Pray Gay
"What are you longing for, and what’s missing?" These are the questions that Reverend Kevin Downer posed to more than 300 people before founding achurch4me, a new religious institution operating out of the Center on Halsted. The new church looks to attend to the "need of the people today"—which means not only providing a home for the overlooked and downtrodden of society, but also carrying on the legacy of the Good Shepherd Parish Metropolitan Community Church, which is holding its final worship service on July 8. Famed for being the only LGBQT-accepting religious institution in the city upon its formation in 1970, the GSP voted to close its doors upon word of achurch4me’s creation, which will continue offering LGBQT-friendly services after the GSP’s close. Sunday worship at the new church begins on July 15, and a large public opening is slated for early September. Downer hopes to "help people reclaim their holy identity."

Hoop on Board
Ah, the hula hoop—the 1950s trend that amused kids long before the world wide web took over their lives is making a new and improved comeback. Now used as an alternative to traditional workouts, the new form of hula-hooping, called "hoop dancing," makes its debut in Millennium Park on Saturday for national World Hoop Day. HooperPower’s HoopGirl instructor Heather Crosby says the difference is all in the hoops. Larger, lighter hoops are used in hoop dancing, making it easy to perform tricks. Crosby says these larger hoops "move slowly, so you can pretty much do anything with them." Crosby herself got into hooping about three years ago. "I saw fire-hooping and it kind of scared me to death and was totally thrilling at the same time, so I decided that I needed to do it," she says. Crosby found that hooping was a great workout—she lost ten pounds. "You’re using every bit of your body," she says. "You’re having so much fun, but you’re actually getting a workout, too. People of all shapes and sizes are doing this."

(2007-07-02)

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