Wheaton's Gary UMC offers May 7 class on segregation

Hear personal stories of discrimination, segregation's costs, displacement, promises and perils of integration and people's efforts to build bridges across communities at the class "Making Segregation Personal."

Gary United Methodist Church in Wheaton will offer the class at 10 a.m. on Sundays, May 7 and May 21.

Despite Chicago's first settler, Jean-Baptiste Point DuSable, being of Haitian descent, from the beginning, Chicago's demographic makeup was segregated by race and ethnicity along neighborhood boundaries.

Today, Chicago's segregation is still intact, and it joins a list of large cities with high rates of racial polarization such as Cleveland, Newark, Philadelphia and Houston. Together, we will reflect on what we hear and discuss how we can do no harm and do all the good we can to resist segregation where we live.

Gary United Methodist Church, 224 N. Main St. in Wheaton, offers 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday worship services in the sanctuary. The 9 a.m. service is complete with Kids' Church and nursery care, plus livestreaming and recorded worship at garychurch.org. The 11 a.m. Service of Word & Sacrament is an intimate and informal service. At 10 a.m., you can enjoy a coffee hour called "Special Blend" and Sunday School for all ages. With deep roots in the community since 1853, Gary Church has vibrant music, kids, youth and adult ministries, plus opportunities for local, national and global missions. For more information, go to garychurch.org or contact the church office at office@garychurch.org.