This parish is located on the corner of 103rd Street and Kolmar Avenue. St. Nicholas operates several youth programs, evening adult Bible study groups and choir practices. It also erected Dochios Kamberos Community Center annexed to the church, which features a large gym for recreational activities.
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church belongs to the synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Worship is central to the life of the church, which offers traditional services from the Lutheran Book of Worship liturgy and informal worship services with old favorites and newer music.
The church offers a well-rounded music program including a youth choir, bell choir, a gospel praise choir for high school students and the Trinity Choir that brings traditional music and cantatas to Sunday worship.
Qualified and interested teachers teach children's Sunday school for pre-K kids to 12th graders that include Bible stories, crafts, singing and fun. Confirmation classes are available that teach children in grades seven and eight about the church and help them grow in their spiritual life. Trinity offers a preschool program and other activities for families.
St. Catherine of Alexandria is a parish in Oak Lawn where people come to practice their faith and to support one another. Parish members volunteer at the local homeless shelter, collect food for the community's pantries and support local and international missions.
St. Catherine's offers a men's club, Eucharistic ministry, music ministry, a Hoping Society that anonymously helps people in need, a support group for widows and widowers, a seniors group and a teen group that travels to impoverished communities in the United States to perform mission work.
Daily mass is offered six days a week, as well weekend masses. The parish provides religious education for children of Catholic faith who attend public schools in grades 1-8.
If you know what churches are about, we offer all the usual things. If you don’t know much about church, worship is the center of our life together at Mt. Zion. We worship every Sunday morning at 10:30am. Anyone can come and take part. If you’ve been baptized in any church, you can receive the bread and wine during communion. If you’d like to find about more about what it means to be baptized, you can talk to the pastor. If you have children, there’s a quiet room for babies, where you can see and hear what’s going on. There’s also a nursery during worship, and Sunday School for kids fifth grade and under. We serve coffee and snacks after church, so that people can talk before they leave.
Our church is part of the national Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, so we welcome LGBT members. Our building is handicap-accessible, because we have several members who need this. Our congregation is very small, but we are broad in wide in who we are and what we do. Here are a few things that might be interesting to you:
+ The Mt. Zion Book Club is open to anyone who would like to come and discuss the next book we’re reading. Recent books include Brigid Pasulka’s “A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True,” Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and Jodi Picault’s “Nineteen Minutes.”
+ We cook and serve dinners for a local PADS shelter once a month, October through April, and periodically collect things requested by the program, like hats and socks, or personal care items. We collect items for the community food pantry at Pilgrim Faith United Church of Christ year-round.
+ In the summer, our garden is open to anyone who would like to raise fresh produce for distribution to feeding programs through Share the Harvest. This program also provides a lot of valuable help for beginning gardeners. We practice composting in our gardens, and anyone can add to our bins. If you would like to reserve a garden space this summer, contact the church office.
+ During Lent, we prepare to bring an Easter party and baskets to the residents of one of Lutheran Social Service of Illinois’ group homes for men living with mental illness.
+ A favorite Sunday School project is raising money in various ways to buy farm animals for families in developing countries through the ELCA Good Gifts program.
+ In December our Live Outdoor Nativity is open to anyone who would like to be part of the retelling of the Christmas story in our large outdoor stable with animals from The Children’s Farm.
The Oak Lawn branch of the Harvest Bible Chapel serves as the main offices for the congregation, with the main center of worship located in Palos Hills. Located near 95th street, members also occasionally use this location for large church functions. Visitors are welcome to stop by to inquire about joining the church, or need information regarding an upcoming event or Bible study and youth groups.
First Methodist prides itself on cultivating an intimate church-going experience. Led by a local pastor, First Methodist offers a staffed nursery for infants and preschoolers and provides activity books for older children that attend service. Junior high and high school youth can participate in weekly meetings of the United Methodist Youth Fellowship, which goes on several field trips during the year. Located right off Central Avenue, it shares a large parking lot with Calvin Christian Reformed Church.
Located on 111th street, the First Church of God prides itself on interacting with its congregation as much as possible, becoming a haven for worshippers going through troubled times. The staff welcomes people of all faith to attend their weekly youth meetings and Bible study groups. Don't miss "Carry-in-Dinner" night, which is held every Wednesday evening, allowing its members time to socialize and come together amid their busy lives.
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church is a Missouri Synod Lutheran church founded in 1910 by Lithuanian immigrants. The church continues to maintain its ties to the Lithuanian community and offers services in English and Lithuanian. It also includes a pre-school and offers several youth activities.
Built out of scrap metal and concrete during the height of the Great Depression, the Oak Lawn Bible Church has been serving its community since 1936. It expanded to provide youth programs and services to students in the 1970's. Offering a wide-range of Bible study groups specifically designed for different age groups, all members are welcome to attend the weekly meetings. The church also supports its 11 missionaries that are representing the church abroad.
Originally centered in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago, and having served a vibrant Dutch congregation, Calvin Christian Reformed Church moved to its current location in Oak Lawn back in 1963. As an ever-expanding place of worship, the church is always looking for new members in the Chicagoland area. Sunday school, prayer sessions and various ministries let members worship, eat and travel together. One of the most popular church activities involves traveling to residential areas and praying for its inhabitants.
St. Louis de Montfort Parish is a well-established Catholic community church based in Oak Lawn. The church supports a parish elementary school and offers religious education for children of Catholic faith that attend public schools.
The church also hosts many faith-based groups for adult parishioners, a Knights of Columbus chapter, a food pantry, Children's Liturgy of the Word classes during Sunday mass, and more.
St. Louis de Montfort is a community of caring people who believe in and put their faith into action in various services for the community. The parish is welcoming to anyone who wishes to take part in its church services and programs.
This branch of the national Foursquare Church seeks to bring its members together through numerous community programs. Youth Bible camp, religious retreats and missionary work have all been sponsored by the Oak Lawn congregation. With more than 40 locations in Illinois, members frequently travel across the state for church gatherings. Opportunities for enrollment in Christian schools and colleges are also offered.
The Church of The Living God invites anyone struggling in life to find comfort and support within the parish. Service is vibrantly held with a live band and uplifting songs of praise. The youth program provides mentoring to boys and girls and also practices traditional African dance.
St. Gerald Church is the oldest Catholic church in Oak Lawn. The church was established in 1934, following the opening of the parish elementary school in 1929. The church maintains a tradition of being a caring parish, with a long history of parishioners meeting the needs of the community. St. Gerald's supports both local and global missions, and is a supplier of the Pilgrim Faith United Church of Christ community food pantry.
St. Gerald's offers adult classes for new Catholics and those who wish to deepen their Catholic faith. There is also a part-time youth minister. The church provides an affordable, all-day pre-school and after-school program for children of working parents.
Religious education is offered to public school students of Catholic faith in grades one through eight. St. Gerald's Holy Name Society is currently raising money to build a new gymnasium for the parish elementary school. There is also a parish Women's Club and Teen Club.
The many programs offered by Grace Community are designed to help bring worshippers of different generations together. The Friendship Club Ministry acts as a mentoring program, pairing youths with more experienced members. With numerous events to hold, popular gatherings are held at the church's Evergreen Park campus, located at 3450 West Maple Ave. Grace Community also allows members to request a prayer for service on its website.
Oak Lawn's Kingdom Hall is located on the corner of 98th Street and Oak Park Avenue. This modest congregation invites all to join its Bible studies, attend service meetings and learn how to teach the Bible. Bible discourse and Watchtower study are held at 9:30am every Sunday.
St. Paul is a traditional Missouri Synod Lutheran Church that was founded in 1950. The Sunday services are filled with music where a diverse congregation comes together to celebrate the world of God. The church offers three children's choirs, an adult choir, a men's choir, and instrumental music.
The congregation is welcoming and caring. Members support a Thailand missionary and operate a community food pantry. The church also supports a thriving and diverse elementary school, whose students help keep the all-ages congregation young.
In addition to its wonderful music program, St. Paul offers men and women's bible study groups and a teen youth group. A children's Sunday School is offered on Sunday mornings, as well as 7th and 8th-grade confirmation classes for public school students of the Lutheran faith.
Pilgrim Faith United Church of Christ has been part of the Oak Lawn community for over a century. Its members are committed to social justice and serve the village in many ways over the years, including service on the village board, the park district, library board and in schools. Pilgrim Faith members have provided many kinds of services to Oak Lawn residents, business, medical and dental, police and fire protection. The church building is used by the community for meetings, including a polling place and a children's playground.
This progressive congregation is family focused and offers many groups and activities for youth sponsoring two Girl Scout troops and one Cub Scout pack, three youth groups for elementary and high school students, and a drama group that produces a musical every summer. Pilgrim Faith also offers an outstanding pre-school program for three- and four-year-olds considered one of the best in Oak Lawn.
Religious education programs are offered each Sunday at 9:30 a.m. for children age 3 through eighth-grade. Adult bible classes are also held periodically.
Senior adult ministries include a STARS group (Seniors Together Are Really Special), a monthly Christian Café discussion group and a movie of the month.
Pilgrim Faith provides a community food pantry, a PADS shelter (Thursday, Oct. 1-April 1), Alliance for the Mentally Ill family support group (NAMI), plus individual, family and couples counseling through Genesis.
The church offers many volunteer opportunities for residents who want to get involved. Pilgrim Faith is a progressive congregation where everyone is welcome.