We appreciate everyone who presented and attended this conference, ready to challenge Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bias in our own communities. @annapiela.bsky.social @revdrmichaelwoolf.bsky.social evanstonroundtable.com/2026/03/03/c...

"If people think that we're going to get out of this with a midterm election … they're wrong. This has been a crisis that's decades in the making…” Hear more from Rev. Dr. Woolf in this important documentary from Freedom Watch Media www.youtube.com/watch?v=-05M...

Looks like the #Islamophobia industry hates @annapiela.bsky.social’s and my #book, and they even made this caricature of us. Thanks for the cheekbones - I’ll be framing it! But here’s the part that isn’t funny. This is part of a campaign to target and intimidate anyone who fights anti-Muslim hate.

I just found out that the ebook for my new book Confronting Islamophobia in the Church: Liturgical Tools for Justice is available now. If that's your prefered format, please consider supporting our work to build a pluralistic democracy.

GOOD NEWS: The ICE agents in our nativity have decided to quit their reign of terror to become shepherds. Evil has already lost, and it’s not too late to choose another path. Love your neighbor, love your God, save your soul, and quit your job. Love wins. Merry Christmas!

Ever wonder why the algorithm and our cultural overlords want you miserable? It’s because joy is resistance. Joy lets us know that there are things worth fighting for. That’s why they want to take it from you. Don’t let them. Fight to find joy, so you can fight for your values. #joy #advent #sermon

There’s more about Mary in the Quran than the Christian Bible (including the Catholic versions with Apocrophya).

Read my latest in @april-cc-commons.bsky.social: www.aprilonline.org/christians-h... #Islamophobia #Islam #Christianity #Muslims

All of our love and prayers are with our Jewish friends, neighbors, and especially the Australian Jewish community today. During this time which is meant to celebrate resistance, resilience, and the power of God’s promises, we hold you in our hearts.

When they destroyed our Mary figure in our anti-ICE #nativity, I bet they didn’t think that we would make it MORE powerful! Honestly, if you tear something down that you don’t like, you’re pretty much never the good guy. That goes for nativities and the entire county, btw. #DHS, take note.

This administration spends tons of time trying to convince us that our actions don't matter, and even if they did, they wouldn't be worth the risk. They do it because the opposite is true - we can push back on their authoritarianism and racism. We can win.

What happened to Mary? Mary was beaten and dragged away in front of her son. While she is in detention, she may be denied food, hygiene products, medical attention, a bed, or even enough room to lie down on the floor…

From @apnews.com: apnews.com/article/immi... @lakestreetchurch.bsky.social

@apnews.com with probably the best coverage of our anti-ICE nativity. Watch the video - it's worth your time. apnews.com/article/immi...

Great article! Just a note: Jillian Westerfield is the associate minister here at Lake Street, not at a Methodist church as currently stated by @theguardian.com

Seems a little wild that DHS would call me out by name and say that this scene is offensive to Christians. I like seperation in my church and state. Moreover, what's offensive to Christians is the dehumanization that DHS and ICE are practicing. That is evil and an offense to God - not my nativity.

In Evanston tonight, outside Chicago— In the bitter cold, neighbors are gathered outside Lake Street Church for a vigil for ICE victims. This is where @revdrmichaelwoolf.bsky.social preaches—the pastor arrested on camera by ISP at Broadview. Baby Jesus in zip ties. Mother Mary in a respirator.

♥️ “ICE looked at that school, saw a community standing up for families, and decided it wasn’t worth it.”

In Chicago, a Nativity scene features a zip-tied baby Jesus and Roman centurions in "ICE" vests. Near Boston, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus are absent from a Nativity scene, replaced with a sign reading "ICE was here." It's all part of growing religious blowback to ICE. religionnews.com/2025/12/05/i...

Join us on the church lawn at 6:15 pm on Weds., December 10 for a prayer vigil.

Lake Street Church of Evanston depicted baby Jesus’ hands zip-tied, Mary with a gas mask and ICE as centurions in its Nativity scene.

The children and youth Advent Market is back this Sunday! Our young people have been working hard on their handicrafts, which will be for sale during coffee hour. It’s also our Fifth Sunday Potluck, so bring a dish to share if you can, or just stay and eat. All are welcome!

By witnessing this familiar story through the reality faced by migrants today, we hope to restore its radical edge, and to ask what it means to celebrate the birth of a refugee child while turning away those who follow in his footsteps.

The Holy Family were refugees. This is not political interpretation, this is the reality described in the stories our tradition has told and retold for millenia.

This installation isn’t subtle because the crisis it addresses isn’t abstract. We hope viewers will ask what sanctuary means when families are met with dehumanization. We further hope to move people to action, regardless of faith or philosophical background.

The gas masks worn by Mary and Joseph reference the documented use of tear gas and other chemical weapons deployed by ICE agents against peaceful protesters, journalists, and community members advocating for immigration reform and bearing witness to human rights abuses within the system.

The zip ties on the infant's wrists directly reference the children who were zip-tied by agents during a raid on a Chicago apartment building earlier this year, where most residents were U.S. citizens: a stark reminder that enforcement terror does not discriminate by documentation status.

Thanks to Loretta, Kelli, Jack, and Miller for their help setting up our nativity this morning. This installation reimagines the nativity as a scene of forced family separation, drawing direct parallels between the Holy Family's refugee experience and contemporary immigration detention practices.

Friday morning, ABC of Metro Chicago is sponsoring the weekly Faithful Friday action at Broadview processing center. Join us for a faithful, expectant gathering to “proclaim the release of the captives” in Broadview and beyond. 11/21 at 9am, at Beach and Lexington in Broadview.

Huh. Look at that.

“The Christian clergy at Broadview and elsewhere who are protesting the government’s dehumanization and unlawful detention of people seeking asylum within our country are doing the job they were ordained to do.” baptistnews.com/article/what...

Join us Sunday, December 21 at 10:30AM for a free concert! Our choir, along with guest orchestra and other musicians, will perform Handel's Messiah. This event is open to the public, with a light brunch to follow.

Proud to see Lake Streeters like Jill showing up for our neighbors during a crises that never needed to happen blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/17/h...

If you think that pastors were out there throwing hands at #Broadview, you are gullible. We were peaceful and I’m confident some of the police injured themselves striking protesters with unprofessional and unsafe practices. Watch me push back on @newsnation.bsky.social 👇👇

While I've got your attention, people seem to want to hear me talk about my arrest, and interviews are cool, but you can feel free to come to @lakestreetchurch.bsky.social at 10:30AM Central to hear a HOPE-FILLED sermon about yesterday's events. Livestreamed here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1Qi...

Oh wow @reuters.com got the photo here:

New time!!!!! This event now starts 30 minutes later, at 6:30PM

We are doing something different for Maundy Thursday this year: a party. Let us love one another as we have been loved through sharing food, music, and friendship with all our neighbors. Everyone is invited. Join us starting at 6PM.

A space for joy in tough times: our annual Ecumenical Palm Sunday Procession with live donkeys Tinkerbelle and Iris. Meet at the corner of Lake St. and Chicago Ave. in Evanston at 9AM on April 13 to join in the fun.

Thursday night!

Rev Dr Woolf and Rev Dr Piela were proud to represent Lake Street Church at the Villa Park Islamic Foundation’s interfaith Iftar last night.

FREEDOM TO FLY: Take Action to Protect Trans Passport Access - transequality.org/news/freedom.... "The U.S. Department of State has opened public comment periods on three crucial passport applications, and we must flood all three with our opposition to these harmful changes before it's too late."

"But we should remember that there was another group on the scene that day purporting to uphold 'law and order' even as they made a mockery of that phrase – a self-styled 'posse' of white men who had been enlisted as 'special deputies' to support the work of segregationist Sheriff Jim Clark." 🗃️

On this #AshWednesday, as you remember that you are dust, also remember that dust can fuck some shit up.

Women's History Month Fact: Did you know Lake Street Church was founded by a woman? Frances Mary Gano Iglehart was the force behind First Baptist Church of Evanston, renamed Lake Street Church in 1995. evanstonwomen.org/woman/france... #WomensHistoryMonth

Join us for a screening of Holy Redemption, followed by a powerful discussion with panelists Eli Newell and Sawsan Abubaker. 🗓 Thursday, March 20, 2025 ⏰ 7:00 PM 🍽 In-person only | Light refreshments will be served Register here: bit.ly/March20HolyR... #HolyRedemption

Although the first session was yesterday, it's not too late to join in the Palestinian History series being offered by our friend Tarek Khalil, Education Coordinator at American Muslims for Palestine. Tarek has visited us several times and is an engaging and deeply knowledgable educator.

Registration is open! bit.ly/LSCAW2025 From 10am-noon each day, we will hang out in the youth room, have lunch, play games, and prepare for the adventure. Then, from noon-5PM, we will visit different suburbs and neighborhoods to learn about an organization in that area and the work they are doing.