Tom Strening stood in a chilly morning breeze outside Cook County’s busiest criminal courthouse and gestured at the plaza before him.
He pointed at the friends sharing a pack of Newports on the sidewalk, the young men sprinting inside to make their court hearing on time. All kinds of people find their way to the Leighton Criminal Court Building every day: high-heeled attorneys, jaded defendants, nervous jurors and gray-faced bureaucrats.
“The Holy Spirit is pursuing every one of these people,” he said.
Strening heads Courtside Ministries, a Christian group that maintains a regular presence at the foot of the steps to the county’s main criminal courthouse at 26th Street and California Avenue.
Twice a week, rain or shine, volunteers make an offer to the strangers on their way in or out: “Can I pray with you?”
Many of them say yes. Some respond only with tight smiles, hurried excuses or scowls.
Strening and a handful of others stood outside the courthouse last week near a table stacked with religious pamphlets and Bibles.
One attorney approached with a joke.
“You can count on my vote!” he said, patting a volunteer on the shoulder...READ MORE
