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The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel, senior minister of First Congregational Church, UCC, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois is also the co-host for the television program "30 Good Minutes."

Member of:

United Church of Christ

Representative of:

First Congregational Church - Glen Ellyn, IL - UCC

Lillian Daniel, the Senior Minister of First Congregational Church, UCC, in Glen Ellyn, Illinois is also the co-host for the television program “30 Good Minutes” which airs on Sundays at 5 pm on Chicago’s WTTW/Ch.11.  Featuring the leading voices in religion today, those programs are available at 30goodminutes.org.

Daniel is the author of the book Tell It Like It Is: Reclaiming the Practice of Testimony, which is the story about how God moves in the local church when people speak about God’s presence to one another. A frequent contributor to the Christian Century Magazine, Daniel also has a chapter in Anxious About Empire, edited by Wes Avram, and From Nomads to Pilgrims: Stories from Practicing Congregations, edited by Diana Butler Bass and Joseph Stewart-Sicking. She writes for preaching periodicals such as the Journal for Preachers and the Biblical Preaching Journal, as well as for “God is Still Speaking,” an identity campaign for the United Church of Christ.

Daniel became the Senior Minister of the First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn, a western suburb of Chicago, in 2004, after serving for eight years as the Senior Minister of the Church of the Redeemer, in New Haven, Connecticut.  A frequent speaker around the country, she has taught preaching at Yale Divinity School and Chicago Theological Seminary, where she serves on the Board of Trustees. She writes for preaching periodicals such as the Journal for Preachers and the Biblical Preaching Journal, and also has a regular spirituality column in the denominational newspaper, the United Church News.  

Married to Lou Weeks, a labor union organizer, Reverend Daniel is the proud mother of two school age children, Calvin and Abigail Weeks, and the not-so-proud owner of one badly behaved dog named Lucky. Reverend Daniel is delighted to have landed in such a vibrant church community, by the grace of God, and gives thanks every day that she can serve Christ as the Senior Minister of First Congregational Church in Glen Ellyn, where God is still speaking and all people are welcome.

Latest Content by The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel

Dr. Lillian Daniel: Daffodils and the Life of Faith

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

When I was a kid, my mother planned a big garden party, where her yard would be filled with blooming daffodils that she had planted in anticipation. But as the party date approached, the weather stayed cold and no daffodils were even close to blooming.

Yet on the day of the party, our lawn was filled with daffodils, just as she had dreamed. The guests marveled. No garden had any springtime action like that.

Read full article...

Dr. Lillian Daniel: Touchdown Theology

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

Micah 6:8

"

And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."  

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strong>Reflection by Lillian Daniel

A

few weeks ago, Tim Tebow's pastor, Wayne Hanson, said he knew why the Denver Broncos were 7-1 since installing Tebow as quarterback. "It's not luck," Hanson said. "Luck isn't winning six games in a row. It's favor. God's favor."

Read full article...

Other Recent Content by The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel

January 01, 2012

Lillian Daniel: Acting Out on the Airplane

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

In a New Year's reflection on patience, the Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel describes an experience with a trouble-maker on a flight--and how Jesus showed up.

December 04, 2011

Dr. Lillian Daniel: The limits of taste

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

Someone was complaining to me about why she had stopped going to her church, saying, "You know, when it came to worship, I just didn't get much out of it." To which I replied, "Well, it wasn't directed toward you."

November 13, 2011

Lillian Daniel: The Poor Are Not Lucky

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

A devotional on Mark 4:24-26: I have heard rich people say that the poor are lucky before. But I have yet to hear a poor person say it.

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel & Rev. Martin Copenhaver - Day1 Conversations with Peter Wallace

The Rev. Martin Copenhaver (UCC)

This week our host, Peter Wallace, sits down with the authors of the new book "This Odd And Wondrous Calling," The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel and The Rev. Martin Copenhaver. 

October 21, 2011

Dr. Lillian Daniel: A Mother's Work Is Never Done

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

Simon's mother was very ill, consumed with a fever, but Jesus was able to cure his friend's mother, to literally "raise her up." What a moment that must have been.

October 13, 2011

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel: Two Thumbs Up for Roger Ebert

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

Two thumbs up for Roger Ebert. Two thumbs up for all those who work to make a more loving, less shallow world.

September 02, 2011

Dr. Lillian Daniel: Spiritual But Not Religious? Please Stop Boring Me

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

In her meditation on Matthew 16:18, Lillian Daniel writes, "Being privately spiritual but not religious just doesn't interest me. There is nothing challenging about having deep thoughts all by oneself."

July 21, 2011

Dr. Lillian Daniel: Blamed, Shamed, and Framed

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

Most grandmothers teach their grandchildren how to make cookies. My grandmother taught me how to make a gin and tonic.

July 24, 2011

The Stand-In Church

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

Sometimes we need to be prepared to "stand in" for church in the lives of those who are hurting, sharing our testimony with the grieving, calling out that we have seen light in the midst of darkness.

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel - Podcast Extra 2009

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel, senior minister of First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn, IL, talks with host Peter Wallace about the unique statement of beliefs her church offers, her calling, how to reach youth, her book on testimony in the church, and other topics of faith and life.

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Conversation with Lillian Daniel - 30 Good Minutes

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

Hosts Daniel Pawlus and Lydia Talbot continue in conversation with Lillian Daniel, who says we all have God given passion within us to meet the needs of the world in some way.

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Lillian Daniel, "A Big Enough Life" - 30 Good Minutes

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel, Senior Minister of the First Congregational Church of Glen Ellyn, Illinois, says Jesus' call to us to live abundant lives is actually a call for the transformation of the world, so that justice will roll down into every life.

February 01, 2009

Fear of Public Speaking

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel focuses on Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:14-15 about being the "light of the world." She reveals why many mainline Christians are hesitant to share their story of faith, and shows how we can do a better job of it in our daily lives.

January 25, 2009

I'm With the Band

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

Have you ever been to a wedding reception where the bride sang in her own wedding band? Musicians do things differently. The wedding reception was held upon the stage of a grand old theater in Buffalo, New York. Elegantly set tables dotted the wooden floor, with its stage markings and velvet curtains swagged casually aside.

Conversation with Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel Part 2 - Day1 with Peter Wallace

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel sits down with Day1 host Peter Wallace and discusses a wide range of subjects including her upbringing in the church, discerning her call to ministry, youth and young adults in the church, her book "Tell it like it is" on testimony in the church, and what books she has found helpful in her own spiritual growth (she mentions Richard Fosters book on Prayer).

Day1 Conversation with Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel (UCC)

The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel sits down with Day1 host Peter Wallace to discuss a wide variety of subjects including: the congregational United Church of Christ outlook, her work on the "God is Still Speaking" Identity campaign, as well as the four points of interest for her congregation: "everyone is a child of Christ," "God is a part of our everyday lives," "We are free to think of God in our own way," "Another world is possible" and the commitment to social justice, "It takes all kinds to make a difference."