Reshorna Fitzpatrick

As the Founder of Proceeding Word Church & Executive Pastor of the Historic Stone Temple, Pastor Reshorna Fitzpatrick has been helping to soothe a long-simmering hunger in her Chicago neighborhood with whatever sustenance she can provide. Three years ago, she helped start a community garden in a vacant lot near the North Lawndale church on the city’s West Side where she preaches every Sunday.

When COVID-19 hit, it got much worse, with long lines for whatever remained on the shelves and with many neighbors suddenly out of work and hungry. The pastor was approached by Urban Growers Collective, a Black-led nonprofit farmers’ group, which began to bring 300 boxes of produce to her church every week for Fitzpatrick, in turn, to give away.

What soon followed was “Soup for the Soul,” where Fitzpatrick and her flock would prepare hot meals every Monday for anyone who stopped by. A grant from the Bernard J. Tyson Impact Fund is helping her turn eight more vacant lots into gardens, as well as build a community kitchen where residents can take classes to become food service managers.

Reshorna M. Fitzpatrick the Executive Pastor of the Historic Stone Temple located in Chicago’s North Lawndale’s Community. Reshorna received a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Administration in 1986 from Talladega College; a Master’s Degree in Forensic Psychology from Argosy University, and a Master’s Degree in Theology in 2010, and a Doctorate of Biblical Studies in May 2013 both from North Carolina College of Theology. She is a Board Member of Faith in Place and Executive Committee Secretary. She is also a Board Member of I Am Able. She chairs the North Lawndale Community Coordinating Council/Greening Open Water Soil Sustainability Committee. In December 2020, Reshorna and her husband, Bishop Derrick Fitzpatrick, were acknowledged in Time Magazine as 2020 Heroes for their intensified support to the North Lawndale Community. She was born in Chicago and reared in North Lawndale and West Garfield Park. She is a member of the Chi Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.