A North Star in Lakeview
Saint Luke Church stands at the corner of Belmont and Greenview Avenues in Chicago's Lake View neighborhood, a few blocks west of Wrigleyville's bustle. The first building on the site was dedicated in 1884, and the present church was completed in the late 1950s as the home of a congregation that has long balanced heritage with a wide-reaching welcome. Saint Luke is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and gathers around a guiding statement it calls its "North Star": to be a diverse, urban, and global community that shares Christ's love as its foundation.
That welcome is explicit. Saint Luke is a Reconciling in Christ Congregation, affirming people of every age, family situation, class, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and ability. Teaching and preaching center on justification by grace through faith; worship centers on the hearing of God's Word and the celebration of the sacraments of Holy Baptism and the Lord's Supper. The community embraces the Lutheran conviction that doubt and questioning are necessary for spiritual growth and openly receives all questions, comments, criticisms, and conflict in the spirit of beloved community.
Sundays at 9:30 - The Holy Eucharist
The principal Sunday gathering is the Holy Eucharist at 9:30 a.m., offered in person and online. Holy Communion is celebrated every Sunday as the chief service of the day. The liturgy follows the structure of the Lutheran Liturgy, with what Saint Luke describes as a rich heritage of rite, music, and pageantry, offering a diversity of experiences old and new, traditional and exotic.
The Sunday rhythm opens earlier than worship. At 8:30 a.m. an Education Hour brings adults and older students together for Bible Class in Memorial Hall. After the Eucharist, at 10:30 a.m., the congregation gathers for coffee, brunch, or a special-event luncheon, a regular cadence of learning, worship, and fellowship each Sunday morning.
Special services mark the seasons of the church year. On Candlemas, the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, the light of Christmas is said to deepen rather than fade. Through the long green stretch of ordinary time, the altar frontal cross grows week by week, its colored strips extending across the altar as a visible image of Christian formation.
Music and a Living Organ Tradition
Music is a hallmark of Saint Luke worship. Cantor Don Mead leads the Saint Luke Church Choir, which sings at Sunday liturgies and on festival days. Soloist Maia Surace and assisting ministers Terry Duchow, Dale Hoiberg, Robert Kleisch, and Janice Pohl round out the worship staff. Children in Saint Luke Academy's Pre-K through second grade sing as children's ensembles, learning the hymns of the faith.
The instrument that anchors this musical life is a Schlicker pipe organ built by the Schlicker Organ Company of Buffalo, New York. The Church of Saint Luke requested a proposal in early 1958 and contracted with Schlicker in December 1959. The instrument, with Gallery and Antiphonal divisions totaling 59 ranks, arrived for installation in November 1962 and was dedicated in January 1963 with a recital by the Lutheran liturgical musician Paul Manz. Eight ranks of pipes from the congregation's 1903 Kilgen organ were incorporated into the new instrument, linking the present organ to a continuous history of music at Saint Luke.
That history stretches back to 1884, when a simple but adequate organ was installed in the first church. During the record cold of January 1899 the furnace malfunctioned and a fire swept the building, destroying the organ along with the rest of the sanctuary. A replacement Kilgen organ was dedicated in 1903 and served until the old church was razed for the present building. Through the decades the Schlicker has been carefully maintained: a solid-state combination and crescendo action in 1990 to 1991, a re-leathering and repositioning of the Positiv manual as a Ruckpositiv with 32-foot electronic extensions in 1994, a digital electronic relay in 1997, and a full cleaning, new swell-box motor, and pedal board in 2000.
The nave's lively acoustics also host concerts by visiting ensembles throughout the year - classical, jazz, and chamber music.
Saint Luke Academy Next Door
The Lakeview campus is shared with Saint Luke Academy, a preschool and lower school the parish calls "Lakeview's Best Kept Secret since 1882." The Academy enrolls children in PK-3, PK-4, Kindergarten, and First and Second Grades, with before- and after-care available. Academy children regularly appear in the life of the parish, singing in worship, joining intergenerational events with area seniors, and learning in classrooms that benefit from volunteers from the congregation.
Bible Class and Christian Formation
Adults have two regular opportunities to study Scripture. Sunday Bible Class meets in Memorial Hall during the 8:30 a.m. Education Hour, walking through the lessons for the week and books that address questions of faith. A second Bible Study gathers online on Thursdays at noon, offering a midday pause for prayer and reflection on the texts for the upcoming Sunday.
Those exploring membership meet with the pastor for a series of discussions on the Lutheran tradition. Anyone preparing for baptism can arrange a course of study through the church office. Children may commune at any age once they can demonstrate a basic understanding of the sacrament and a willingness to participate regularly. Parents and children meet with the pastor for educational sessions before a child is welcomed as a communicant member.
Confirmation Across the Lakeview Lutheran Parish
Confirmation is a shared ministry. Seventh- and 8th-grade students from Saint Luke join peers from Holy Trinity, Lakeview Lutheran, and Resurrection Lutheran Churches for monthly sessions, typically the first Sunday of the month, with the wider Lakeview Lutheran Parish. The Rite of Confirmation itself is celebrated within a regular Sunday Eucharist, usually on the Sunday immediately preceding the Feast of the Ascension.
Rites of the Church
Beyond baptism, first communion, and confirmation, Saint Luke hosts weddings, with pre-marital counseling arranged through the church office, and funerals, with pastoral support for end-of-life planning. Acolytes, young people typically beginning in fifth grade and advancing to Master Acolytes after five years of service, assist in worship alongside adult assisting ministers, lectors, servers, ushers, eucharistic ministers to the homebound, and a livestream operator.
Ministry Outside the Walls
The congregation's outreach takes several forms. The Hot Soup Mission partners with the Lakeview Lutheran Parish to bring a hot meal to homeless encampments on Chicago's North Side once a month. Saint Luke members volunteer with Bread for the World, Lakeview Pantry, Lutheran World Relief, Lutheran Life Communities, North Side Housing and Supportive Services, Lutheran Outdoor Ministry, and the Chicagoland Lutheran Educational Fund.
An Intergenerational Programming initiative connects area seniors with the people of Saint Luke and the children of Saint Luke Academy. The parish also runs a Fine Arts Community Gallery that hosts community exhibits, senior and student shows, and Artists Guild displays.
Saint Luke Cemetery and the Garden of St. Francis
Saint Luke's ministry extends to a cemetery at 5300 N. Pulaski Road, on the city's North Side near the intersection of Pulaski and Foster. The Saint Lucas Cemetery Association was established in 1900 as the second Lutheran cemetery for Chicago Lutherans, with the first interment made on October 29 of that year, a two-month-old child. By 2000 more than 25,500 burials had taken place across ten sections, two of which are completely filled. The cemetery's name was changed to Saint Luke Cemetery in 1998.
Originally the grounds covered sixty-five acres, of which roughly three-quarters were set aside for interment. Over the years portions have been sold: 7.5 acres at Pulaski and Foster in 1992, now occupied by a national grocery and other stores, and fourteen acres along the North Branch of the Chicago River in 1995, now home to condominiums. The Administration Building was thoroughly modernized in 1999 and now includes a chapel with 132 niches for the burial of cremains; the chapel may be used for any burial service.
Two special sections expand the cemetery's care. Since 2008 the Garden of Saint Francis has set aside unconsecrated ground for the burial of companion animals, service animals, and beloved family pets among Illinois prairie plantings and walking trails. In 2009 a section within the regular cemetery was created for the burial of infants and stillborn babies. The cemetery is operated by a board of directors elected by the Church of Saint Luke, with a general manager, grounds foreman, field worker, and office manager.
Visiting, Parking, and Getting There
Saint Luke is at 1500 W. Belmont Avenue, Chicago, IL 60657. Free parking is available in the Pointe at Greenview Place Parking Structure just north of the church, with the entrance west of 1501 W. Melrose Street; Melrose runs one way west at that point. The Brown and Red rapid transit lines and the Ashland and Belmont bus routes serve the area. The church building is wheelchair accessible.
Sunday worship at 9:30 a.m. is offered both in person and via livestream on YouTube. Thursday Bible Study meets online at noon. The church office can be reached at 773-472-3383 or info@stlukechicago.org; the Academy office at 773-472-3837; the cemetery at 773-588-0049. Gifts may be made online, by text to 833-988-0613, or through the offering plate.