Wicker Park Lutheran Church
134 years and growing!
Wicker Park Lutheran Church was founded on August 25, 1879 as an English speaking Lutheran church by German and Scandinavian businessmen and professionals who lived in Wicker Park. The founders purchased an unused and unfinished gothic framed church building on the corner of Hoyne Avenue and LeMoyne Street.
By the turn of the century, the congregation had outgrown the original building. With great vision, it erected the current structure on the same site in 1906, patterning its new church after the Holy Trinity Chapel in Caen, France. The mica-flecked granite stones were salvaged from a famous house of ill-repute that the City had razed. The windows are excepÂtionally lovely “Munich style” stained (painted) glass. The marble baptismal font was inspired by Thorwaldsen’s angel font in Copenhagen, and the famous German sculptor Alois Lang carved the altar piece of diVinci’s Last Supper. In 1991, Wicker Park was designated a historic landmark district, and the church building was placed on the national registry.
Throughout its history, Wicker Park Lutheran Church has courageously and faithfully served the needs of the ever-changing Wicker Park neighborhood. Wicker Park Lutheran Church today reflects the neighborhood. It is a dynamic, growing, and creative community of faith that encompasses all ages, backgrounds, and races. It is an active part of the greater Wicker Park, Humboldt Park, and Logan Square communities, partnering with community and faith-based organizations on issues of social justice and urban ecology, hosting public concerts, mounting art exhibits, and providing space for eight AA groups and four Music Together sessions. Wicker Park Lutheran Church is home for the Wicker Park Choral Singers and the site of its popular concerts.
Recently, Wicker Park Lutheran Church mourned the loss of its pastor, Ruth Vandenmark.