The parking lot is always crowded at ten forty-five in the morning; families of all backgrounds and ages gather every Sunday morning to worship at Progressive Baptist Church. Kids are still half asleep with visible pillow lines on their faces as they climb out of the car. Moms and dads are scrambling for their Bibles and highlighters, whispering sternly at their children to leave the tablet in the car and hurry up. Families and friends rush to catch up and greet one another as they walk through the doors together. The love for Christ consumes the members of this church; therefore, every single member is considered family.
Sitting on the corner of Wentworth and 37th Street, on the south side of Chicago, is a vast, light brown brick building with a navy-blue banner that reads, “If you’ve got the faith, then He’s got the power!” This banner hangs right above the tiny brown double doors of the entrance to Progressive Baptist Church. The surrounding traffic is perilous and noisy at all times of the day, but through all the braking tires and blaring horns, the sweet melodic choir of Sunday service can be heard from afar. The Sunday service lines are long, sometimes extending around the corner. Chicago winters can be brutal, so waiting in a long line can be challenging. Steamy breath clouds form as people speak, tight smiles cracking their freezing cheeks as they greet each other. Families are anxious to get out of the heat or cold weather, eager to settle down and connect through the Word.
Upon entering the church, pastors, bishops, and ushers can be seen smiling ear to ear as they wait for each member to walk in. The ushers wear purple tops and bottoms, while the pastors wear black. Male members of Progressive Baptist Church usually have on their best suits and colognes, while the women have on beautiful skirts and blouses that match their huge floral hats. But a flashy appearance is not required for this church. “Getting ready for church can be just as exciting as going to church,” Ray said, as his eyebrows raised to assert his strong opinion. Jordan Ray, who is thirty-one years old, has been a member of Progressive Baptist Church since 2018.
According to Ray, being a part of this church changed his life in so many ways. After Ray lost his mom to cancer in 2019, the members of this church seemed to feel Ray’s pain as if Cherryse (Ray’s mother) were directly related to them. The absence of Ray’s mother increased the spiritual and emotional connection between Ray and the members of Progressive Baptist Church. “I was so numb to everything when I lost her, but when Pastor Ron covered the entire cost of my mom’s funeral service, I definitely felt their generosity,” he recalled.
There are tons of reasons to attend Progressive Baptist Church. They offer a free Southern-style hot breakfast on Tuesday mornings while supplies last. They provide resources for financial hardships, similar to Ray’s situation. They also host fundraisers to raise money for the church. These fundraisers are known for their great old-school music and barbeque; the fundraisers also create new opportunities to bond through the shared love of Christ. Most importantly, Progressive Baptist Church provides worship services each Sunday morning. But these are just the physical benefits that this church offers. There are many ways this church silently provides support for many individuals, spiritually and mentally.
Specifically for Ray, attending Progressive Baptist Church every Sunday while still grieving the loss of his mother placed some morality in his life. Not only did this church show compassion for his funeral costs, but Ray also connected with the message of each sermon differently than before. Not long after his mom’s funeral, Ray abruptly stopped showing up for Sunday service at Progressive Baptist Church. “For a while, I didn’t want to go back to church, everyone kept doing nice things for me because of my mom. I felt there was no point in coming because she’s not here anymore. I just wanted to numb the pain I had,” Ray stated. As Ray spoke about his mother, he picked and pulled at the skin around his fingernails, keeping his head downward while speaking. Even though Ray understood that the church members and pastors could imagine what he was going through, he ignored their support. Ray stopped attending Progressive Baptist Church for six months because of drinking.
Ray continued to suffer alone in grief; he realized that nothing could make him feel any better; nothing could numb the pain. “Having someone by your side since birth up until your late 20s, then suddenly that person will never be seen or heard from again; that will fuck anyone’s head up,” Ray stated. As Ray continued to abandon the support that Progressive Baptist Church offered, he found new, less effective ways to cope with his grief.
Ray had tons of women he used as emotional support; he attended multiple parties, trying tons of different drugs. But Ray felt that the one place to go for support was the place he had abandoned. Members of Progressive Baptist Church reached out to Ray on numerous occasions. The church offered Ray continuous support, but only if he wanted it. Ray remembered, “I accidentally answered the phone one time; it was the pastor’s wife. I remember hearing her whisper, with a soft and delicate voice, saying hello. I instantly hung up when she said who she was.” Ray tried to avoid the church because it reminded him of his mother; he didn’t want to feel that weak feeling caused by being close to something that reminded him of what he’d lost. But that’s why Progressive Baptist Church is the safest place to be in a time of grief. Healing in an environment where each member is there to spread love and praise Jesus Christ is much safer than attempting to do so alone. Eventually, Ray made the ultimate decision to show up to service on a Sunday morning. “It was like 60 degrees outside, but it felt like 200 degrees. I’m not sure if that was because I was nervous or because I drank the night before,” Ray recalled. Ray mentioned that he showed up because he was tired of feeling weak as a man. As Ray gently sobbed, trying to stop his tears, he mumbled, “No matter how much I wanted my mom back, I had to accept that she isn’t coming back. So, I just went back to church to be around my family and the environment that my mom loved.”
Members at Progressive Baptist Church cried upon seeing Ray enter the church. “Some women were waving their fans and crying, thanking Jesus when I walked in,” Ray recalled. Heartfelt condolences were shared by every member. Ray remembers how the sermon for that Sunday was based on God’s presence. Ray remembered, “This was the day I really thought about my relationship with God; I knew that only through Christ would I get out of the darkness.”
Ultimately, Ray was baptized in the waters of Progressive Baptist Church. The men and women who’ve cried together, praised together, and laughed together all came together to place a loving hand on Ray’s shoulder. “I’ll never forget rising from the water, wiping my eyes so I could see; I wanted to cry when I saw so many members of the church crying just because I got baptized. It felt like I was connecting with my mom’s spirit through the church,” Ray stated. Progressive Baptist Church is just a church building to the people who aren’t a part of it, but according to its growing members, it holds endless testimonies, support, praise, soul food, and a judgement-free space to share it all together as a community, as a family.