First Friday Club of Chicago podcast

First Friday Club of Chicago
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  • Christianity

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.

  1. Jun 26

    Lee Bey: Beyond the Loop

    Beyond the Loop: Reinvesting in Chicago's Hidden Gems and Forgotten Neighborhoods   Despite making up the majority of Chicago's landmass, the South and West sides for decades have suffered from severe disinvestment. But is there change afoot? Lee Bey, from the Sun-Times will highlight the wealth of historic architecture, parks, and streetscapes on the South and West sides, and plans to finally bring reinvestment to these communities. More ... Lee Bey is the author of the well-received book "Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago's South Side" and was the Emmy-nominated host of the WTTW special "Building Blocks: The Architecture of Chicago's South Side."   Bey returned to the Sun-Times as an editorial writer in 2019. He previously held several positions in organizations involved in planning, development and architecture, and was also deputy chief of staff for architecture and urban planning in the administration of Mayor Richard M. Daley. Bey is now working on a book about architecture on the West Side. He lives in an 1893 rowhouse in Chicago's historic Pullman community.

  2. Apr 29

    Arne Duncan: Reasons to Put Down the Gun

    Achieving a transformative reduction in gun violence in Chicago is the goal of Chicago CRED ... engaging directly with those most at risk of shooting or being shot, and giving them a reason to put down their gun. Through partnerships with local business leaders, community organizers, and other nonprofit groups, Arne Duncan aims to provide outreach, therapeutic, education, and employment opportunities for the young men most likely to be engaged in gun violence.

  3. Mar 18

    Cherished Belonging: Fr. Gregory Boyle, SJ

    In a world increasingly marked by division and discord, Jesuit priest Father Gregory Boyle offers a transformative vision of community and compassion. Over the past thirty years, Fr. Boyle has transformed tens of thousands of lives through his work as the founder of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang-intervention program in the world. The program runs on two unwavering principles: We are all inherently good (no exceptions) and we belong to each other (no exceptions). Fr. Boyle believes that these two ideas allow all of us to cultivate a new way of seeing the world. Rather than the tribalism that excludes and punishes, this new narrative proposes a village that cherishes. With Homeboy Industries as a backdrop, this talk will explore the power of love to transform the disunity that currently keeps us from each other.   More ... Father Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit priest, is the founder of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world. Founded in 1988, Homeboy Industries employs and trains former gang members in a range of social enterprises, as well as provides critical services to thousands of individuals who walk through its doors every year seeking a better life. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Fr. Boyle served as pastor of Dolores Mission Church in Boyle Heights from 1986 to 1992. At that time, Dolores Mission was the poorest Catholic parish in Los Angeles that also had the highest concentration of gang activity in the city. Fr. Boyle witnessed the devastating impact of gang violence on his community during the so-called "decade of death" that began in the late 1980s and peaked at 1,000 gang-related killings in 1992. In the face of law enforcement tactics and criminal justice policies of suppression and mass incarceration as the means to end gang violence, he along with parish and community members adopted what was a radical approach at the time: treat gang members as human beings. This commitment led to the founding of Homeboy Industries in 1988.

  4. Feb 16

    Jacqueline Stewart

    Recording Our Lives is an Act of Love   Twenty years ago, Jacqueline Stewart founded the South Side Home Movie Project, a living testament to the resilience, creativity, and everyday beauty of the South Side in the 1950s and '60s. The scenes of graduations, birthdays, and moments of community togetherness and pride prove to all Chicagoans that what we share is greater than what divides us. Stewart points out that home movies were the forerunner to today's video selfies, which young people take for granted given the pervasiveness of social media. The Home Movie Project, however, shows that people have always had the desire to document their lives, their milestones, their communities--what they are proudest of.

  5. Jan 26

    Geoffrey Baer

    There is no denying the feeling you get when you enter a house of worship: a sense of mystery, peace, awe, and delight. Whether majestic or modest, sacred spaces are carefully designed to transport us to a spiritual place for quiet mediation as well as bold contemplation about the meaning of life. In this talk, WTTW program host Geoffrey Baer looks at the architecture and history of some of Chicagoland's most inspiring churches, synagogues, mosques, Buddhist and Hindu temples, and other spiritual sites. From humble storefronts to buildings designed by world-famous architects. He'll show how sacred spaces shaped communities and decode the dazzling stained glass, iconography and other beautiful elements that adorn these marvelous places.

  6. 12/16/2025

    Angels We Have Heard on High: The Surprise Gift of Community Singing - Drs. Jonathan and Rev. Sandy Miller

    Jon and Sandy Miller, founders of the Sounds Good Choir, which meets in multiple Chicagoland locations, have found that the message of hope through music can reach everyone, regardless of one's faith background. Making music together fosters a sense of renewal and purpose, especially in a choir that strives for not only musical excellence, but also community building. The Millers also lead Good Memories Choirs for singers with memory loss and their caregivers, which have been a revelation to all those involved.   Over a 40-year career combining the roles of musician and nonprofit arts visionary, Jon has conducted singers at all skill levels from complete beginners to professionals. In 1993 he founded the virtuoso ensemble Chicago a cappella and served as its artistic director for 27 years. Rev. Dr. Sandy Miller, a deacon in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago, has been in private practice in the western suburbs for more than 30 years. Her work with older-adult choirs is a major pivot from her clinical work with children and adolescents. The "keeper of the culture" at Sounds Good Choir, Sandy is the guiding spirit of the organization's programs for people with memory loss and their care partners.

  7. 11/20/2025

    A Veteran's Day Check Up - Nancy Hughes Moyer

    Nancy Hughes Moyer may not have the connections like Cardinal Gregory who presented on October 3rd. Instead, she has connections of a different kind. Nancy is in the trenches every day, in real time ... working to make connections for vets and others who need help here in Chicago and throughout Illinois. The daily decisions and challenges are constant but so too are Nancy's rooted values in her faith.

  8. 10/15/2025

    Cardinal Wilton Gregory - From Chicago's St. Carthage to the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City (with a few stops along the way!)

    It all began when Wilton Daniel Gregory, a fifth grade student at St. Carthage grade school, informed his parish priest that he wanted to be a priest. Told by the priest that he was not even a Catholic, young Wilton Gregory responded with a question that began a amost amazing journey: "Then what do I have to do? He became a Catholic. He went to the seminary for 12 years. He made a stop as a deacon in Park Ridge. He was ordained a priest. He served in Glenview. He then lived in Rome earning his doctoral degree. Upon his return, he was a professor at the seminary from which he was ordained. He was ordained a bishop for the Archdiocese of Chicago. A few years after that, he became Bishop of Belleville, Illinois. He was elected by his brother bishops to be President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He was called to serve as Archbishop of Atlanta, Georgia, and then Washington, D.C. until Pope Francis elevated Archbishop Wilton Daniel Gregory to the College of Cardinals, the highest rank in the Catholic Church, after the Pope. Not a bad journey for a kid from the Englewood community on the South Side of Chicago!

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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.

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