Gilead is a queer, storytelling bar church located on the North Side of Chicago. For 8 years, we've built queer community to break bread, celebrate each other, and share true stories that save lives. And now, we're dying.

On Jan 12th Gilead's Congregation voted to close Gilead. (Here's the letter our founders Vince and Rebecca sent out in advance of that vote.) Like all death, it's not what we wanted; we love our life. Like all death, it's totally normal. What's less typical is that we want to have a good death.

Closing sooner rather than later lets us die like we’ve lived. Allows us to make intentional choices about how we’ll live out the rest of our time together, instead of being forced onto a kind of treadmill of extreme measures. Closing in the coming months lets us stop trying to conserve our energy and money just in case we can turn this thing around — but we’ve never been conservative. Why start now?

We wanna go out with a bang: an Ash Wed service (Mar 5th, 7 pm!) at Rosehill Cemetery with a marching band of street performers, an Easter Vigil Wrestling Show (April 19th evening), and a final service at a bar big enough to hold everyone who can come. (Not to mention: we've got a church to run over here.)

Please kick in to offer support, love, and care to those who have made and called Gilead home. We can't thank you enough. <3

Help Gilead Die

By Gilead Church Chicago

Help Gilead Die

It's not what we wanted...but it's what's happening :'(