Pastor Corey Brooks Helps Rival Chicago Gangs Make Peace

Elevate Christian Network :: News and Events

Pastor Corey Brooks Helps Rival Gangs in Chicago Make Peace: After a neighborhood shooting left a toddler paralyzed, Corey Brooks knew it was time for the church to take action. This June, however, when another child—this time, a toddler—was paralyzed in a similar shooting on Father’s Day, Brooks decided to go further, inviting more than 100 gang members together so he could broker a truce that’s still going strong.

Building Rapport with Gang Members

Brooks recently spoke with Christianity Today assistant editor Morgan Lee about how he built rapport with gang members, his reputation in the neighborhood, and how he hopes other Chicago churches will support his work. After more than a year, Pastor Brooks and his team were able to get everyone to come to the table and at least discuss the potential of a truce.

Pastor Brooks knew a lot of the gang members that came together in the meeting personally. He knew their families and have ministered to many of their families in times of shootings and gun violence. According to Pastor Brooks, “I built relationships and rapport with a lot of people in that room. It isn’t something that happened overnight, but it has been in process for some time now”.

Read more… christianitytoday.com

 

Pastor Corey Brooks Occupies Rooftop to Help Curb Gang Violence in Chicago

AFP News Agency: Pastor Corey Brooks is staging a rather different kind of “occupy” protest. He’s been on the roof of an abandoned motel for a month now, holding vigil against the violence that plagues the South Side of Chicago, Illinois.

 

Pastor Corey Brooks is also a businessman, philanthropist, songwriter, mentor and spiritual coach. In November 2000, he founded New Beginnings Church of Chicago, an urban, non-denominational Purpose Driven Church in the inner city on Chicago’s south side.

With a vision to “Change people from Chicago, America and the World,” Pastor Brooks plans to plant one hundred churches over the next ten years and has already planted churches in Atlanta, GA. and Cape Town, South Africa.

After sleeping on the roof of an abandoned motel for 94 days to bring attention to gun violence on the south side of Chicago, the “Rooftop Pastor” Corey Brooks started Project HOOD with the vision of “ending violence and building communities, one neighborhood at a time.”

• For more information on Pastor brooks and Project HOOD, visit him online at: http://nbcchicago.tv

 

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