CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS

Gladstonians attend many churches and religious buildings of different denominations just outside the borders of the community in Edgebrook, Norwood Park, Edison Park, Portage Park, Old Irving Park, and north and west into the suburbs.

But for those who want to stay local there are four religious buildings within the boundaries of Gladstone Park. Reflecting the growing diversity of the community, three of these are of different denominations than those that originally constructed the buildings. The fourth is the result of a consolidation with an entirely new name. All photos are by the author.

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Church, 6020 W. Ardmore, originally opened as a wood-framed combination worship center/school building in 1926 to meet the growing needs of Polish Catholics on the Far Northwest side of Chicago. It was called St. Tarcissus. As the congregation expanded over the decades, the need for an entirely new complex with rectory and school was felt. The present sanctuary, of modern design with classical and Georgian lines, opened in 1954 and seats 1,100. Renamed St. Elizabeth of the Trinity in 2020 as part of a controversial “Renew My Church” merger of three parishes and schools in response to declining attendance and numbers of priests, the new parish still recognizes St. Tarcissus as its patron saint.

St. Elizabeth of the Trinity Roman Catholic Church

Chicago Mosque, 6201 W. Peterson, opened for Muslims in what had been the former Faith Lutheran church building in 2015. The Mosque’s original membership was made up of about 30 families who immigrated to the U.S. from Morocco 20 to 30 years ago, according to a July 28, 2016 Nadig Newspaper article.

Chicago Mosque

Lion’s Heart Christian Ministries House of Prayer, 5821 N. Nagle, is an evangelical Christian church founded in Chicago in 1996. After meeting in a variety of leased quarters, it established its international headquarters in 2004 at the N. Nagle worship center, built in 1955. Lion’s Heart runs extensive missions to the Philippines.

Lion’s Heart Christian Ministries (House of Prayer)

Gladstone Park saw its newest congregation, Chicago Yemsrach Evangelical Church, 5850 N. Elston, move into the community in 2022. With developers proposing to tear down the steep gable-roofed, stained glass Elston Avenue United Methodist Church to build apartments, the Gladstone Park Neighborhood Association was happy to encourage the interest of the Ethiopian Christian congregation to buy and preserve the 1958 building for faith-based purposes.

Chicago Yemsrach Evangelical Church

FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS

There are at least three fraternal organizations in Gladstone Park with physical buildings representing sports clubs, religious societies, and nations of the world. All photos are by author.

American Athletic Club of Chicago (A.A.C. Eagles, Klub Sportowy Orly), 5844 N. Milwaukee, has played an important role in the city’s Polish community since it was founded in 1940 as one of the best amateur soccer clubs in the county. The Eagles currently play in Region II of the Metropolitan Soccer League of the United States Adult Soccer Association. It takes its role in developing talent very seriously with over 100 children in its youth soccer program. A social club supports the team’s efforts through the use of the building’s banquet hall and clubhouse where special events are held.

American Athletic Club of Chicago Eagles (Klub Sportowy Orly)

Kolping Center of the Kolping Society of Chicago, 5826 N. Elston, is an international Roman Catholic Aid Society with 11 U.S. locations and branches in over 30 countries. Founded by German priest Adolph Kolping in Cologne in 1850 as an action-oriented organization providing job training, education, and housing when such initiatives were rare, it spread around the world in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries to help German immigrants acclimate to their new surroundings. The Kolping’s Chicago headquarters building in Gladstone Park contains meeting rooms and offices. In recent years the Kolping Center has expanded its mission in the local area by opening up its facilities to community groups. It is now the meeting place of the Gladstone Park Neighborhood Association.

Kolping Center of Kolping Society of Chicago (Roman Catholic Social Aid)

Serbian National Defense Council of America, 5782 N. Elston, was established in the U.S. in 1914 for the purposes of raising money and recruiting American Serb volunteers to aid fighting on the Balkan front during World War I. It grew to 83 branches and, in 1941, relocated its national headquarters to Chicago. The organization continues to promote Serbian interests and the Serbian Orthodox church both in this country and abroad.

Serbian National Defense Council of America

Brotherhood of Achladokambiton Saint Demetrios, Chicago, 5424 N. Milwaukee, was founded in 1905 by immigrants from the Achladokambos region of Greece. Its express purpose was to form a social club that made it possible for its Greek-American members to keep in touch with each other through its Windy City headquarters. Dun & Bradstreet has considered it to be a labor organization since 2001.

Brotherhood Achladokambiton