First St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church Chicago, Illinois




Originally known as Ev. Lutherische St. Johannis Kirche, this German-speaking congregation was organized March 28, 1867. It was a daughter congregation of First St. Paul Ev. Lutheran Church, and the fourth congregation in Chicago to join into fellowship with The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod.

The first church building, dedicated October 13, 1867, was located at Bickerdike & W. Superior in Chicago. With the great influx of German immigrants to the Chicago area, the congregation grew rapidly and soon needed larger facilities. A new building was built and the Bickerdike & W. Superior location was sold to Holy Innocents Roman Catholic Church in 1905.








The second church building and school was located on the southeast corner of Hoyne & Walton (West Town area) in Chicago and was dedicated on February 11, 1906.










On August 10, 1935 the steeple was struck by lightning. The ensuing fire did $2,000 damage before it could be put out. The tapering portion was destroyed by the blaze. This was not replaced.










The fire was reported in this Chicago Daily News article on August 10, 1935.








Although today, it is no longer a Lutheran congregation, one can still make out the German words: Ev. Lutherische St. Johannis Kirche on the stonework over the front entry. (This is difficult to see in the scanned photo.)









Directly to the south of the church was the Ev. Lutherische St. Johannis Schule (St. John Ev. Lutheran School). This was a German-speaking school, with only a half hour devoted to English. When World War I broke out against Germany, the German language was abolished and then only English was taught to the students.




First St. John was closed, and the buildings sold, in the early 1970's.



Built on the Rock the Church doth stand,
Even when steeples are falling;
Crumbled have spires in every land,
Bells still are chiming and calling,
Calling the young and old to rest,
But above all the soul distrest,
Longing for rest everlasting
Amen.

The music you are listening to is Built on the Rock the Church doth Stand (#467 TLH) Tune: Ludvig M. Lindeman (1871) Text: Nikolai F. S Grundtvig (1837). The midi file is courtesy of The Lutheran Hymnal Midi Project - copyright © 1997 Rev. Richard Jordan, used by permission

Daughter congregations of First St. John:

Pastors that have served First St. John:

Teachers that have served First St. John:

Christian Leucke 1867-85
L. Steinbach 1867-85
A. Rose 1867-1907
L. Appelt 1868-71
P. Johnson 1869-1900
A. Classen 1870-1900
L. Guetschow 1871-76
J. Jarm 1872-75
L. Selle
A. Schoeverling 1875-82

L. Drews 1876-77
W. Schmidt 1879-88
J. Lipps 1882-83
H. Plesse 1883-89
G. Guettler
J. Doerr 1884-97
H. Schumacher 1885-91
P. Otto 1887-1910
N. Lampe
E. Mueller

J. Kastner 1900-13
O. Vieweg 1900-03
W. Schriefer
Th. Appold
H. Boester
H. Fickenscher
C. A. Kurth
O. W. Schultz
Miss Thusnelda Ferber

The Church Records of First St. John:

Following are the church registers of First St. John and a listing of information that they contain:

    Register #1
    Baptisms 1867 - 1878
    Weddings 1867 - 1898
    Burials 1867 - 1881
    Communion 1867 - 1875
    Confirmands 1867 - 1882

Register #2
Baptisms 1878 - 1898
Burials 1881 - 1897
Confirmands 1882 - 1891

Register #3
Baptisms 1898 - 1974
Weddings 1899 - 1973
Burials 1899 - 1974
Confirmands 1899 - 1971

The above church registers of First St. John Ev. Lutheran Church are now archived at:

    Concordia Historical Institute
    Dept. of Archives and History for The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
    801 Seminary Place
    St. Louis, MO 63105
    Phone: (314) 505-7900
    Fax: (314) 505-7901
    E-mail: reference@chi.lcms.org

For CHI to research your family history from the records requires the payment of a minimum $10.00 fee. Fees are $10.00 for the first hour and $30.00 per hour thereafter. Payment should be remitted to CHI by check enclosed with a letter. They cannot do such research by e-mail. Make checks payable to Concordia Historical Institute.

If you plan to be in the St. Louis area, you can pay an access fee ($10) and search the records yourself for the day. If you live reasonably close to St. Louis, you may wish to purchase an annual membership.

The institute is open for research Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. - 12:00 noon and 1:00 - 4:30 p.m.

For more information on Concordia Historical Institute visit their website at http://chi.lcms.org

Researching the Lutheran Pastor at Concordia Historical Institute How do I Begin?

Researching Your Lutheran Ancestor at Concordia Historical Institute How do I Begin?

Please Help To Preserve Your Lutheran Heritage:

The church registers for 1st St. John are quite old and in remarkably good condition, but in order to preserve the information they contain, they need to be microfilmed. If you wish to help fund this project, send a donation to CHI earmarked for 1st St. John/Chicago microfilming. This will also allow hard copies of the information to be made available to researchers. At the present time, in order to preserve the books, photocopies are not possible.

I HAVE WONDERFUL NEWS!!!! Through the gracious generosity of a single donor, First St. John Church registers have been microfilmed and will be available shortly at the following locations:

Concorcia Historical Institute, St. Louis, MO
Newberry Library, Chicago, IL
Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL
Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT

Looking for other Lutheran Church records?

Church records are the property of the individual congregation and are retained within the congregation unless they choose to place older records in a central archive to protect and preserve them. When a church closes, the records are also archived.

If you are trying to locate a particular Lutheran church, first try using the following church locators:

The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) Congregation Locator

Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) Congregation Lookup

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) Congregation Locator

Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS) Congregation Locator

The Congregations of Lutheran Church - Canada

Dedication:

This site is dedicated to the memory of:

My Great-Great-Grandparents: Johann & Fredericke Mau
My Great-Grandmother: Henriette (nee Mau) Herrmann
My Grandmother: Anna (nee Herrmann) Rutz/Burcikowski

All were members of First St. John Lutheran Church
"Well done, thou good and faithful servants!"

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