Select a link below for more details:

- Saturday Men's Group

- Grounded in Grace: Friday Night Women's Group

​​- Book Club

​- Women's Discussion Group

​- Antiracism Roundtable & Workgroup

- Men's Breakfast Group

- MP3: Men of Purpose, Principle & Prayer

- Amplify Media

 

This group is for men of faith to come together throughout the year to share their faith and thoughts about topics that are challenging. We support one another through our personal journeys. All are welcome.

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In May, we will start a new book by Diana Butler Bass, titled Freeing Jesus: Rediscovering Jesus as Friend, Teacher, Savior, Lord, Way, and Presence. Join us as we explore the question Jesus asks all of us, “Who do you say that I am?” Books are available in the Gathering Space.

 

​​Please contact Steve Oelschlager at steve@holycrosschurch.org or Pastor Bob at pastorbob@holycrosschurch.org with any questions.

​Grounded in Grace is an opportunity for women of faith to connect together in fun, fellowship, and learning.

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There is no set agenda or RSVP needed for this May gathering. Join us as you can for fellowship and fun.

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Questions? Contact Terry Berger at terryberger.08@gmail.com or (224) 775-1479.

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The Holy Cross Book Club usually meets on the fourth Thursday evening of each month from January through November. Some months may be different due to holidays. We read various genres, including fiction, biography/memoir, nonfiction, mystery, cultural, historical and we include a classic each year. Consider joining the group, if just for a book or two.

 

In May we will discuss The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles. In June 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the work farm where he has just served a year for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank. Emmett’s intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother and head west where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden’s car. Together, they have hatched an altogether different plan for Emmett’s future.

 

Our discussion host will be Felicia Brandt. If you have any questions, please email Melanie Houser at housermd@comcast.net View the 2022 Book Club Reading List

Please join us as we finish the last two sessions of our Lenten study series. In her book and video series titled Witness at the Cross, author Amy-Jill Levine shows how the people at the cross each have distinct roles to play. Each Evangelist presents a distinct picture of the death of Jesus. Each portrays different individuals and groups of people at the cross, each offers different images and dialogues, and so from each, we learn how those meanings and messages cross the centuries to any who would come to the cross today. Each Gospel has its own story to tell, all the witnesses have their own memories, and every reader comes away with a new insight. The story of Jesus’s death is not something we just read: we think about it, and we experience it; we hear the taunts of the soldiers, the priests, and the passersby even as we hear the famous “seven last words” from the cross. The witnesses at the Crucifixion watch Jesus die, and we watch with them, and we watch them. And we come away transformed. Experience Holy Friday from the perspective of those who watched Jesus die: Mary his mother; the Beloved Disciple from the Gospel of John; Mary Magdalene and the other women from Galilee; the two men, usually identified as thieves, crucified with Jesus; the centurion and the soldiers; Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Jews and Romans, friends and strangers, the powerful and the powerless, the hopeful and the despairing. Contact Pastor Bob with any questions at PastorBob@holycrosschurch.org

 

PLEASE NOTE, THIS GROUP IS ON HIATUS UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2022

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The Antiracism Roundtable & Work Group will meet via Zoom to continue exploring antiracism themes and resources and to find ways to apply what we learn, unlearn, or relearn to our faith journeys. The group may also organize activities that put concepts into action.

 

​All are invited to attend when you can and come as you are, with an open heart for listening to and praying with each other, as we confront a variety of topics that may take us out of our comfort zones and lead us to make new connections to our faith. Please reach out to Carol Dikelsky at carol@dikelsky.org with any questions.

 

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This is a wonderful way to begin the day with coffee, breakfast, fellowship and thought-provoking and stimulating conversation. All men are welcome to join us.

 

Questions? Contact Pastor Bob at pastorbob@holycrosschurch.org

There is a stereotype of men that they don’t like asking for directions. Sometimes we don’t like to admit that we don’t know it all. It isn’t enough to have clarity about what we know, but it is equally important for us to be honest about what we don’t know. It can become challenging to admit that we don’t know a lot of things and how to get from Point A to Point B can sure be one of them. The real issue for men is that we don’t like troubling other people with our problems. And being lost seems like a real problem. And asking someone for directions feels like troubling them. Do you remember the first time you ever used a GPS? It can be exciting to remember feeling very high tech and how dependent we become on that technology. We become accustomed to simply typing in our desired destination and this seemingly all-knowing, gentle, reassuring voice would turn-by-turn safely guide us there. There may have been moments in life when we longed for a GPS: Spiritual Version. We may wonder how it might be if God worked that way. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to tell God exactly where we want to go and exactly when we want to get there and have God’s all-knowing, gentle, reassuring voice guide us safely there turn-by-turn? But life doesn’t work like that. And God doesn’t work like that. And truth be told, life would be pretty boring if it worked like that; if all we ever did was follow the exact instructions of “the great voice in the sky.” No one likes to be told what to do all the time. It is important that we be free to explore, and free to make mistakes, and free to go on an adventure every now and then. Seeking Aliveness, is a four-session video curriculum. We will journey with renowned author and emergent Christian leader Brian McLaren as we seek out this new path for our faith. We will meet four times in 2022 for an evening of fellowship, food, music and conversation. We will provide copies of McLaren’s book “We Make the Road by Walking: a yearlong quest for spiritual formation, reorientation and activation” as a resource and gift for everyone. Drawing on the themes from his book we will offer up some fresh insights for how we go about composing a life of faith. Questions? Contact Pastor Bob at pastorbob@holycrosschurch.org​

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Are you interested in learning more and growing your faith? Amplify Media is an online learning platform with 1000’s of study, worship, and devotional videos that can be streamed anytime, anywhere, from any device. Better yet, Holy Cross has arranged a congregational subscription that allows you access to the content at no charge.

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To get started, simply create your account at this link: bit.ly/HCamplify

Access code located in the February 2022 newsletter on page 3. 

 

When you get to the site, you can browse and search for something that catches your attention. You can also see the playlist titled “As Mentioned In the February 2022 Newsletter” for three courses on Jesus and the New Testament. Next, either watch the video preview or, if you click the title under the video, you can learn more about the full scope of the course and its teacher.

 

For questions or more information, please get in touch with Steve Oelschlager at steve@holycrosschurch.org