An Open and Affirming Congregation in Downtown Skokie
On the corner of Laramie Avenue and Oakton Street, across from the Skokie Public Library and Village Hall, St. Peter's United Church of Christ has stood as a landmark in downtown Skokie for more than a hundred and fifty years. The two-towered building with its stained glass windows, the steeple bells that ring out on Sunday mornings, and the Moller pipe organ inside the sanctuary are all part of what makes this congregation recognizable to anyone who passes through the heart of the village.
St. Peter's is one of the oldest congregations in the area, but the people who fill the sanctuary today describe themselves with a much more contemporary word: welcoming. The congregation is officially Open and Affirming within the United Church of Christ, a designation that commits the church to full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people and to equal treatment of every person regardless of gender, race, economic status, or physical and mental ability. That promise shapes everything from who is invited to the communion table to who may be married in the sanctuary to who is welcome to bring a pet to the annual Pet Blessing on the lawn.
A History That Goes Back to 1867
The congregation traces its roots to May 5, 1867, when a group of German immigrants organized St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church. At the time, the community was known as Niles Center, and St. Peter's was its first church. Many of the founding members were pioneers in the development of what would eventually become the Village of Skokie.
The first building was dedicated in 1868, and in the 1890s bells were added to the bell tower. Lightning severely damaged that original structure in 1901, and the present sanctuary and its two towers were built and dedicated in 1903. Throughout the early decades of the twentieth century, stained glass windows were installed and modern amenities brought into the building. In the 1950s, after the congregation joined the United Church of Christ, the gymnasium, kitchen, offices, Sunday School rooms, and nursery were added. The gym became a stage for plays, dinner theater, and youth fundraisers that helped pay for the next major renovation, known as Project 81, which restored the sanctuary and bell tower and was completed in 1981.
The stained glass windows and the Moller pipe organ, installed in 1980, are two of the building's most celebrated features. The organ was featured in the 2020 North Shore chapter of the American Guild of Organists' Virtual Organ Crawl.
Sunday Morning at 10 a.m.
Worship at St. Peter's begins at 10 a.m. every Sunday morning with the ringing of the steeple bells. The hour before the service is busy. Sunday School gathers at 9 a.m. in the Chapel, and the choir rehearses at 9 a.m. as well during the school year. Visitors are welcomed by greeters whether they come up the front stairs into the sanctuary, enter from the parking lot on the east side of the building, or come in from Laramie Avenue on the west.
The service itself follows a familiar Protestant shape. A few short announcements and prayer request updates open the hour, and then the congregation worships together in word, song, and prayer. Open communion is shared on the first Sunday of every month, and everyone is welcome at the table, regardless of denominational background. The worship calendar moves through the seasons of the church year - Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and the long stretch of Sundays after Pentecost - with special services on Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter, and Christmas Eve.
After the service, the congregation gathers for coffee hour, a regular rhythm of fellowship that is as much a part of Sunday at St. Peter's as the music and the sermon.
Music That Fills the Sanctuary
Music is a cornerstone of life at St. Peter's. The volunteer choir rehearses Sunday mornings at 9 a.m. from September through May, and the singers welcome anyone who would like to lift their voice in praise. No auditions are required; the only prerequisite is a willingness to show up.
The Moller pipe organ, installed in 1980 and voiced with three ranks of pipes, anchors the music program. Ben Westphal serves as the church's organist and music director. Couples who hold weddings at St. Peter's may bring in their own organist or pianist, but only with the church organist's approval, and the standard honorarium applies so that the church's organ fund is supported.
An Open and Affirming Covenant
St. Peter's belongs to the United Church of Christ, a denomination known for its progressive stance on questions of inclusion and justice. The congregation's own covenant makes that commitment explicit. It reads, in part, that since all people are made in God's image, all people are to be treated, loved, and welcomed equally, regardless of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, creed, color, race, economic status, or physical or mental ability. The church welcomes all people to share its worship, marriage, baptism, funeral, and fellowship, asking only that those who come have no intent to do harm and welcome others in turn.
The church's stated mission, drawn from Article III of its Constitution and Bylaws, is to develop and maintain a Christian congregation for worship and the promotion of Christian life, and to further the Kingdom of God by all available means. Its vision statement names a commitment to embrace the growing diversity of the neighborhood and to keep finding new ways to serve.
The congregation flies the Philadelphia Pride flag, with its added black and brown stripes, in front of the building as a visible sign of that welcome. Members and friends participate in the Chicago Pride Parade alongside the Chicago Coalition of Welcoming Churches, and they show up at Skokie Pride each year.
Children, Confirmation, and the Nursery
Families are a visible part of the community. Sunday School serves children from age three through seventh grade, with the program running from Rally Day in September through the week before Memorial Day in May. Students gather at 9 a.m. in the Chapel for a short lesson with the pastor, a song, and a time to share their own prayer requests before moving into their classrooms for crafts, games, and lessons about Jesus, taught from a custom curriculum written by the church's own teachers.
The nursery is open year-round as a nut-free space for the youngest children. The room is outfitted with toys, a soft-matted floor, a rocking chair, a changing table, and air conditioning. Doors open at 9 a.m., and a nursery attendant arrives at 9:50, ten minutes before worship begins.
Confirmation is offered to eighth graders who wish to join the United Church of Christ. Classes meet weekly for ninety minutes and cover the core teachings of the Trinitarian faith, the history of the UCC, and instruction in the Bible. The program culminates in May with a special worship service after the confirmand passes an exam.
Weddings, Baptisms, and Funerals
St. Peter's hosts weddings, baptisms, and funerals for members and non-members alike. The sanctuary seats around two hundred, is air conditioned, and is easy to find at the corner of Oakton and Laramie, with a parking lot to the east of the building. Couples are asked to contact the pastor at least four months before the wedding and to complete three ninety-minute premarital counseling sessions.
Baptisms are celebrated for persons of all ages. Parents of babies and young children do not need to be members of St. Peter's, although they make a promise to keep the child in communion with a church community. Funerals can be held at the church or in coordination with area funeral homes, and the congregation maintains its own cemetery on Harms Road in Skokie.
The church building itself is available for community events and ongoing programs, with rooms that include the sanctuary, the gymnasium, the Lanford Fellowship Hall, the Memorial Room, an upstairs classroom and chapel, and a kitchen. All space use requests are subject to the approval of the Church Council and must be submitted at least thirty days in advance, along with proof of general liability insurance.
Outreach in Skokie and Beyond
St. Peter's has built an extensive network of partnerships with organizations in Skokie, in the wider Chicago area, and beyond.
For almost fifty years, the congregation has partnered with the Community Kitchen of A Just Harvest, providing meals and serving them to hungry people in Rogers Park. The partnership is one of the longest continuous commitments of any church to that organization.
The church is an officially designated Military Outreach USA congregation. Members collect goods, food, and money for veterans throughout the year, including the annual Rich Kalensky Veterans Exiting Homelessness Collection each October, with donations delivered on November 11. The congregation has also collected food and donations at the local Jewel-Osco in support of the Jesse Brown Food Pantry at the new VA hospital.
A free Mini Pantry stands just outside the Laramie Avenue door as part of the Niles Township Coming Together project, an initiative created to shine a spotlight on food insecurity. The pantry is stocked with non-perishable items and is open around the clock. Donors are asked to leave only unexpired items and to avoid anything that can spoil easily. Suggested donations include peanut butter, canned goods, pasta, and rice.
The church also works closely with Skokie School District 69, where more than half of the students come from low-to-no income families. St. Peter's is a member of the Community Schools Steering Committee, and each year the congregation delivers turkeys and sides for Thanksgiving and Christmas meals through a partnership with District 69's community schools resource coordinator and the local Jewel-Osco. Around 130 of those meals go to families at District 69 schools, with the remainder distributed within the St. Peter's community and at the Niles Township Food Pantry. The church also hosts a St. Patrick's Day Bingo, an Easter Egg Hunt, and other events that bring District 69 families onto the grounds.
The congregation supports all five United Church of Christ special mission offerings: Our Church's Wider Mission, One Great Hour of Sharing, Strengthen the Church, Neighbors in Need, and the Christmas Fund.
Annual Events and Community Life
Several annual events draw people from across Skokie and beyond onto the church grounds. The Annual Rummage and Bake Sale, now in its fourth decade, fills the gym with clothing, housewares, toys, books, music, luggage, linens, sporting goods, and a boutique area of higher-end collectibles. The bake sale tables, laden with homemade cakes, pies, cookies, and muffins from church members, are a destination of their own.
The Holiday Craft Show and Bake Sale fills the gym and Memorial Room with more than forty vendors selling jewelry, hand-made crafts and clothing, homemade jams, and holiday baskets. Past vendors have included Color Street Nails, Tastefully Simple, Northshore Candle Co., Supernova Crafts, and Twisted Metal Designs by Carla. Raffle baskets round out the day.
Each fall, the church hosts its Pet Blessing in partnership with C.A.R.E. (Community Animal Rescue Effort). A short service honors pets and the unique relationships people share with them, followed by individual blessings for each animal. C.A.R.E. brings adoptable pets to the event, and a suggested five-dollar donation at the door, along with raffle baskets, supports both organizations. Pets are asked to be on a leash or in a carrier.
A monthly newsletter called The Announcer keeps the wider congregation informed, and weekly announcements are published each Sunday through the church's online calendar. A separate events-only email list reaches out to anyone in the community who wants to know when the rummage sale, the craft show, Bunco nights, concerts, and special Christmas and Easter services are coming up.
Streaming, Giving, and Getting in Touch
Anyone who cannot attend in person can join the full worship service each Sunday at 10 a.m. through the church's YouTube channel, with multi-camera video and audio. The recordings remain available on the channel afterwards. The weekly bulletin is also available as a downloadable PDF, both for the current week and in an archive that stretches back years.
Gifts to the church can be made by check (mailed or dropped in the offering plate), by Zelle to Finance@StPeterUCCSkokie.org, by PayPal for one-time donations, or through Vanco, the church's secure electronic giving platform. Custom-embroidered apparel and other merchandise is sold through the church's online store, and proceeds support the congregation's ministries.
The church office at 8013 Laramie Avenue is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the pastor can usually be reached in person Monday through Wednesday. Visitors and newcomers are welcome at any service and at any of the events on the calendar.