Bolingbrook pastor pens book about the road to radical Christian love

BOLINGBROOK –  "Can you be radical and Christian at the same time?"

That is the question Calvin Quarles, 63, pastor of The Church at Bolingbrook, wanted to answer with his newly released historical fiction book about Jesus, "The Panther at the Cross."

Quarles feels the answer is a resounding "yes." In fact, it was Jesus' radical teachings and preachings that led to his crucifixion, he said.

"I think Christianity came into existence to impact a culture and to change a culture," Quarles said.

"The Panther at the Cross" is about Carlton Johnson, a young man raised in the church but recruited by others along the way to manhood: Gangster Disciples, Black Panthers and Nation of Islam.

Eventually, Johnson returns to the church and uses his revolutionary spirit to fight for the basic rights of all people, of all color, all over the world.

Johnson is Quarles, fictionalized.

Quarles as activist

Quarles said his mother, Corene Quarles (deceased), often quoted Proverbs 22:6: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." His grandmother, Celia Bobo (deceased), always prayed for him, Quarles added.

He believes their quotes and prayers influenced his journey.

From ages 5 to 12, Calvin faithfully attended church, due to Corene, who made sure he went, he said. At first he attended Second Baptist Church and then, after his family moved to the Hillcrest area, Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

What changed at age 12? The Gangster Disciples recruited Calvin.

But his father, Morris Douglas Quarles (deceased), fought back by insisting on hard work and responsibility.

Morris approached the owner of Lee's grocery store on South Chicago Street, noted the lack of black employees and offered Calvin.

"Next thing you know I was given a box cutter and an apron and was told to start sweeping up around the store," Calvin said. "I stocked shelves, bagged groceries and carried groceries to the cars."

Calvin said he worked almost three years at Lee's (although he still associated with the gang after hours) until he started Joliet West High School in 1968, where blacks were a definite minority.

Then Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and Calvin joined the Black Panthers.

"I often say the death of Dr. King changed my life," Calvin said. "It changed my perspective on things. The Black Panthers were not a street gang. They were about freedom and social justice."

Calvin said the Black Panthers stressed education, staying away from drugs, and mentoring and tutoring others. They offered free breakfasts before school at the Peter Claver Center for children attending the former McKinley and Eliza Kelly grade schools, Calvin added.

During this time, Calvin also experienced the church's unconditional love in the form of the Rev. Isaac Singleton (deceased), pastor at Mt. Zion.

"There was a disturbance on campus [at Joliet West] and I, along with other African-American students, were arrested," Calvin said. "Pastor Singleton came to the jail and got us out of jail."

After that, Calvin often talked to Singleton.

"He was someone who actually cared about youth and the community and who listened," Calvin said. "So we told him about some of the things going on in the school and the way kids were being treated."

After high school, Calvin began Malcom X College in Chicago and was recruited again, this time by Nation of Islam. Calvin liked its focus on black pride and respect, for self and for others.

But when one of the leaders announced he was Jesus returned to earth, Calvin was done. By now, Calvin was in his mid-20s, married and with two children. For safety reasons (some members of Nation of Islam were displeased Calvin left, he said), he moved to Georgia.

Calvin as Christian radical

While there, Calvin felt the Holy Spirit encouraging him to move back to Joliet and contact Singleton and "plant myself at his feet, work with him and serve him in whatever capacity he needed."

"So that's what I did," Calvin said.

Calvin became a deacon, then a minister and then a youth pastor before he left Mt. Zion in 2003 to pastor Bolingbrook Community Church, now called The Church at Bolingbrook.

He believes Christians are called to the radical love Jesus displayed – love for the poor, hungry, disenfranchised, rich – and to love the world enough to die for it.

"Fifty years ago, some of the things I'm saying wouldn't be radical at all," Calvin said. "You have to look at the culture."

Too often, Calvin feels, Christians act as if they're supposed to be docile and quiet, "as if Christ intended them to be the doormat of the world."

Christians are supposed to provide direction and leadership, speak the truth and stand up against injustice, Calvin said. But the church today struggles with these concepts, he added.

"We have to say things in such a way to touch the hearts of people and change their minds, but we've got to be willing to do it with love," Calvin said. "God intended us to have the mind of Christ."

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BUY THE BOOK

"The Panther at the Cross" by Calvin Quarles is 132 pages and available in hardcover, softcover and eBook. Buy it at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com or the Christian self-publisher Xlibris at shawurl.com/32es.