church. The Reverend Rebecca Anderson preached this final service. And members of the service read our Last Will & Testament to the congregation, which we then signed.  It was a memorable night. And you can listen to...

Rebecca this week, as a part of our Everything Must Go theme, reminds us that the world is always ending somewhere. She also references the play Mr. Burns: a post electric play, which, if you haven’t seen it or read it, you don’t have to in order to understand the sermon, but it’s really good and I highly recommend it. ***** We’ve been Gilead Chicago, a queer storytelling bar church located on Chi...

Continuing our final theme of Everything Must Go , Vince takes a moment to speak to the opposite of the truth that everything must go: that spirituality and God is multitudinal, expansive, inclusive and that perhaps maybe everything must stay.  We’ve been Gilead Chicago, a queer storytelling bar church located on Chicago’s north side. As of May 4th, 2025, we’re closing, but these episodes will sta...

Continuing our theme of Everything Must Go , Rebecca preaches about ridding ourselves of physical objects. And why we might hold onto them in the first place.  SUPPORT As we continue to have services and celebrations so that we can close Gilead with celebration and joy, we still could always use your support. You can support at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠this GiveButter site⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to help with closing and funeral costs....

As a part of our Lent “Everything Must Go” series, Vince speaks in his sermon about language. About how keeping our language simple can cut to the core of the real message.  ----- SUPPORT As we continue to have services and celebrations so that we can close Gilead with celebration and joy, we still could always use your support. You can support at ⁠⁠⁠⁠this GiveButter site⁠⁠⁠⁠ to help with closing...

From March 9th, at the beginning of Lent, we began stories in our very final Gilead service theme: Everything Must Go. Rebecca speaks of what we let go of as we grow up and grow old.  From March 9th, at the beginning of Lent, we began stories in our very final Gilead service theme: Everything Must Go. Rebecca speaks of what we let go of as we grow up and grow old.  ----- SUPPORT As we continue to...

On the theme of Forgive us Our Debts, Rebecca's sermon is not only about forgiveness but about mercy, what Jesus says about the two and how necessary they are in some of the darkest places in our society today.  This sermon was originally recorded on February 16th. ----- SUPPORT As we continue to have services and celebrations so that we can close Gilead with celebration and joy, we still coul...

This week’s sermon comes from Vince, preaching on the theme of Forgive Us Our Debts: stories of making good, settling scores and loan forgiveness. Vince says that he has two sermons on forgiveness, and he shares them both with us today. SUPPORT As we continue to have services and celebrations so that we can close Gilead with celebration and joy, we still could always use your support. You can supp...

This week’s sermon comes from Rebecca. She preaches for the final week of January’s “Blood, Sweat and Tears” theme and specifically, on the sweat part of it. It’s about sweating our asses off to interpret, to spread the word of the gospel, to adapt and change and bring these old stories into the present moment. And into the future. Sweating our asses off to tell true stories that change lives. SUP...

This week’s sermon is a little different, because in it, Rebecca addresses the heartbreaking decision to end Gilead. I attended service in person for this sermon, and I gotta say, I’m glad I was there. But for those of you who weren’t, or for those of you who would just like to listen again, here it is.  After a vote by the congregation to close the church during the service this past Sunday, Gile...

Today’s sermon comes from Vince. Vince gave this sermon on January 5th, so the theme for the week was Epiphany. And in his story, Vince touches on the history of the Magii, their origins as firekeepers. He offers the thought that maybe, rather than journeying for self knowledge, journeying to find answers, the Magii knew their way to Jesus because they spent so many long, bored nights understandin...

Today’s sermon comes from Rebecca as a part of our Advent series, for which our theme is “preppers”. Yes, like doomsday preppers… This week, specifically, Rebecca works with improvisation as a form of readiness. She talks about a time she had to improvise, when all she wanted to do was be at least a little bit prepared.  SUPPORT You can help us keep doing our thangggg (i.e. existing) by supporting...

Today’s sermon comes from Rebecca as a part of our Advent series, for which our theme is “preppers”. Yes, like doomsday preppers…And through her sermon, Rebecca explores the idea of prepping for the apocalypse as an act of hope…after all, doesn’t prepping for the apocalypse assume that when all is said and done, we’ll still be around to rebuild? SUPPORT You can help us keep doing our thangggg (i.e...

Today’s sermons once again come from both Vince and Rebecca, originally told on November 24th during our Fight Club series. Our topic this week was “Alpha vs. Omega”. Rebecca, representing the viewpoint of Alpha, makes a case for the beginning of things being what leads to all other things. Before the beginning, there is nothing - what could be more important? While Vince asks us to consider what...

This week we get sermons from both Vince and Rebecca, as a part of Gilead's "Fight Club" series, where each pastor gives a sermon on (seemingly) opposing viewpoints. This week, our theme is "A Time to Weep vs. A Time to Laugh". Vince explores how sometimes the act of weeping is also an act of finding our people while Rebecca wonders about the possibility that emerges when we allow ourselves to lau...

This sermon is a special one from Rebecca - originally preached on Oct 6th to celebrate National Coming Out day in partnership with the Lighthouse Foundation. They’re an extremely cool social justice organization fighting for black queer equity across Chicago, and we’re proud to be a part of their Coalition of Accomplices for Racial Equity. You can find more info about them here . *** SUPPORT You...

Sometimes it’s like… We could totalllyyyyyy tough it out and deal with 99% of our problems alone… but then other times it's like… “Okay but why do it alone tho?” — Vince is preaching on that today (with more nuance 😜), as part of our “Home Away From Home” series. *** SUPPORT You can help us keep doing our thangggg (i.e. existing) by supporting us ⁠here on our website⁠ ! We operate on a shoestring...

This week Vince is preaching about all the times when it feels impossible to find home in this world, as part of our “Home Away From Home” series. *** SUPPORT You can help us keep doing our thangggg (i.e. existing) by supporting us ⁠here on our website⁠ ! We operate on a shoestring budget, so any and all donations are incredibly appreciated. JOIN US IRL! Whoever you are, whatever your story is, yo...

This week Rebecca's preaching about the God-given superpowers we have that we wish were anything else. *** SUPPORT You can help us keep doing our thangggg by supporting us ⁠here on our website⁠ ! We operate on a shoestring budget, so any and all donations are incredibly appreciated. JOIN US IRL! Whoever you are, whatever your story is, you are welcome with us. ⁠Sign up for our newsletter here⁠...

This week Rebecca's preaching about the times when life gets messy and the only way forward is to make it up as you go along. *** SUPPORT You can help us keep doing our thangggg by supporting us here on our website ! We operate on a shoestring budget, so any and all donations are incredibly appreciated. JOIN US IRL! Whoever you are, whatever your story is, you are welcome with us. Sign up for...

Rev. Vince Amlin 2024.8.18 For the Record...We believe in the Word of God for the People of God

Izzy Collazo 2024.8.4 For the Record...We're Made in God's Image

Rev. Rebecca Anderson 2024.7.21 For The Record

Rev. Vince Amlin 2024.7.7 Taking Liberties: The Freedom to Choose

Rev. Jamie Frazier 2024.6.23 Taking Liberties: Breaking Free