HIS WORD OUR GUIDE takes a panoramic view across the Old Testament, New Testament, and early Christian writings in search of definitive answers regarding early Church organization, doctrine, and practice. The sources speak for themselves with remarkable consistency and clarity, with a minimum of author narrative. Early Christian writings quoted were selected exclusively from the first three centuries of the Church, in the belief that those closest in time to Jesus and the Apostles were in the best position to comprehend His message. The selected references address common misconceptions, and clarify many issues of faith and morals. Particular attention is paid to issues that divide Protestants, Orthodox, Catholics, and Jews. Since we hold so many beliefs in common, a small change in attitude and understanding might help to draw us together. Holy Scripture repeatedly calls us to be united. This work aims to further that cause.

Illinois boasts one of the most visible concentrations of Poles in the United States. Chicago is home to one of the largest Polish ethnic communities outside Poland itself. Yet no one has told the full story of our state’s large and varied Polish community—until now. Poles in Illinois is the first comprehensive history to trace the abundance and diversity of this ethnic group throughout the state from the 1800s to the present. Authors John Radzilowski and Ann Hetzel Gunkel look at family life among Polish immigrants, their role in the economic development of the state, the working conditions they experienced, and the development of their labor activism. Close-knit Polish American communities were often centered on parish churches but also focused on fraternal and social groups and cultural organizations. Polish Americans, including waves of political refugees during World War II and the Cold War, helped shape the history and culture of not only Chicago, the “capital” of Polish America, but also the rest of Illinois with their music, theater, literature, food. With forty-seven photographs and an ample number of extensive excerpts from first-person accounts and Polish newspaper articles, this captivating, highly readable book illustrates important and often overlooked stories of this ethnic group in Illinois and the changing nature of Polish ethnicity in the state over the past two hundred years. Illinoisans and Midwesterners celebrating their connections to Poland will treasure this rich and important part of the state’s history.

Dotyczy polskiego Kościoła katolickiego w USA.