Fourth Presbyterian Church lost a very good friend two weeks ago when Father Bob McLaughlin died. Bob was the pastor of Holy Name Cathedral from 1990 to 2002. During that time a new spirit of commonality and collaboration emerged between Holy Name and Fourth Presbyterian Church. He and I became close personal friends. Early in his tenure, Holy Name and Fourth Church joined together and invited other neighborhood churches and synagogues to be part of an effort to respond to homelessness. We met with officials of the YMCA to ask them to continue providing vital services for underserved and needy people in their Chicago Avenue facility. We worked together to buy a building in the Loop to renovate and turn into a shelter and single-room-occupancy facility. And when we were unsuccessful, we created a not-for-profit corporation, Central City Housing Ventures, and built our own, the 170-room facility at Michigan and 20th, The Studios.

When we were renovating our facilities at Fourth Church and needed space, I called on Bob and he found a way to house our preschool at the Cathedral School.

We used to laugh together at how many of our members were married to spouses who belonged to the other church and how there was so much traffic between our two churches on Sunday morning maybe we were creating a new ecumenical model of being Christian.

He was no stranger here. He preached from this pulpit—memorably on New Year’s Eve 2001, his last official act as pastor of Holy Name—preaching in a Presbyterian pulpit.

Together with Congregation Sinai and Rabbi Michael Sternfield, we launched the community Thanksgiving services held in one of our three facilities, with preacher and choir from the other two.

And when September 11, 2001, happened, it was the most natural thing in the world for Catholics, Protestants, and Jews to join hands to make witness and stand close together.

We didn’t see one another much after his reassignment, but I miss him. Remarkably for a Southsider, he was an avid Cubs fan. One of the last times I saw him was on the Red Line to Wrigley Field with his Cubs jacket and cap on. A few weeks before he moved, we sponsored a little reception for him during which we told him that he was an honorary Presbyterian.

I will never forget one of the last things Bob said to me. It was in our robing room, New Year’s Eve 2001, after he had preached and I had offered the prayer. He said, “When we are together like this, I feel the pain of our separation so deeply.”

Bob was a blessing to his church, his congregation, to the City of Chicago, to us here at Fourth Presbyterian Church, and to me personally. Thanks be to God for the life and ministry of Father Robert McLaughlin.

John M. Buchanan
Pastor