Meet the Barwell Family!

This week we have the joy of sharing another “new Attendee” within Savior’s community. If you haven’t already met The Barwell family, join me in getting to know them!

The Daniels Barwell family in action! Front row: Samara, Danica, and Denise. Back row: Zach, Craig, Samara’s fiancé Nick, and Josh.

Who is in your family (children, pets, etc.)?  
Our family consists of Craig and Denise, and our four adolescent and young adult kids: Josh (23), Samara (21), Danica (17), and Zach (15). Josh is out of college, and has a job, a condo, and a life in Seattle. Samara is currently a senior at Wheaton College majoring in economics. Danica is a senior in high school and lives with her grandparents in Seattle while she finishes the school year. Zach is a freshman at Clapham School here in Wheaton. We also have an 18 month old Saint Bernard named Benediction (Benny for short).

Where do you live? Where are you originally from?
We currently live in Wheaton about 1/2 mile south of Wheaton College. We arrived in Wheaton in July of this year, after driving across the country in our minivan (with our St. Bernard) from Seattle, Washington, where we’d lived for the past 29 years. Denise is originally from this area (born in Wheaton, attended WCGS, Wheaton North HS, and Wheaton College), while Craig grew up in Seattle and had never lived anywhere other than the West Coast until a few months ago. Craig is looking forward to the scenic beauty of winter here in the Midwest.

How long have you been coming to Church of the Savior? What brought you?
We have been participating in Church of the Savior services on Zoom for about 2 months, and started attending on the recommendation of our daughter Samara. Her roommate, Katherine Beech, has attended Savior for some time; Samara thought we would like it, and that her younger brother Zach would fit in and be able to find friends here. She was correct on both counts.

In your time at Savior so far, what have you enjoyed most? 
We could say something here about the fine preaching, excellent music, and inspirational worship services - but let's be honest. In these COVID times, we have most enjoyed being able to meet people at the outdoor church picnics and bonfires. We decided to show up at the picnic at St. James Park in order to meet with actual people face to face, and we were very grateful to be graciously welcomed by many of you. Zach’s favorite part of Savior is the boys’ D&D group he is part of, and waiting to see when Esther's daughter, Adrielle, will make her next surprise onscreen appearance each Saturday night (actually, that last part is a favorite for all of us…).

What do you do when your family is not at church? (Job, hobbies, etc.)
We moved here so Denise could start her new faculty position at Wheaton College as the inaugural Hudson T. Harrison Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Department of Business and Economics. Denise spent the past 24 years as a professor of management at Seattle Pacific University. Now that she’s back in Wheaton she enjoys walking on the Prairie Path, and would love to set up walking dates with other women.  Craig is an Aerospace Engineer currently looking for work here, and riding his bicycle on all of the amazing bike paths in the area in the meantime.  Zachary is an avid reader, and spends time walking Benny around our neighborhood. We also spend a lot of time FaceTiming with our Seattle kids.

What has been a surprising gift to your family during this time of COVID? And what don’t you want to return to “normal”?
This one is hard for us! Benny has adjusted best to COVID and especially likes having someone home with her all day long. Perhaps the best part of COVID for the rest of us has been the opportunity to get more sleep than normal, and the chance for more uninterrupted time for reading. 

Advent Retreat Guide

On Dec. 5th, Savior held an Advent retreat with the theme “Waiting for God.”

Waiting can be difficult, especially when we can’t quite see the thing we’re awaiting and when we don’t know at what time it may arrive. Anticipation turns into impatience, frustration, or even anger. We may fear that we’ve missed what we’ve been waiting for, or begin to despair that it will ever arrive. We may wonder: where is God in the midst of brokenness and pain?

Scripture is filled with people asking “How long, O Lord?” And repeatedly, scripture invites us to bring our sorrows and fears to God (e.g., Psalm 55:22, Matthew 11:28, 1 Peter 5:7). Adele Calhoun writes, “Sometimes the best response to the brokenness of this world and my own life is a mixture of tears and prayers. ... Tears and prayers of lament won’t solve the problem of suffering, but they can stanch the raw nerve of pain by throwing us into the arms of God.”

God certainly invites us to pray and lament along with the psalmists as we wait. But God also points us towards hope, to the day when God will wipe away every tear and make all things new, as John records in the book of Revelation (21:4-5). No matter how great the darkness, the light of God shines and is not overcome.

In “Waiting for God,” Henri Nouwen writes: “People who wait have received a promise that allows them to wait. They have received something that is at work in them, like a seed that has started to grow.” He continues, “The secret of waiting is the faith that the seed has been planted, that something has begun.”3

In the retreat guide linked here, you will find suggested exercises to help you both lament the pain and suffering we experience while we wait and to see the hope and find the light of Christ in the darkness. We do not need to rush to hope, or to the lessons we might learn as we wait. When we see Jesus weep after Lazarus has died, we see a God who understands that hope does not erase sorrow and pain. Instead, light shines in darkness; hope is present in the midst of suffering.

Meet Julie Newberry

This week we have the joy of sharing another “new Attendee” within Savior’s community. If you haven’t already met Julie Newberry, join me in getting to know her!

What does your household look like?
My immediate household includes Molly, a roughly 18-year-old toy poodle, and Pearl, an 11-year-old chihuahua mix. I have also been hospitably welcomed by a quaranteam family, which has had a major positive impact on my mental health in this season of isolation. I would love to see more households of 2+ including households of one in their bubble (in safe/wise ways, of course).

Where do you live? Where are you originally from?
I recently moved to West Chicago, where my dogs and I live in a neighborhood with lots of retired folks, which we enjoy. I grew up in Southern California, but I spent 8 years in North Carolina prior to moving to IL, so California and North Carolina are tied in terms of my sense of "home."

How long have you been coming to Church of the Savior?
I started attending Savior shortly after moving to IL in the summer of 2019.

In your time at Savior so far, what have you enjoyed most?
My favorite part of the service is when we sing the Celtic Benediction; I can't wait till it is safe for us to be physically together in worship again, as the song makes more obvious sense in that context!

What do you enjoy about our services?
I have not participated up front (other than being on the Zoom pass-the-peace video once), but one of my favorite parts of the service is the reading of the Gospel text.

What do you do when you're not at church? (Job, hobbies, etc.)
I teach New Testament at Wheaton College for my paid employment. I also enjoy walking with my younger dog in a nearby park and chatting (from a COVID-safe distance) with elderly neighbors. Lately, I spend a lot of time trying to keep my older dog fed and safe (this is far harder than it sounds!), and sometimes I like to draw.

What has been a surprising gift during this time of COVID? And what don’t you want to return to “normal”?
One gift for me has been that, with so much on Zoom, I've been able to participate in activities in my NC church again. Conveniently, they meet on Sunday, whereas Savior meets on Saturday, so I have been able to do both! I have appreciated being able to revisit that community where I have deeper prepandemic roots. It will be bittersweet for me whenever they return to fully in-person services.

Beyond White Awake: Further Racial Justice Resources

You’ve finished reading White Awake, and you want to learn more about race in America. Below is a list of resources, divided by topic, to help you on your inward journey and prepare you for the outward journey of working towards racial justice. This isn’t a checklist, though! Pick the resources that you think will best help you go deeper and learn more in your journey into justice.

Racism in the Church

• The Color of Compromise, by Jemar Tisby: this is book (and video series available through Amazon Prime) details the way the church in America has been complicit with racism throughout its history.

• Faith & Prejudice, “Race and the Church” (video; watch through 38:09): this provides a good overview of the way pastors and leaders of color have been excluded in the not-so-distant past.

Understanding Whiteness

• Be the Bridge, by Latasha Morrison: this book, the accompanying curriculum for groups, and the podcast, helps orient Christians towards justice and restoration.

• The History of White People, by Nell Irvin Painter: a deep dive into the construction of “whiteness” from early modern Europe to the present.

Mass Incarceration

• Thirteenth (Netflix documentary): a wrenching history of how the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution allowed a loophole for slavery to continue.

• Rethinking Incarceration: Advocating for Justice That Restores, by Dominique DuBois Gilliard: this book looks at the church’s involvement with mass incarceration and offers ways that the church can participate in the reformation of our justice system.

• Two articles that offer statistics about racism and policing, from NBC News and the Washington Post.

Race and Education

• CodeSwitch (NPR podcast): “Audie and the Not-So-Magic School Bus” (audio): this short podcast episode looks at school segregation and busing through Audie Cornish’s experience in a busing program in Boston in the late 1980s.

• Nice White Parents podcast series: a 5-part podcast that examines the power of white parents in America’s school systems.

Race and Housing

• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America, by Richard Rothstein: this book examines the history of redlining, the practice of segregating neighborhoods.

• This article on a recent case of redlining.

Hearing Minority Voices: Memoir and Fiction

• I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness, Austin Channing Brown (memoir)

• An American Marriage, Tayari Jones (novel) — this book does contain strong language

• The Means that Makes Us Stranger, Christine Kindberg (young adult novel)

Theology

• Reading While Black, Esau McCaulley

The Chuangs' Love Story - When Esther Met Tony

Recently Pastor Esther and her husband, Tony, shared about their dating and marriage with the students at College of the Ozarks. Here are some outtakes:

Tony: I was actually pursuing singleness. I had no intention of getting married. In fact, I was willing to be a martyr for Christ. It’s not that I wanted to die, it’s just that I was willing if it comes to it.

Esther: That’s why I often tell people I saved his life.

Tony: I figured, Jesus was single, most scholars think Paul was too. Look how much they accomplished! I point to Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Esther: My story is a bit different. I was always interested in dating and marriage. Since I went to music school for my undergrad and masters, the majority of the students were girls. People even joked and called my school a nunnery. I often had this anxiety in me that I might not be able to meet my significant other.

When I was 20 years old, I started praying for my future spouse. For seven years I prayed that God will give him wisdom, God will give him strength if he is going through hardships, that he will be passionate for God, he will be pure, and that he will love me very much.

Meanwhile I started dating and went through breakups and would be even more heartbroken and lonely afterwards. One night as I was crying out to God feeling lonely, God spoke to me with the Scripture verse of Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always,’ and with Matthew 6:26: “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” and I could sense God speaking to me, “I love you so much, I care about you so much, isn’t my love for you enough?” And I remember saying, “Yes, your love is more than enough for me!”

How They Met

Esther: When I was 27 years old, I had just finished Seminary and was wondering and praying about what I should do next with my life. I was teaching music part-time in the undergrad program of Moody Bible Institute, so I was in the school cafeteria when I saw a new Moody Seminary student walk in. From far away, he looked cute.

Tony: The key words being “from far away.”

Esther: He was sitting with one of my Seminary friends and I approached him.

Tony: I noticed that she was circling around me like a shark.

Esther: I joined the table and asked, “Hi, what’s your name?”

Tony: I said, “Tony.” I then ignored her because we were in a serious meeting.

Esther: Which I was not happy about! But after the meeting, we started talking, and I shared my story and the ministry I do. I shared about my passion to be God’s instrument to the nations. I actually had a Powerpoint presentation ready to show my students, so I opened up my laptop and showed pictures of me leading musical worship in different countries. I showed pictures of my time in Uganda, and how the kids there were worshiping God with their hands raised, tears flowing, and crying out to God. That moment, Tony started tearing up.

Tony: I cried because I was so moved by these pictures of high schoolers crying because that wanted God so much. I was imagining a day when the gospel would inspire the same response from everyone in the world.

Esther: I was surprised that a guy that I just met would cry in front of me, and then was taken back by his passion for God. (Honestly, it got a bit awkward.) We talked for a few hours that day. And then we kept on talking to each other for the next 10 days. After 10 days, I was starting to think, “Hey what is going on? Does he like me or does he just like to talk to girls?” I was thinking I should have boundaries with this guy as we were talking and praying together a lot one on one, whether by texting, Facebook messaging, or talking in person, and I didn’t want my heart to be led on. Good thing is on that 10th day, Tony approached me, and we had the “DTR”—defining-the-relationship talk.

Tony: I walked her back to her apartment. It was a moonlit night with the stars romantically lighting up the sky. I held open the gate as we walked into the beautiful courtyard filled with trees and flowers. I looked deep into her eyes and confessed my eternal love for her. I told her that I thought she was a fascinating woman and that I find myself attracted to her. I explained I didn’t want her to have to guess and to know that I am not doing this with anyone else. I said that marriage is the end goal of whatever romantic relationship we may start developing.

Esther: Well… what I remember from that night was Tony saying, “I find you interesting.” It was awkward.

Tony: So it was a bit more romantic in my mind, but whatever. There was a moon! There was grass and a gate. I said words…

And it obviously worked out!