Religious, Spiritual sights in Chicago
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Churches of Ukrainian Village
The domes of the neighborhood’s majestic churches pop out over the treetops in Ukrainian Village. Take a minute to wander by St Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, which is the less traditional of the neighborhood’s main churches. Its 13 domes represent Christ and the Apostles. The intricate mosaics – added to the 1915 building in 1988 – owe their inspiration to the Cathedral of St Sophia in Kiev. Saints Volodymyr & Olha Church was founded by traditionalists from St Nicholas, who broke away over liturgical differences and built this showy church in 1975. It makes up for its paucity of domes (only five) with a massive mosaic of the conversion of Grand Duke Vladi…
reviewed
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A
Old St Patrick’s Church
A Chicago fire survivor, this 1852 church is not only the city’s oldest but also one of its fastest-growing, thanks to the strategies of its politically connected former pastor, Father Jack Wall. Old St Pat’s is best known for its year-round calendar of social events for singles, including the enormously popular World’s Largest Block Party; this is a weekend-long party with big-name rock bands where Catholic singles can flirt. (No less an authority than Oprah has proclaimed the block party the best place to meet one’s match.) The social programs have certainly boosted Old St Pat’s membership, which has gone from four (yes, four) in 1983 to thousands two decades later. The…
reviewed
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B
Moody Church
Directly across from the Chicago History Museum stands the hulking nondenominational Moody Church, started by 19th-century missionary Dwight Moody. He also founded the Moody Bible Institute in the Gold Coast, and was basically the Billy Graham of his age – a charismatic preacher who took his literal interpretations of the Bible to audiences around the world. During the 1893 World’s Expo, Moody organized huge Christian revivalist events under enormous tents in Jackson Park, hoping to warn fair-goers away from the moral ruin awaiting them on the Midway and in Chicago’s infamous Levee District. This Clark St structure, which can hold almost 4000 worshippers, was built in 192…
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St Pius
Some wonderful European-influenced churches remain throughout Pilsen. The Poles had St Adalbert’s; the Irish had St Pius, a Romanesque revival edifice built between 1885 and 1892. Its smooth masonry contrasts with the rough stones of its contemporaries. Catholics of one ethnic group never attended the churches of the others, which explains why this part of town, with its concentration of Catholic immigrants, is thick with steeples.
reviewed
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C
St Adalbert Church
The 1914 St Adalbert Church features 185ft steeples and is a good example of the soaring religious structures built by Chicago’s ethnic populations through thousands of small donations from parishioners, who would cut family budgets to the bone to make their weekly contribution. The rich ornamentation in the interior of this Catholic church glorifies Polish saints and religious figures.
reviewed
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D
Holy Name Cathedral
Holy Name Cathedral is the seat of Chicago’s Catholic Church and where its powerful cardinals do their preaching. Built in 1875 to a design by the unheralded Patrick Keely, the cathedral has been remodeled several times, most recently after a fire in 2009. Thus the bullet holes from a Capone-era hit across the street are no longer visible.
reviewed
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E
Saints Volodymyr & Olha Church
Saints Volodymyr & Olha Church was founded by traditionalists from St Nicholas, who broke away over liturgical differences and built this showy church in 1975. It makes up for its paucity of domes (only five) with a massive mosaic of the conversion of Grand Duke Vladimir of Kiev to Christianity in AD 988.
reviewed
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F
St Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral
Take a minute to wander by St Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, which is the less traditional of the neighborhood’s main churches. Its 13 domes represent Christ and the Apostles. The intricate mosaics – added to the 1915 building in 1988 – owe their inspiration to the Cathedral of St Sophia in Kiev.
reviewed
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G
Pilgrim Baptist Church
Gospel music got its start at Pilgrim Baptist Church, originally built as a synagogue from 1890 to 1891. Unfortunately, the opulent structure burned to the ground (barring these few exterior walls) in 2006 when a roof repairman lost control of his blowtorch.
reviewed
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Salem Baptist Church
The modern Salem Baptist Church boasts one of the city’s top choral ensembles, and is helmed by the charismatic state senator Reverend James Meeks.
reviewed
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Kehilath Anshe Ma’ariv-Isaiah Israel Temple
The Kehilath Anshe Ma’ariv-Isaiah Israel Temple is a domed masterpiece in the Byzantine style with acoustics that are said to be perfect.
reviewed
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Greater Salem Missionary Baptist Church
The Greater Salem Missionary Baptist Church is where gospel great Mahalia Jackson was a lifelong member.
reviewed
