Society is changing very rapidly and so much is happening, so we are providing a safe and open space to talk about issues relevant to our community. What’s on your mind? Bring your topics, questions, and concerns, and let’s figure out together how to support each other.

We are meeting in our new location, upstairs in Room 214.

NOTE: THIS IS NOT AT OUR USUAL LOCATION.

Join us for an off-site event of storytelling across the LGBTQ and ally spectrum.

Heart to Heart Storytelling Night is an evening of entertainment provided by LifeSpring storytellers. Stories will be from true life events from people in our community. Sharing our lives with one another gives us the power to change and rebuild lives so we can further our journey to wholeness. Storytelling creates community, new perspectives, starts new conversations and may even change a heart. 

NOTE: The event is being held at LifeSpring Church: 14925 Wood Farm Rd., Plainfield, IL

Society is changing very rapidly and so much is happening, so we are providing a safe and open space to talk about issues relevant to our community. What’s on your mind? Bring your topics, questions, and concerns, and let’s figure out together how to support each other.

We are meeting in our new location, upstairs in Room 214.

Join us for a Movie: The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson is a 2017 American documentary film directed by David France. It chronicles Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, prominent figures in gay liberation and transgender rights movement in New York City from the 1960s to the 1990s and co-founders of Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries. The film centers on activist Victoria Cruz's investigation into Johnson's death in 1992, which was initially ruled a suicide by police despite suspicious circumstances.

Let’s gather on this Good Friday to reflect on the reason we’re still talking about this moment in time even today.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of cities, towns, and villages across the country on Saturday, April 5. They were protesting the Trump administration’s deep budget and staffing cuts, funding freezes, tariffs, and other actions that they believe threaten democracy, economic stability, and the fabric of American life. Let’s meet to discuss the aftermath of it and what we can do moving forward.

Society is changing very rapidly and so much is happening, so we are providing a safe and open space to talk about issues relevant to our community. What’s on your mind? Bring your topics, questions, and concerns, and let’s figure out together how to support each other.

We are meeting upstairs in Room 214.

Join us as we honor and delve into the history of the visibility and impact of transgender individuals on the LGBTQ community and humanity.

Are you struggling to keep hope alive? Join us as we talk about what hope Jesus can give us as we go through the rough times.

Local friends, we would love to have you join us for a light dinner and PIE for Pie Day (3-14). It will be a safe space for people to gather and feel their worth in community. Don’t let the “churchiness” of the word “communion” scare you. We promise to keep it from being weird.

Message Leslie at leslieraderclark@gmail.com for the address. (This event is OFF SITE.)

Society is changing very rapidly and so much is happening, so we are providing a safe and open space to talk about issues relevant to our community. What’s on your mind? Bring your topics, questions, and concerns, and let’s figure out together how to support each other.

We are meeting in our new location, upstairs in Room 214.

Join us again for a night of amazing LGBTQ Storytelling with OUTSPOKEN!

Storytellers include:
Pat Fish
Michele Jansen
Megan
Bryan Clark
Archy Jamjun
and more!

Join us for a night with Michelle Williams as she dives into topics surrounding Black History Month.

Join us for a night of support and change. With A New Direction for A New Way, we will be talking through upcoming changes to the A New Way model. Please come ready to check in and talk with us about how we want to move forward together.

Join us in this troubling and uncertain time when the country and our government are in such upheaval.

We will explore what the Bible says about praying for the government and offer suggestions for how to pray for the government.

NOTE: THIS IS NOT AT OUR USUAL LOCATION

Connect with us for a fun-filled game night off-site. Bring a game or just yourselves. All are welcome. Let us know if you will make it.

Please contact Leslie at leslieraderclark@gmail.com for the address.

Join us as we talk about the Future of Trans Rights and what that means for all of us. Led by Dani Keil.

Local friends, we would love to have you join us for dinner.  It will be a safe space for people to gather and feel their worth in community. Don’t let the “churchiness” of the word “communion” scare you. We promise to keep it from being weird.

Message Leslie at leslieraderclark@gmail.com for the address. (This event is OFF SITE.)

Join us for perspectives on the lessons learned from Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement and how they apply to today. Led by Ken Washington.

Join us as we continue our book study with “Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation” by Kristin Kobes du Mez.

Reading Schedule
October 11: Introduction and Chapters 1-4
November 8: Chapters 5-8
December 13: Chapters 9-12
January 10, 2025: Chapters 13-16

About the Book
Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, revealing how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism―or in the words of one modern chaplain, with “a spiritual badass.”

As acclaimed scholar Kristin Du Mez explains, the key to understanding this transformation is to recognize the centrality of popular culture in contemporary American evangelicalism. Many of today’s evangelicals might not be theologically astute, but they know their VeggieTales, they’ve read John Eldredge’s Wild at Heart, and they learned about purity before they learned about sex―and they have a silver ring to prove it. Evangelical books, films, music, clothing, and merchandise shape the beliefs of millions. And evangelical culture is teeming with muscular heroes―mythical warriors and rugged soldiers, men like Oliver North, Ronald Reagan, Mel Gibson, and the Duck Dynasty clan, who assert white masculine power in defense of “Christian America.” Chief among these evangelical legends is John Wayne, an icon of a lost time when men were uncowed by political correctness, unafraid to tell it like it was, and did what needed to be done.

Challenging the commonly held assumption that the “moral majority” backed Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 for purely pragmatic reasons, Du Mez reveals that Trump in fact represented the fulfillment, rather than the betrayal, of white evangelicals’ most deeply held values: patriarchy, authoritarian rule, aggressive foreign policy, fear of Islam, ambivalence toward #MeToo, and opposition to Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ community. A much-needed reexamination of perhaps the most influential subculture in this country, Jesus and John Wayne shows that, far from adhering to biblical principles, modern white evangelicals have remade their faith, with enduring consequences for all Americans.

Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-John-Wayne-Evangelicals-Corrupted/dp/163149905X/

Join us as we come together and share and explore how we each strive for mind body wellness and self care. All ideas and exercises are welcome.

Join us as we explore and implement a number of worldwide New Years traditions that can help us push behind the bad from this year and open our fortunes to the good of the next. Some foods will be served. Feel free to bring knowledge and examples of your own traditions.

Bring a dessert (cookies, brownies, cakes, pies) that are you holiday faves to share and swap with friends. We will also enjoy fun holiday tunes and fellowship.

PLUS, join us for a White Elephant Gift Exchange. Please bring something FROM YOUR HOUSE (not store bought) to enter into the exchange and get a surprise in return!

Also, come talk with us about the way forward with A New Way!

Join us as we continue our book study with “Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation” by Kristin Kobes du Mez.

Reading Schedule
October 11: Introduction and Chapters 1-4
November 8: Chapters 5-8
December 13: Chapters 9-12
January 10, 2025: Chapters 13-16

About the Book
Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, revealing how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism―or in the words of one modern chaplain, with “a spiritual badass.”

Challenging the commonly held assumption that the “moral majority” backed Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 for purely pragmatic reasons, Du Mez reveals that Trump in fact represented the fulfillment, rather than the betrayal, of white evangelicals’ most deeply held values: patriarchy, authoritarian rule, aggressive foreign policy, fear of Islam, ambivalence toward #MeToo, and opposition to Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ community. A much-needed reexamination of perhaps the most influential subculture in this country, Jesus and John Wayne shows that, far from adhering to biblical principles, modern white evangelicals have remade their faith, with enduring consequences for all Americans.

Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-John-Wayne-Evangelicals-Corrupted/dp/163149905X/

Now what do we do? Our communities are threatened. Our rights are at stake. Let’s support each other. You have a place with us in these uncertain times as we navigate this uncertain future together.

Join us for an evening of being together. We will have time to check in and get to talk to each other about what’s going on in our lives. We will have some initial prompts that will offer food for thought.

Join us for a Friendsgiving celebration with food and fellowship. We will provide sandwiches and sides. Come share a meal with us and share stories of thankfulness and camaraderie.

Join us for a virtual conversation with Josh Scott, author of “Context” and “Bible Stories for Grown-ups.” Bring your questions and topics you would like to discuss.

Join us as we continue our book study with “Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation” by Kristin Kobes du Mez.

Reading Schedule
October 11: Introduction and Chapters 1-4
November 8: Chapters 5-8
December 13: Chapters 9-12
January 10, 2025: Chapters 13-16

About the Book
Jesus and John Wayne is a sweeping, revisionist history of the last seventy-five years of white evangelicalism, revealing how evangelicals have worked to replace the Jesus of the Gospels with an idol of rugged masculinity and Christian nationalism―or in the words of one modern chaplain, with “a spiritual badass.”

Challenging the commonly held assumption that the “moral majority” backed Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020 for purely pragmatic reasons, Du Mez reveals that Trump in fact represented the fulfillment, rather than the betrayal, of white evangelicals’ most deeply held values: patriarchy, authoritarian rule, aggressive foreign policy, fear of Islam, ambivalence toward #MeToo, and opposition to Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ community. A much-needed reexamination of perhaps the most influential subculture in this country, Jesus and John Wayne shows that, far from adhering to biblical principles, modern white evangelicals have remade their faith, with enduring consequences for all Americans.

Get your copy today at https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-John-Wayne-Evangelicals-Corrupted/dp/163149905X/

Do you think you have an award-winning chili recipe? Put that to the test at A New Way’s Chili Cookoff!

We’ll provide voting slips, a ballot box, beverages, and desserts as well as a great atmosphere as we look toward the “chilly” months ahead.

We will also have assorted “test your skills” games available for playing.

Fun for the whole family!

Two Ways to Participate in the Cook Off:

1. Enter your best chili by emailing anewway2church@gmail.com with your name and recipe title then bring in your best batch to share. (All varieties are welcome, including vegan/vegetarian.)

2. Just come eat and vote. (Not into cooking chili? Simply come and eat for free!)