Chicago, IL (December 7, 2019) – At its Annual Meeting held Saturday, Dec. 7, the OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership honored Cheryl Hammock with its Ken Bensen Award for Contextual Leadership.

Cheryl Hammock with the Ken Bensen Award for Contextual Leadership

Ms. Hammock served on the board of directors of OMNIA’s parent organization the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education (SCUPE) for over two decades, including as the chair of its board of directors. She and her husband Hill Hammock continue to support OMNIA. Her citation read: "in recognition of her life-long service to the people of the City of Chicago through her church, many civic organizations, including and especially her long-term service to, and support of SCUPE and OMNIA, and in appreciation of her servant leadership.”

Her pastor, Rev. Jonathan Friesen of Ellis Avenue Church, introduced Cheryl Hammock as one who has demonstrated her deep commitment to serve both the church and the larger community of the south side of Chicago. She and her husband Hill Hammock have been members of the church for over 50 years. Deeply committed to racial justice and women’s leadership, she served in leadership of many organizations in the city, including the Strive Afterschool Tutoring Program and the Hyde Park’s Ray School PTA.

Rev. Dr. Shanta Premawardhana, president of OMNIA recalled that in the late 1980s when he came as a new pastor, it was Cheryl who introduced him to low-income families in the south side neighborhoods. She was already engaged in ministering to their many needs, as a result of which, some families have seen significant transformation. She became engaged in SCUPE, because she knew the value of preparing pastoral leaders to address similar needs in the city.

Ken Bensen (center left) presents his namesake award to Cheryl Hammock (center right) as Hill Hammock (right) and Shanta Premawardhana (left) look on.

Rev. Dr. Ken Bensen in whose name the award was instituted three years ago, made the presenta-tion. The first recipient of the award, Bensen was honored for his leadership in the field of af-fordable housing, serving as long-time president of Habitat for Humanity of Michigan and rec-ognized for his leadership as the chair of the board of directors during SCUPE’s transition to OMNIA. The second recipient, Ms. Suzanne Morgan, is the founder and executive director of Sacred Space International, whose mission is to build relationships among people of various reli-gions by having them visit each other’s sacred spaces, learning about their sacred architecture, as well as their beliefs and practices.

The Annual Meeting celebrated OMNIA’s successes of this year. The Chicago-based global peacemaking organization has seen thousands of lives transformed through Interfaith Peacemak-er Teams (IPTs) in Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Its mission is to dismantle religious ex-tremism and build communities that value pluralism. Recognizing the clamor coming from Nige-ria and Sri Lanka for there to be an IPT in each village, the organization affirmed a plan to en-gage in the campaign: "Every Village a Peace Village."

Cheryl and Hill Hammock, former long-term Hyde Park residents, now live in the Near-North side of the city.

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