Home

Adults

G.I.F.T. (Growing in Faith Together)

What questions do you wrestle with in your faith? How can you deepen your relationship with God? What are we called to do in this world as Christians? This is a time when adults of all ages gather together to learn, share, and grow in their faith. A variety of different series and opportunities are planned throughout the year and are offered from different ministries within Southminster like Creation Care, Discipling, Mission & Social Justice.

G.I.F.T. Classes

Protecting Earths Natural Resources

On November 16, we will welcome Dr. Nancy Tuchman from Loyola University Chicago. This will be at Southminster’s GIFT Hour after worship at 11:15 in the Sanctuary. Dr. Tuchman will raise our awareness of the unsustainable consumption of Earth’s natural resources. She will present the amazing accomplishments of Loyola’s youth-based Socio-Ecological Systems. What will we learn? How to move forward as we care for God’s Earth, our home. Practical steps we can take as individuals. The stumbling blocks we may face.

Please join us! There will also be an opportunity for questions!

Past G.I.F.T. Series
Video Recordings

Featured Speaker from a Cloud of Witness Faith Stories

Featured Cloud of Witness Faith Story for November/December 2025

Southminster has a tradition each summer for members to share their faith stories. We are looking back at stories shared in the last few years and highlighting one member every two months.

For November/December we are featuring George Egner, our beloved oldest member—he’s looking forward to his 101^st birthday on November 27, 2025. He has attended Southminster since 2009 and has been a blessing to our church for his humorous puns and a spirit that always praises the Lord.

In addition, George has a wealth of knowledge about gardening. He has been a great mentor to all who are involved in our church’s “Grace Garden”. Each year he plants all the marigold seeds in his apartment at Church Creek and then these marigolds are planted in our garden. Everything harvested, (including vegetables, tomatoes, etc.) is brought to either our church members in need or to one of three community organizations: Elk Grove Township Food Pantry, Wheeling Township Food Pantry, or Northwest Compass.

To hear George’s faith story: Link to George Egner July 30, 2023

Social Justice Team Presents

10/26 Presentation Myths & Realities About Affordable Housing by Hugh Brady Housing Task Force – Click Here for Video

11/2 Presentation Houseless Friends, Monica Stajniak from Northwest Compass – Click Here for Video

What are the Risks and Rewards of Coming Out as LGBTQ+ ?

National Coming Out Day was celebrated by the LGBTQ+ Community on October 11th of this year. Coming out as LGBTQ+ can be a scary step forward for those who have been closeted. In today’s political climate, especially, it takes courage to first come to terms with who you are and then share this personal news with family and friends. Click Here for the Video

Keys to Unlocking the Bible

Sunday Oct 12, 11:15 Gift Hour: Lesson 1 “In The Garden,”

This will be the first of 10 lessons we will offer from a DVD series entitled, 10 Keys to Unlocking the Bible, by Colin S. Smith. Lessons 2-5 will be done this Advent season and Lessons 6-10 will be done during Lent, 2026. This series will give you a place to better understand the Bible. Click Here for Video & Handout.

NOTE: We will continue this series with 4 weeks during Advent and 5 weeks during Lent.

Rob Bell Nooma Videos

Please join us for these 2 GIFT HOURS. Rob Bell’s Nooma video series provide different, creative, thought provoking ways to look at our relationship with God.

Come join us these 2 Sundays as we seek, in a quiet, reflective atmosphere, to gain new perspectives, insights, thoughts, and maybe even new questions about our relationship with God.

September 28: Rob encourages us to ponder whether or not our lives are in tune with the “song that has a melody, a groove, a certain rhythm, which people have heard for thousands of years across continents, cultures, and time periods, and they’ve wanted to hear more”. Click Here for Video & Handout
October 5: Rob uses his memories of a time hiking with his 1 year old son when suddenly a thunderstorm struck. His son burst into tears and Rob had to cuddle him tightly against his heart and kept whispering to him, “I love you buddy. We’re going to make it. Dad knows the way home.” In the storms of our lives, God wants to tell us the same thing. Click for Video & Handout