First Friday Club of Chicago podcast: Recent Episodes
First Friday Club of Chicago
The mission of the First Friday Club of Chicago is to provide a forum for men and women to make connections between work, faith, values and issues that affect their daily lives.
Sr. Helen Prejean got into her ministry against the death penalty almost by accident in her early forties, with a decision to write to a prisoner on death row. She credits “Sneaky Jesus” for this idea, which changed her life. Her 1993 book, Dead Man Walking, made into a movie, brought her onto the national stage.
Today Sister Prejean is still the most prominent voice against the death penalty in the U.S. She urged Popes John Paul II and Francis to change church teaching to oppose capital punishment in any circumstance, which finally happened in 2018.
This doesn’t mean, however, that the battle is winding down. The governor of Prejean’s home state Louisianna, has ended a 15-year pause on executions. The new administration in Washington has pledged to ramp up the death penalty. Because more than 60 pharmaceutical companies refuse to supply drugs for use in executions, states are turning to firing squads, electrocution, and use of nitrogen gas to suffocate prisoners. Race still plays a huge role in who is sentenced to death.
So there’s plenty of work to be done. “Have to do it,” says Sr. Helen Prejean. “Can’t not do it.”
Press Under Pressure Traditional media faces adversity on all sides. Younger generations have turned to social media and podcasts, often one-sided, where misinformation can run wild. Everyone feels bombarded, our heads spinning. Given these realities, can America’s media still be a force for truth in this fractured time?
Hermene Hartman, with her decades as a pioneer in Chicago media, will look for signs of hope in a rapidly changing media landscape.
On the home front: Habitat for Humanity confronts Chicago’s housing crisis
Chicago's severe housing deficit is undermining our city's vitality. Join us as Jennifer Parks shares the history of Habitat and how the impact of current projects in three Chicago neighborhoods are playing a small but critical role in righting this wrong.
When Jahmal Cole began volunteering at the Cook County Jail in 2013, he quickly realized many of its youngest occupants had never once been out of their neighborhoods.
This observation would prove to be an important catalyst in establishing My Block, My Hood, My City.
Today, you can find Jahmal Cole and his team providing opportunities for teens to step outside their comfort zone to explore new communities, cultures, and cuisines. They also work within communities to show how service, empathy, and collaboration can make a difference not only on their own block but in the city of Chicago.
Two of Chicago's most prominent journalists take us through the resulats of the election and what it means for our democracy.
A confident, reassuring presence during Gov. Pritzker’s daily covid briefings, Dr. Ngozi Ezike in 2022 left the Illinois Department of Public Health to lead Sinai Chicago. And, while steering this major, 105-year-old Chicago healthcare institution, she’s keeping her eye on the broader picture.
“Understanding health care is more than what happens with doctors and nurses,” she says. “We have to see the related other pieces: having insurance, having a safe space to exercise, having a grocery store nearby so you can buy healthy food. We’re in the minority among developed nations in how we don’t see health care as a right. Instead there are haves and have nots.”
Located on Chicago’s West Side, Sinai Hospital offers a case in point: 70% of its patients are on Medicaid. West Siders’ life expectancy is 16 years shorter than that of folks who live just a few miles away in the Loop. Ezike insists that this status quo is simply not acceptable. “More people need to be thinking about this,” she says. “Our words and our actions really have to match.”
As a healthcare leader who has dedicated her career to serving disadvantaged communities and fighting health care disparities, Ezike will point to the bigger picture of how we can work together to ensure decent healthcare for all Chicagoans.
Raised in Los Angeles and a mother of four, Dr. Ezike credits her husband, Dr. Emeka Ezike and her faith in a higher power for helping her deal with the stress from her jobs, especially during the pandemic. A graduate of Harvard, Dr. Ezike worked for 15 years for Cook County Health, addressing the needs of the residents of Cook County. She also served as medical director of the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center and of Austin Health Center on the West Side.
Mary Meg McCarthy is the Executive Director of Heartland Alliance's National Immigrant Justice Center
"The Sacredness of Storytelling"
Through the power of stories that speak to the heart, Otis Moss III tackles the theme of democracy—and what we can do in this moment, when we fear that ours is coming apart at the seams. “Appropriate storytelling leads to appropriate action,” he says. “If you don’t have the right story, you repeat the last chapter over and over again--you never get to a new one.”
This father of two calls us to consider our responsibility for the future: “Every generation has a call it must accept, to lay a brick in the cathedral that we’re attempting to build for our children’s children.” A believer in the sacredness of history, Moss will tell stories of people who, despite having fewer resources than many of us, made an incredible difference in our world.
Shermann 'Dilla Thomas:
"Everything Dope About America Comes From Chicago" : Chicago's Urban Historian Shares his passion for teaching people about the city he loves.
Also, a special performance from the Leo High School Choir.
Join us to hear how the Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul traces his commitment to social justice back to his Haitian immigrant parents and his childhood on Chicago’s South Side
Howard Reich, son of Holocaust survivors and journalist for the Chicago Tribune, was handed a simple assignment to interview Elie Wiesel, best known for his famous Holocaust memoir Night and recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Daily phone calls and multiple in-person meetings with Wiesel would eventually turn Reich’s “simple” assignment into four years of intimate conversations which ended shortly before Elie died. The time spent together grew into a friendship through shared stories and a common bond between Howard’s father and Elie; both men were liberated from the Buchenwald death camp on April 11, 1945.
Arts in Chicago: Remaining Relevant
Barbara Gaines, founder and recently retired Artistic Director of Chicago Shakespeare Theater, has been instrumental in bringing outstanding stage productions to Chicago for 37 years. Beginning in 1986, with an inaugural performance on a pub’s roof top in Lincoln Park, Barbara's creativity, intelligence and hard work provided the catalyst needed to showcase Chicago Shakespeare’s talented organization which in turn, brought high praise and recognition from the Chicago arts community and the global stage as well.
Rick Kogan, Born and raised in Chicago, a Tribune columnist, author, WGN radio show host, and past contributor to Chicago Daily News and the Sun-Times, Mr. Kogan is often referred to as one of the great voices of Chicago radio and the last in a great tradition of classic newspaper men. He’s one of the true chroniclers of our city.
Together, Barbara Gaines and Rick Kogan will join ranks on stage at the Union League Club to discuss highlights and challenges facing the Chicago arts community along with a grab bag of other topics. And as old friends go, the two of them share a few “inside” Chicago stories never to be found in the Tribune or heard on the radio.
Violence in Chicago - Do We Want a Solution or a Band-Aid?
Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina parish has long been an impassioned voice against injustice in its many forms in our city and our nation. He will address what Chicago must do to stem the tide of gun violence that so stubbornly afflicts our city.
Father Pfleger has consistently spoken out against gun violence during his decades at St. Sabina. He has organized not only an annual Peace Rally and Stop the Violence March at the parish, but also weekly Friday night peace marches in the community every summer. He sponsors gun buy-backs. He recently proposed that all city churches, mosques, and synagogues forfeit their tax exempt status unless they provide a full slate of activities for young people, especially on weekends.
“Children are our best investment; they could be our peacemakers; and they are getting killed, burying our future,” he said. “Now everybody has to step up because we no longer have a choice.”Having lost a foster son to gang crossfire in 1998, he also speaks eloquently on behalf of those who have lost loved ones to senseless shootings.
Sports in our changing culture: Why we still lavish faith, hope, and love on America’s second religion Certain questions in sports have more serious ramifications than the ever-popular “How ‘bout dem Bears?” Consider the meteoric rise of sports gambling, or the now acknowledged risk of severe brain injuries in football. Not to mention the middle class being priced out of most tickets—and now out of watching games on TV as well.
Join Mike Mulligan, co-host of the Mully and Haugh show on WSCR 670-AM, as he takes a swing at top issues in sports today, including how sports interact with our faith and our values.
More on Mr. Mulligan … Mr. Mulligan is a native Chicagoan who grew up on the South Side and graduated from Loyola University. Before switching to radio, Mike spent 27 years with the Chicago Sun times as an award winning journalist. Mike is a huge White Sox fan and he and his wife, Christina, have three children.
A lawyer first, an author second: A reflection on the development of the law in his lifetime and its impact on society and his books. For more than 30 years, Scott Turow has been fortunate to be a bestselling author.. Beginning with Presumed Innocent published in 1987 to his to his current legal thriller, Suspect, he has written 14 novels, all New York Times bestsellers, which have been translated into dozens of languages abroad and read by millions worldwide.
But hand in hand with his writing, Turow has remained a practicing lawyer. He retired as a partner at the Dentons firm in August 2020, but continues to work on a limited number of pro bono matters. He has always defined himself as a lawyer, as well as a writer, and an appreciation of the law animates all of his novels.
Sometimes it causes me to tremble: Let Lent lead us through our fears for the future of the church The Catholic Church in the US faces some daunting realities: falling attendance, suspicion of the institution, and young people who are opting out of religion altogether.
How does Sister Barbara Reid, who heads up a school that trains seminarians and lay religious leaders, prepare these students to serve the church of today and of the future? How will they address the rampant spiritual hunger of young people, for example, who are so committed to social justice, community, and service, but who seldom see the church as meeting their deepest needs?
Join us to hear how Sister Reid and CTU are navigating these rough waters, and why she believes the church will thrive in the future--provided it looks different from the church of today. Reid finds great hope in one of the Gospel stories of Holy Week, which invites all of us, especially our leaders, to a different model of church. What might Jesus, who always stands at the center of our faith, be asking of us and our church this Lent?
Sister Barbara Reid was elected president of Catholic Theological Union in 2020, and has served on the CTU faculty since 1988. A renowned New Testament scholar who has served as president of the Catholic Biblical Association, she has received numerous awards for her contributions to the field. Reid has led many of CTU’s travel and retreat programs in the Holy Land, as well as lecturing in South and Central America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. She is a Dominican Sister of Grand Rapids, and a former Spanish teacher.
Catholic Theological Union in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood is one of the largest Catholic graduate schools of theology in the English speaking world; it trains women and men for lay and ordained ministry within the Catholic Church. Its more than 4,000 vowed religious women and men and lay graduates are serving in 60 countries worldwide.
Rooftop Pastor works to break the cycle of violence, poverty and racism in Woodlawn Pastor Corey Brooks of New Beginnings Church and founder of Project Hood is leading the Woodlawn neighborhood as they create a safer place and give their children the tools to reach for a brighter future.
Spending nearly a year on a Woodlawn rooftop, raising awareness of critical deficits in his own backyard, pastor Brooks raised $20 million dollars; enough money to break ground for the Leadership & Economic Opportunity Center at 66th and King Drive.
In addition, Pastor Brooks and his wife Delilah have fully invested in the community of Woodlawn by spearheading a community initiative called Project H.O.O.D. to revitalize the neighborhood. Through it, they are raising up a new generation of peacemakers, problem solvers, and entrepreneurs.
Current Project H.O.O.D. programming includes a Core and Carpentry Level I course, which places participants in entry-level construction jobs post-program, an entrepreneurship course, and separate business workshops for aspiring and new business owners, a co-working office space for business owners, job placement programs, and community-wide events including The World’s Largest Baby Shower.
Pastor Brooks attended Ball State University, Dallas Theological Seminary, and Grace Theological Seminary. He has been pastoring since 1990 and established New Beginnings Church of Chicago in November 2000 in the heart of Chicago's South Side.
A Wild Ride: How the Holy Spirit Propelled me from Business School to the Boardroom to Battling Poverty Heralded by her peers as a “natural change agent,” Sally Blount has made her mark not only in the corporate world but in the field of academia—she served as dean at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management for eight years. Her ability to pivot, helping organizations do more and better, has also served as a catalyst for her own faith journey, leading her to take on a new role as Executive Director and CEO of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago in 2020.
Ms. Blount is the first layperson to lead Catholic Charities, which began more than a century ago amidst a global flu pandemic. Today she is leading this institution out of another pandemic, challenged by soaring budgets, poverty, and social justice issues that seem to change daily.
We hope you can join us on January 6th as Sally Blount discusses the challenges that lie ahead for Catholic Charities in 2023 and how the complexities of her own faith journey and career accomplishments have intertwined to bring her to this next chapter in her life.
More Background on Ms. Blount ... In addition to Catholic Charities, Sally Blount holds the Michael L. Nemmers chair in Strategy at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, where she is a proud alumna and served as dean from 2010-2018.
Blount is an expert on organizational transformation and leadership. A record-setting fundraiser, organizational change agent, and highly sought-after speaker — she has been regularly featured in top news outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Forbes, The Economist, Businessweek, Fortune, and MSNBC. She has been a featured speaker at WEF Davos and the Vatican.
Blount sits on numerous boards including the advisory board for the Aspen Institute Business and Society program and the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Finance Council. She also served as dean at NYU Stern College of Business for six years and on faculty at NYU and the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago for nearly two decades. She holds MS and Ph.D. degrees from Northwestern University and a B.S.E. from Princeton University. Blount began her career at the Boston Consulting Group.
Rediscovering Awe and Mystery: What Science and Faith Can Tell Us This Advent Long before he became a priest, Chicago’s Father John Kartje was a scientist, getting a Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Chicago. What’s the one constant between these two vocations? “Both the scientist and the person of faith are always engaging with mystery,” he says.
Kartje describes Advent as that pregnant pause in each year when we once more engage the mystery, bringing along our new hopes and anxieties, seeing the story through fresh eyes whether we’re 30 or 70.
Currently the rector/president of the University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, Fr. John Kartje takes issue with the supposed disconnect between faith and science. The way science looks at the world should absolutely inform the way people of faith do so, he says. That’s why the Vatican convenes groups of scientists, of any faith or of none, to report on conditions such as climate change. Good scientists, he says, can help people of faith to stay honest.
- Friday, November 4, 2022
- 12:00 PM 1:15 PM
- Union League Club Chicago (map)
It's a Whole New Ballgame: Guiding Our Next Generation Through Anxious Times As depression rates increase dramatically, especially among teens and young adults, learn why it's important for everyone to understand what's happening.
What young people face today looks nothing like what most of us experienced during adolescence, says Dr. John Duffy. The combined pressure of ever-present drama on social media, isolation due to covid, unreasonable expectations of perfection, and worries about climate change and war create a difficult challenge. We can't simply hand this concern off to parents and grandparents, says Dr. Duffy. The problem involves the whole community, and the solutions lie with all of us as well.
A nationally recognized parenting and relationship expert, Dr. John Duffy has worked in his clinical practice with individuals, couples, teens, and families for nearly 25 years. He is the author of the # 1 best-sellers Parenting the New Teen in the Age of Anxiety: A Complete Guide to Your Child's Stressed, Depressed, Expanded, Amazing Adolescence (2019) and The Available Parent (2014). Dr. Duffy has been a parenting and relationship expert on hundreds of national television programs, including CNN, Today, various NewsNation shows and Steve Harvey. He is part of the CNN Wellness team, and appears often on WGN and WLS radio as well as on other television, radio, and print outlets, including the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, NPR and the Wall Street Journal.
On May 20th, 2019, Ms. Lori Lightfoot succeeded in becoming the first black female and openly gay Mayor of Chicago. We welcomed her to be our March 2020 speaker.
In May 1988, Phil Andrew, then a 20-year-old college student, was shot in the chest in the aftermath of the Hubbard Woods elementary school shooting in Winnetka—one of the nation’s first modern mass school shootings.
Andrew survived his injuries, but the experience would ultimately shape his priorities and his career. In the 30 years since the shooting, he has dedicated his life to fighting violence—first as the executive director of the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence and later as an FBI agent and crisis negotiator.
"Suicide: The Aftermath"
The painful reality of suicide has become too prevalent in our culture today. It has been said that one soldier in our military takes his life every day. The rate of suicide among veterans is not far behind. There is also an alarming rise in the number of police officers and first responders who choose to end their lives. And finally, the number of school age kids who commit suicide and have so much to live for, continues to rise annually.
On Friday, December 6, 2019, at Noon,
in the President's Hall : 2nd Floor
of the Union League Club
The First Friday Club Welcomes
Fr. Edward Foley
Duns Scotus Professor of Spirituality, Professor of Liturgy and Music at Catholic Theological Union
"Advent: The Art of Paying Attention"
Most Christians think that Advent is preparation for the "birth of Jesus," but we cannot prepare for a past event. It is also not simply the preparation for his annual "birthday." Rather, this season is an intense rehearsal of what Christian living is supposed to be each day: paying attention to the sacred revelations and surprising Incarnations that the Holy One springs on us each day. Every day of our lives ... every moment of our lives is a potential "divine ambush." Advent is a four week intensive that each year re-certifies us ... recalibrates Christians for detecting God's unpredictable yet constant reincarnating in the world.
Fr. Edward Foley is Duns Scotus Professor of Spirituality and the founding director of the Ecumenical Doctor of Ministry Program at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He is a Capuchin-Franciscan and ordained Roman Catholic priest. An award winning author, he has produced more than twenty books, translated into multiple languages including From Age to Age and Mighty Stories, Dangerous Rituals with Herbert Anderson. A well-known speaker, he has taught in venues such as the University of Chicago and Notre Dame, presented in settings as diverse as the Mayo Clinic and the Houston Astro Dome, and lectured in over 60 Roman Catholic dioceses from India to the Philippines.
The First Friday Club Welcomes
Edward J. Wehmer
Founder, President & CEO of Wintrust
"Faith at Work...Let's Talk About It"
A great champion of local business and advocate for entrepreneurs, Wehmer will discuss the challenges of maintaining faith and values while growing professionally.
Please join us as we welcome Edward J. Wehmer, Founder, President & CEO of Wintrust, to the podium on November 1st.
Alan Krashesky walked through the door of Channel 7 in Chicago as a 21 year old. Now, 37 years later, he has become the dean of broadcast journalists in the Chicago television market. He is considered one of the top reporters in the Chicago market, and has been praised for his coverage of the Catholic Church.
In a conversation format Rick Kogan will chat with Fr. Cusick about the issues he raises in his recently released book, “Never Be Ordinary – Wisdom from My Father.”
“Challenging One of the Last Social Taboos –
Discrimination Against Mental Health, Addiction, and Other
Brain Diseases”
The First Friday Club of Chicago in Cooperation with
the Authors Group (Union League Club)
Welcomes
Ms. Joy Loverde
Author: Who Will Take Care of Me When I’m Old? and
The Complete Eldercare Planner
Who will address the topic:
“Caring for Aging Parents and Loved Ones while Planning for Your Future Self - Are You Ready?”
The Baby Boom Generation has become the new senior citizen generation, with more than 6000 Americans turning 65 every day. At the same time more and more people are living into their 90s. This data presents us with two fears: the fear of dying and the fear of living too long.
Many of us might become--if we aren’t already--the caregivers for grandparents, parents, spouses, siblings, and beloved friends. Without careful planning, that role as caregiver can put our own physical, emotional, financial, housing, and legal needs at risk.
But wait--what about you and me, especially if we have no children or others to rely on as we grow older? Joy Loverde points to the increasing percentage of the middle-aged and Baby Boomers who are aging solo: the never married, separated, divorced, and widowed. Given this reality, the number one question we all need to ask ourselves is, “Who will take care of me and be my advocate when I’m old?”
On Friday, February 1, at Noon,
in the Presidents Hall of the Union League Club,
The First Friday Club of Chicago
Welcomes
Ms. Mary Meg McCarthy
Executive Director
National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC)
Who will address the topic:
The Statue of Liberty
Every Immigrant’s Dream of a Better Life
The First Friday Club of Chicago
Welcomes
Ms. Maureen Maher
Award-Winning Investigative Journalist
for the CBS News Magazine, 48 Hours
Who Will Address the Topic
“The World I want for my Daughter...and Son.
Using Lessons from Our Time to Create a Better Future.”
On Friday, April 6, 2018 in the Main Lounge of the Union League Club
The First Friday Club Welcomes
Mr. Kenneth L. Woodward
Former Religion Editor, Newsweek Magazine
Who will address the Topic?
“Religion and American Politics: The Recent History of a Stormy Relationship”
We have been told to avoid two topics in our conversations: religion and politics. On April 6 th
our speaker, Ken Woodward, will address both of them!
One of the people most qualified to address this issue is Ken Woodward who for 38 years covered the
topic of religion in America for Newsweek Magazine. And since then he has continue to speak on and
write about the place and impact of religion in our country.
His most recent book is titled Getting Religion: Faith, Culture, and Politics from the Age of Eisenhower to
the Era of Obama.
Ken Woodward’s intent during his First Friday Club presentation is to begin with an analysis of the
present situation of Evangelicals in current American politics and then go back to JFK and move
forward to a discussion of Religion and the GOP and Religion and the Democrats.
This should be very interesting!
Ken Woodward has authored over 750 articles for Newsweek, including nearly 100 cover
stories. He has been a news commentator on NBC, ABC and CBS. Among his numerous awards
are the National Magazine Award, the Pulitzer Prize of the magazine industry, and the Robert E.
Griffin Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Art of Writing from the University of Notre
Dame.
Mr. Woodward grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, graduated from St. Ignatius High School there and
from the University of Notre Dame (1957). He and his wife, Elizabeth, have three children and
seven grandchildren.
His current book, Getting Religion: Faith, Culture, and Politics from the Age of Eisenhower to the Ascent
of Trump will be available in paperback after his presentation.
Violence is a Three-Sided Coin
The out-of- control violence that plagues so many pockets of Chicago focuses on two elements:
the perpetrators and the victims. Often they are described as opposite sides of the same coin, the 2
sides of a violent action.
Yet there is another element that very often encircles those two sides. Violence between perpetrator
and victim often occurs in the same territory, neighborhood, or community: the third side of the coin.
Fr. Dave Kelly and other members of his religious congregation began the Precious Blood Ministry of
Reconciliation. This Ministry reaches out to those who have been harmed, the one who has done the
harm, and the community.
Our criminal justice system asks what law was broken and what the punishment is. There is very little
energy offered to the victim or to the process of healing.
Fr. Kelly's Restorative Justice Program seeks to restore the peace, to fix the harm and pain by
working together with the victim, the offender, and the community.
In the great Tradition of our Faith rooted in Christ, he sees all life as precious: the offender, the
victim, and all in the community. He believes that healing and hope can be restored by all three sides
of this coin coming together in Peace and Justice.
Violence among us may be defined as out of control. But Fr. Dave Kelly's ministry has proven that
can change.
Father Dave Kelly has earned his Doctorate of Ministry from the Catholic Theological Union. His
thesis is entitled: "Responding to the Violence Among Urban Youth: a Restorative Approach."
On the first Friday in February we are dealing with the issue of Homelessness. We want to get beyond the stereotype and, look deeply and honestly at this growing sad cultural issue that surrounds all of us. Too many social issues have become the victims of dishonest and unfair stereotypes.
Yes. There are homeless people who beg on many of the street corners in downtown Chicago.
But did you know there are college students in the Chicago area who return to homeless shelters each night? Yes, there are.
There are also many homeless people who hold jobs and work every day, but cannot make enough money to rent a place to live for themselves and their children. So they travel night after night from town to town with their children, to the humiliation of a shelter - trying to get back on their financial feet.
This is occurring during these cold winter nights throughout the city and even in many of the best Chicago suburbs.
Our February speaker, Mark McGreevy, made a commitment 27 years ago in London to bring an end to homelessness. That has led to 100 projects in 6 countries supporting over 23,000 people. We have much to learn about this issue that surrounds us all.
On Friday, December 1, 2017, At Noon
In the Main Lounge of the Union League Club
The First Friday Club of Chicago
Welcomes
John Shea
Author, Poet, Theologian, Storyteller
Who will address the topic
“Christmas: It Never Grows Old.”
It will happen again very soon. We will gather around tables, in church pews, and on chairs and sofas in family rooms, living rooms and great spaces for our celebrations of Christmas 2017. It is inevitable. The calendar tells us so.
Yet, it is possible that our Christmas can get lost amid all the expressions of Christmas we are about to encounter. Somewhere woven between the layers of Christmas shopping, retail discounts, gift giving, favorite seasonal movies and music from classic to pop, charming stories about a Grinch and another about a reindeer with a red nose, there is found yet another story, a Gospel story about a young Jewish woman who birthed her first-born son, wrapped him in love and placed him in a manger. All expressions of Christmas are rooted in this Story that never grows old.
It has been the practice of the First Friday Club to invite a speaker each first Friday in December to raise our consciousness of the spirituality of this wonderful season culminating on Christmas Day. There might be no one better this year than John Shea to speak to the spirituality of this special time of the year. He is a very creative writer, theologian, storyteller and poet.
John (Jack) Shea is the former Professor of Systematic Theology and former Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at the University of St. Mary of the Lake. He was Research Professor at the Institute of Pastoral Studies, Loyola University Chicago. He was also Senior Scholar in Residence at the Park Ridge Center for the Study of Health, Faith and Ethic.
He is a very popular speaker in parishes, organizations and programs throughout the Chicago area and beyond.
Our Children, our future - protecting their health and well-being Health Care has been a major topic of political and social conversation for the past eight months as well as a recurring theme in our country for almost eight years.
riday, May 5, 2017, At Noon At the Union League Club
The First Friday Club of Chicago
Welcomes
David Axelrod
Political Commentator and Author
Who will address the issue:
“The Evolving Media and Political Landscape”
David Axelrod was motivated by a sense of idealism at an early age. At 5 years old, he witnessed an inspiring speech by John F. Kennedy, in New York, which would set his life on a political course. Axelrod credits this formative experience with arousing a life passion for politics, and, in 1972, Axelrod moved to Illinois to study political science at the University of Chicago.
Upon graduating from college, Axelrod began working for the Chicago Tribune. In 1981, by the age of 27, he gained acclaim for being the youngest political writer in the newspaper's history.
After eight years of political reporting, Axelrod left the paper to pursue a career in campaign consulting. This included being the media strategist for 150 state, local and national political campaigns. He is the former chief strategist and senior advisor to President Barack Obama.
He currently serves as Director of the University of Chicago's non-partisan Institute for Politics; senior political commentator for CNN; and host of The Axe Files, a top-rated podcast jointly produced by CNN and his institute. Axelrod is also the author of The New York Times best- selling memoir, Believer: My Forty Years in Politics.
On Friday, April 7, 2017
The First Friday Club of Chicago in Cooperation with the Authors Group (Union League Club)
Welcomes
Mr. Mark Shriver
President, Save The Children Action Network
Author, PILGRIMAGE - My Search for the Real Pope Francis
Who Will Address the Topic
"My Search for the Real Pope Francis"
Pope Francis very quickly has become one of the most fascinating and one of the most popular people in the world. He is adored by millions and disdained by many others. Who is he? Where did he come from? What motivates him? How did he become so compassionate to the poor and marginalized?
Mark Shriver set out to find answers to those and many other elements in the life of Jorge Marie Bergoglio. In his journeys through Argentina to the places where Pope Francis was born, lived, educated and ministered as a Jesuit, Shriver not only entered into the heart of Francis, he also came into deeper contact with his own faith, values and his motivation for doing good for others. His biographical journey into the life of Pope Francis has also led him to question even his own work as head of the nonprofit, Save the Children.
Mark Shriver is the son of Sargent Shriver, who ran the Merchandise Mart here in Chicago and became the first head of the Peace Corps, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, one of the founders of The Special Olympics here in Chicago.
Mr. Shriver will be joined in conversation by Rev. Pat McGrath, S.J., president of Loyola Academy and visiting priest at Old St. Pat's Catholic Church.
Cardinal Cupich will offer some thoughts on how believers can respond in a time marked by moral whiplash and acrimonious public discourse. The present moment seems to demand that we Christians choose between seemingly competing issues from protecting the unborn to caring for the marginalized, from defending religious freedom to preserving the environment. What is the average Catholic to do?
On Friday, February 3, 2017
At Noon at the Union League Club
The First Friday Club of Chicago Welcomes
Dr. Jo Ann Rooney
24th President, Loyola University Chicago
Who will address the issue: "IS THERE A CHANGING CATHOLIC IDENTITY IN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES TODAY?"
Contemporary America is experiencing two amazing phenomena: cultural/religious/social diversity and a rapidly increasing secularity. These phenomena are incarnated in the student and faculty populations of Catholic Universities. What is Catholic today in a Catholic University? Is there a Catholic world view that is taught and promoted? Is there a Catholic ethic and moral compass that clashes with a secular ethic?
Dr. Jo Ann Rooney, JD, LLM, EdD, is the 24th President of Loyola University Chicago and the first lay president in the University's history. She holds a Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School, a Master of Laws in taxation from Boston University School of Law, and a Doctor of Education in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania.
Jeanne Bishop, Attorney, Author, Social Justice Leader
On Friday, January 6, 2017, at Noon
At the Union League Club
The First Friday Club of Chicago
Welcomes
Attorney and Author Jeanne Bishop
Who will address the topic
“Forgiveness: The impossible virtue”
Many people in Chicago remember the horrible events of an unspeakable crime that took place in the northern suburbs 26 years ago. Newspaper and television coverage was extensive and emotionally exhausting. The story is familiar but the names of the people involved appear to have been forgotten.
Our speaker, Jeanne Bishop and her family, seemed to be living the American Dream. She and her siblings were born and raised in a quiet, safe, well to do suburb. She attended Northwestern University and had a good job at a top Chicago law firm.
The world changed for them on a dark night in 1990, just before Easter. After a family dinner to celebrate the impending birth of her younger sister’s baby, tragedy struck. Jeanne received a phone call the next morning. Her sister Nancy, brother-in-law Richard, and the unborn baby were gone. Murdered in their own home, in the sleepy village of Winnetka. … How? … Why?
Did the family experience crushing sadness? Yes. Was there anger and bitterness? Maybe at first. Was there a Desire for Revenge??
Jeanne will share her long journey of Forgiveness. A journey that started when she told the police investigators that she didn't want to hate anybody. Along the way she spent time with the author of Dead Man Walking, Sister Helen Prejean, lobbied Gov. George Ryan about the death penalty, and met others who challenged her to examine her faith and Christian beliefs.
Would you have the courage or compassion to go to the prison where your sister’s murderer was incarcerated? Could you tell him he was Forgiven? Is Forgiveness an impossible virtue?
On Friday, December 2, 2016
At Noon
At the Union League Club
The First Friday Club of Chicago
Welcomes
Father William Moriarity
Associate Pastor, Holy Name Cathedral
Chaplain Extraordinaire, Northwestern Memorial Hospital
Who will address the topic
"Living the Festival of Light
Yes. Light is Stronger Than Dark"
December is the month that plunges the Northern Hemisphere into the deepest darkness of the year. Less and less natural light occurs until several days before the great feast of the Return of the Sun/Son, Christmas.
Judaism and Christianity both celebrate Festivals of Light in December: Hanukkah and Advent/Christmas. These festivals of light, one candle more a night for eight nights, one candle a week for four weeks, are true metaphors for the spiritual Faith that firmly believes that the Light of the World conquers any and all darkness that life throws at us.
The personification of that element of Faith is Fr. Bill Moriarity. For the past 50 years Fr. Moriarity's priesthood has offered life, healing, light, and hope in some of the darkest moments people have ever experienced. In this Season of Light, in the midst of darkness, the First Friday Club invites Father Moriarity to share some of his powerful experiences of bringing light in people's lives through his ministry as priest, pastor, and as chaplain to the sick and suffering at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. His inspiration will be a call to all of us to "go and do the same.”
On Friday, November 4, 2016
at Noon
at The Union League Club
The First Friday Club of Chicago
Welcomes
Ms. Carol Marin and Ms. Mary Ann Ahern
NBC 5 Chicago
Addressing the topic
"The Finish Line Is in Sight!"
It has been neither a sprint nor a marathon. It has been an Ultra-Marathon that only the strongest athletes can endure. However, this "Ultra" involves politicians, not athletes. And, for most of us, crossing that finish line cannot come soon enough!
Political pundits, nearly every journalists and every adult across America, have said that we have never seen a race like this before. From the start line to that impending finish line are two of Chicago's finest journalists: Mary Ann Ahern and Carol Marin.
The First Friday Club is honored that they have accepted the invitation to address us on Friday, November 4th, a few days before those candidates cross the finish line.
Carol Marin and Mary Ann Ahern need no introduction to most of us. They have been in our homes for many, many years through the magic of television. Carol Marin, a graduate of Palatine High School, returned to Chicago in 1978 when she was hired by NBC 5 Chicago. Mary Ann Ahern, joined NBC 5 Chicago in 1989. She has reported on many of the Catholic stories in our city. In 1991, she was the first journalist to report on the priest sex/pedophile crisis. She has covered the stories of the lives and deaths of Cardinals and Popes.
On Friday, May 6, 2016 At Noon In the Main Lounge of The Union League Club The First Friday Club of Chicago Welcomes President Toni Preckwinkle President, The Cook County Board Who will address the topic; “Can We Afford to Care For Those Who Most Need Government?” “We have no money” seems to be a mantra from all levels of government, city, county, state and national. As public budgets get tighter and money more scarce, decisions are being made on who and what will be funded by government and from whom money will be taken away. The work of social service agencies, jails, health care facilities, subsidized housing, job training, drug rehabilitation, and education appear to be the immediate victims. Yet are not they, and those who serve their human needs, the ones who should be the recipients of the government? Why does it seem that they are the last being served properly and the first to have services taken away? Why does it appear that the poor among us continue to be the least of all? The President of the Cook County Board, Toni Preckwinkle, is in a position to see this dilemma on a daily basis. Her office has responsibility for Cook County jail, the Cook County Hospital, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, to name but a few. She was elected President of the Cook County Board in December 2010. Since then she has had to rebuild the credibility of County Government. She faced a deficit of $1.4 billion. She cut $465 million in expenditures while focusing on County services that help the least among us. The First Friday Club is honored to have President Toni Preckwinkle speak to us on Friday, May 6, 2016.
On Friday, October 7, 2016, At Noon at The Union League Club The First Friday Club of Chicago Welcomes Superintendent Eddie Johnson, Chicago Police Department Who will address the issue
"Is There Any Light at the end of the Tunnel?" During the years of the Vietnam Conflict the Defense Department released, on a weekly basis, the number of U.S. military forces killed and wounded in battle. Needless to say, many weeks, those figures were staggering.
Presently, media outlets in Chicago report the number of people killed and wounded in Chicago at the end of each weekend. Many weekends and weeks those figures are staggering. Sadly, they rival war zones. Over the Labor Day holiday weekend 13 people were killed, victims of gun violence. Another 52 were shot in Chicago. After eight months and one week 500 people were murdered in the neighborhoods of Chicago.
In every video scene of the shootings in Chicago, there is one common picture: Chicago police officers. The expectation is that these men and women are called upon to stop this seemingly out-of-control situation.
The First Friday Club is honored that Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson will speak to this issue. It is no longer a Chicago neighborhood issue, or a city issue, or even a national issue. The violence in Chicago is now headline news internationally.
At the time of his birth, Superintendent Johnson was born into the toughest community in Chicago, Cabrini Green. At the age of nine his family moved to the south side of Chicago, where he still lives. During the last three decades he has held nearly every position within the Chicago Police Department, from ordinary cop to Chief of Patrol.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace...
The first Friday Club welcomes Fr. Michael Pfleger as our February 2016 speaker
“A City in Turmoil - News to Some – Just Another Day to Others”
Fr. Michael Pfleger became pastor of St Sabina Catholic Community at the age of 31. He has spent over 1/2 of his life pastoring that community. He has transformed St. Sabina into one of the largest African-American Catholic Churches in the United States. The parish school is one of the largest and most successful Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese. Fr. Pfleger and the people of St. Sabina have accomplished both of these without accepting any money from the Archdiocese.
However, Fr. Pfleger's reputation reaches far beyond the boundaries of St. Sabina. As a champion for issues of civil rights, justice and equality, he has no boundaries. Any where there is injustice, Fr. Pfleger leads his people. His own foster son, Jarvis, became a victim of gang crossfire in 1998.
Most recently Fr. Pfleger is embroiled in the turmoil confronting the City of Chicago, its Police Department, its Public Schools, its gang violence, and the murder of our children.
We are asking Fr. Michael Pfleger to share his wisdom with us, and give us some insights into reversing the course of the deep-seated racism which might be the root of all this turmoil.
The First Friday Club of Chicago welcomes the Reverend Shannon Kershner, pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church, as our March speaker.
"Resurrection Moments In A Time Of Lent"
When the Christian Church calls us again this Lent to participate in a 40 period of prayer, fasting and generosity, it seems that fewer people are listening to that call. Church attendance continues to decline and the influence of Churches seems to be waning.
To many it appears that the Good Friday experience of suffering and death trumps the hope and fullness of life proclaimed at Easter.
Reverend Shannon Kerschner, pastor of one of the most significant Churches in Chicago, Fourth Church, will reveal to us in the middle of Lent 2016 the “resurrection moments” she perceives in the Christian community today. Those “resurrection moments” are to be incorporated in each one of our lives.
The Reverend Shannon Johnson Kershner is Pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, a vibrant and diverse worshiping community of more than 5,000 members. A presence in the city of Chicago since 1871, this downtown congregation is committed to serving the needs of the community, both locally and globally, a commitment that can be seen in its many well-regarded outreach programs, most notably its nonprofit organization, Chicago Lights.
She was called as Pastor of Fourth Church in 2014, after having previously served as Head of Staff at Black Mountain Presbyterian Church in Black Mountain, North Carolina. She has also served congregations in Texas and Georgia. Reverend Kershner also serves on the Board of Trustees at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia and as a member of the strategy team of the NEXT Church movement in the PCUSA.
Her sermons have been published in the Journal for Preachers and Lectionary Homiletics, and she has been a preacher and worship leader at various worship and preaching conferences.
First Friday Club of Chicago presents our January 2016 speaker, David Anderson:
“When A Real Good Idea Becomes a Real Big Problem - Student Loans”
What a great idea – make money available for more young people to attend college, earn their degree, enter the work force, earn a living and begin making their mark in the business community and the entire American society. Today that great idea is also becoming an albatross around the necks of young people and their families that it was designed to help succeed. How many people are leaving school with a student loan debt greater than a mortgage and paying interest on those loans twice the current mortgage rate?
And the current student loan situation goes far beyond the students themselves. It is affecting the finances of their parents, who need to add their assistance with loan payments. It is affecting the make-up of the culture with more “graduates” unable to afford their own housing. A significant number continue to live at home for an indefinite period of time. It is affecting the buying power of so many people. Too many college graduates are under-employed yet need to keep paying down those student loans. If a person defaults on a student loan, it will affect their employment opportunities in the future.
Perhaps this situation is best summed up in a now famous sentence: “Houston, we have a problem.”
Mr. David Anderson will address the “student loan problem” on Friday, January 8, 2016. Mr. Anderson is a graduate with honors of Chicago State University in the field of Finance and Economics. In 2009 he was a part of the Diversity and Explorations Program at Harvard University. He worked as an Analyst for both J.P. Morgan Asset Management and Goldman Sachs. During 2011 Mr. Anderson worked in the Executive Office of the President in the White House.
Student Loan 411, the organization which he co-founded, offers student loan consultative and advisory services to individuals and institutions in the following areas: medical student loans, student loans forgiveness, repayment options, loan consolidation, and parent plus loans.
The First Friday Club not only is encouraging you to attend our January lunch, but also we are hoping you will extend an invitation to your own college-age children and grandchildren, who are still home for the holidays.