Experience Christian Community (ECC)
Part of the mission of ECC is “to enhance our experience of Christian community by getting to know each other well while working together and with others to do good in the world”. In 2018, ECC members supported a variety of local social justice organizations and efforts.
The Chapel of St. John The Divine co-sponsored Racial Taboo, a local event featuring a film by the same name followed by small-group discussion groups. Participants shared experiences as well as feelings about race and racial justice. Several ECC members helped organize the event, and also participated in ongoing discussion groups. Later in the year, ECC members and others joined together in the Chapel’s discussion group, using the book Anxious to Talk About It.
Several of our members participate in Ripple Effect, a local effort to send cards to local citizens who are incarcerated. Each month, Ripple participants meet at the Central Illinois Mosque and Islamic Center to share card-writing time with others. Ripple Effect’s goal is to reach into prisons with purpose and love, to send messages of caring to those inside.
ECC members support several local organizations: Eastern Illinois Food Bank, Book 2 Prisioners, the University YMCA’S New American Welcome Center and the community-wide Welcoming Week, and Three Spinners, a local group providing support to immigrants and refugees.
Submitted by:
Ann Prisland, Lorraine Crummey, Kay Mulhall, Joyce Wright
Chapel of St. John The Divine
Champaign, Illinois
