Grace has served south Evanston for over 75 years.
We are a diverse church, ranging in age from a few weeks to our mid-80's. Our roots reach back to places like Puerto Rico, to Germany and other european countries, to Haiti, and to Ghana.
The ministry of Grace is about living out our Vision and Core Values. Every person in the Grace community has permission, and is encouraged, to carry out this ministry; in whatever ways God is calling them.
These ministries are happening all the time - through creative Sunday School, meaningful worship, serving at soup kitchens, acting as a neighborhood center for action and connection, local and international advocacy, knitting and sewing, LGBTQIA+ ministries, and much more.
The ministry of Grace is about partnership.
Grace is in partnership with the Samaritan Counseling Center, which provides spiritually-sensitive counseling, as well as the YWCA's Alternatives to Violence program, which works with those in need of addressing abusive behavior. We are also in partnership with Family Promise Northshore, a national, interfaith organization dedicated to addressing family homelessness. As part of Family Promise, Grace welcomes housing insecure and homeless families up to four times a year.
The ministry of Grace is about being a center for neighborhood action and connection.
Grace hosts many, many different groups and events from all over Evanston. Organizing summits, parties, and community forums are common. We continue to be a regular polling place for our ward. Wonderful Wednesdays is a weekly community meal, free to all, where we offer family-friendly games and time for adults to relax and connect. We hope to expand our outreach ministry even further in the coming years.
As an ELCA congregation, we are also partnered with 10,956 congregations, 28 Lutheran colleges and universities, 8 seminaries, 450 world-wide missionaries, and one of the largest social service networks in the United States, and Lutheran World Relief—all ministries of the 5 million member Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
Read what Lutherans believe HERE
Grace is a Reconciling in Christ congregation. Our RIC Statement is as follows:
As the people of God at Grace Lutheran Church, Evanston, IL, we are called to be affirming, courageous and caring. We welcome ALL who hear God’s Word and experience God in their lives, including persons who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, & persons of all gender identities, expressions, and sexual orientations. We invite everyone to participate fully in worship, the sacraments, service, and leadership no matter one’s race, culture, ethnicity, age, physical or mental abilities, socioeconomic position, family structure, background, place on one’s faith journey or anything that divides us as God’s beloved children. We are committed to the work of anti-racism, social and economic justice, and environmental care.
We strive to follow the invitation from Jesus to love one another in all that we say and do. You are made in the image of God and your identities are sacred in this place. There is a place for you here, you are welcome to come as your authentic self, named and claimed as a child of God.
Learn more about RIC from Reconciling Works.