January 2021
Rather than risk having 10,000 people in close contact, WeDignify, the organizers of Moving the Movement, made it a caravan with 6 stops through 4 states (Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Indiana). Our own LCMS co-sponsored the event in Fort Wayne, IN where President Harrison was a featured speaker. The March for Life Chicago’s Rally on the Road drew almost 600 carloads of pro-life advocates to process through the streets of downtown Chicago for the January 23, 2021 event. It is estimated that over 20 LCMS NID congregations participated. Families cheered on street corners as the procession moved from the near north side through the city to the southwest side where participants donated tens of thousands of diapers to a local pregnancy resource center.
8,000+ Participants
Momentum for the tour grew each weekend, with 267 cars registered in Madison on January 2 and Omaha on January 10, 383 autos registered in Ft. Wayne on January 16 and Mundelein on January 17, and 749 vehicles registered in Indianapolis on January 22 and Chicago on January 23! With an average of 3 people per car, combined with many more who participated via livestream, an estimated total of more than 8,000 people attended the Moving the Movement Tour.
150,000+ diapers
Organizers set an ambitious goal to collect 130,094 diapers, a figure picked to equal the number of babies aborted annually in the Midwest. In-person and online donations surpassed that number by over 25,000, to donated 156,518 diapers. The collected diapers were distributed among 20 local pregnancy resource centers.
Looking Forward to 2022
March for Life Chicago 2022 is set for January 8. The downtown Chicago will again feature the March for Life Chicago Convention, which debuted at the 2020 march to a capacity crowd. The Hilton Chicago on Michigan Avenue is the planned location.
You can find information on the NID Life Task Force at nidlcms.org/life-task-force.
“As we look forward to returning to our massive event in the Chicago Loop in January 2022, we are thrilled by the new pro-life ties we have forged this year,” shared Grillot. “We will continue to advocate for life throughout the year and look forward to hosting thousands of pro-lifers from across the Midwest right here in Chicago next January.”
Encouraging personal witnessing, congregational engagement with their community, support of our NID partnerships and missions and sharing in a world mission field together.