Messiah Lutheran Church
Welcome to Messiah, we look forward to worshiping with you and connecting you with a community full of believers!
Welcome to Messiah!
As an affiliate of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, we strive to bring the saving message of Jesus Christ to all His children. We serve the northwest side communities of Chicago, and have been a member of this community for over 100 years!
We are saved by grace through faith, as explained in Romans 3:22-24, and that it is by Christ's sacrificial death on the cross that we may enter the kingdom of Heaven.
Join us in worship each Sunday morning at 9:30AM, followed by Fellowship Hour and Sunday School. Some Sunday services feature traditional Lutheran liturgy while other Sundays feature a more contemporary service lead by our Praise Jesus Band.
Family Night - March 13
Come and join this FREE event for everyone as we will have friendly relay competitions and games. Balloons will be flying all over the place for sure! Refreshments and snacks will be available to all.
Easter Egg Hunt- March 28
Our annual Easter Egg hunt is Saturday, March 28. Come rain or shine! A fun event for all kids 10 and under.
Weekly Lent Services
Come and join us for dinner first at 6:30 and then stay for our Lenten Wednesday services at 7:30. We will have dinner and services weekly on Wednesday evenings throughout the season of Lent.
Holy Week Services
Come and join for worship throughout Holy Week as we lead up towards Easter Sunday. Each service offers a unique opportunity for worship and deliberation on Christ's sacrifice for us and his ultimate defeat of Satan.
Happy 100th, Messiah!
On Reformation Sunday, we commenced our 100th Anniversary Year with a wonderful worship service followed by a reception. Many former members returned to help us celebrate and remember the past 100 years here at Messiah. Enjoy the pictures!
Happy Retirement, Paul!
We wish our organist Paul Frese all the best as he is retiring from active church work. After 62 years of musical ministry, 12 of those years at Messiah, we wish him well on his next adventure!
Paul Frese was born in Columbus, Nebraska some 84 years ago. He grew up on a farm with his parents, older brother and younger sister. He was baptized at Christ Lutheran Church in Columbus and later joined Immanuel Lutheran, where he attended school from 1st-8th grade. In second grade, he started taking piano lessons and enjoyed it very much.
In 1955, he graduated and went on to Concordia High School, a boarding school on Concordia Teachers College campus, in Seward, NE. Throughout high school, Paul continued playing piano, starting taking organ lessons, and played the viola and tuba in orchestra and band. He continued studying music when he became a college student at Concordia – Seward.
In 1963, Paul finished school and received a call to Apostles Lutheran Church & School in Melrose Park, IL, where he taught 5th & 6th grade and was the church organist & music director. In 1966, he married Rachel, a classmate from Seward, and then accepted a call a year later to Bethesda Lutheran in Chicago, where he again taught 5th & 6th grade and was the church organist & choir director. During their time at Bethesda, the Frese family grew with the births of their three children: Beth, Jon, and James.
In 1976, Paul accepted a call to St. John’s Lombard where he taught in the classrooms and became the children’s choir/handbell director, church organist, & adult choir/handbell director.
A new adventure began in 1995 when Paul shifted away from teaching to instead be a worker at Menards (millwork dept.), where he greatly enjoyed getting an employee discount on tools. During this time, he continued with his passion of music at Zion Lutheran in Hinsdale for a few years before heading to Trinity Lombard for 12 years.
It was a most difficult time for him when he became ill with C. Diff Colitis in 2006 and spent weeks in the hospital. His wife Rachel, who was diagnosed with cancer in 1995, experienced medical setbacks off and on over the years until the cancer took her life in 2019. During this time, Paul began serving as Messiah’s organist & music director, where he led choir & handbells.
In a blessing from above, Paul received “an angel” to help him get through his most challenging time. Ms. Pat Knueppel, a fellow choir member at St. John’s Lombard, led him out of darkness. The couple married in July of 2021 and have enjoyed bike riding, going to concerts, and traveling all over the world together.
It has been an absolute joy and privilege to have Paul at Messiah for all this time.
You will be dearly missed, Paul. God bless you on your next chapter!
Paul and Pat
2025 Trunk or Treat
Check out all the fun everyone had at our Trunk or Treat event in October. We had a number of church members from Messiah and Our Saviour and St. John's decorate their vehicles and handout treats to all the kids. Over 150 kids showed up in some great costumes to join in the fun.
Back To Church Sunday 2025
Everyone had a wonderful time on a hot day in September as we kicked off our new Church year. Inflatable slide, Bingo, and Tacos were all a big hit!
2025 VBS a BIG SUCCESS!
Our kids had a GREAT time during our week of Vacation Bible School. A BIG thank you to our leaders from UKANDU for their ministry. Over 20 kids were able to join us. Enjoy the pictures!
Holy Week 2025
Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter Sunday.....
Christmas at Messiah
Our latest and best photos
We love to take pictures and show them to the world.
Trunk or Treat
Messiah kicked off the Halloween season with our annual Trunk or Treat event where our members and friends decorate their vehicles and provide treats to all the kids. We had LOTS of visitors - over 150 kids came by. May God bless all that participated.
Check out the pictures!
Welcome Pastor Ted Fischer!
Pastor Ted Fischer was ordained into the ministry and installed as pastor at Messiah this past Sunday. We are SO excited to begin this new ministry era at Messiah as we share the Good News of Jesus with those in our community. The service was a wonderful expression of music, liturgy, Word, and Sacrament. 12 fellow pastors attended from across the Northern Illinois District along with some talented musicians to help us celebrate. Thank you to our partner congregation St Peter's Lutheran in Arlington Heights for their support and help in this process. We truly appreciate all of the visitors that attended and shared in this special day. May God bless our ministry at Messiah!
President Allan Buss from NID performed the ordination.
Pastor Appreciation Sunday!
We are so fortunate to have Pastor Ted as our shepherd. Sunday, October 13 we were able to celebrate with him for his ministry here at Messiah. We look forward to many more of these days in the years to come. Thank God for Pastor Fischer and his family.
Thank You Pastor Hansen
All of us at Messiah are so grateful for your service these last 2+ years as our interim pastor. You "came out of retirement" to help us out and we are very appreciative of that. You and Pam have been such blessings to us and we are fortunate that our lives have crossed.
Time to truly enjoy your next phase of retirement! May God continue to bless both of you!
Vacation Bible School - a HUGE Success!
Our kids loved having the group from UKANDU leading them in VBS activities all week. Check out the pictures!
Pastor Appreciation Sunday
We got a chance to say "Thank You" to Pastor Hanson for serving our congregation for over a year now despite being "retired". We praise God for his service here at Messiah and are so thankful for his presence each Sunday leading worship.
Back to Church Sunday - Sept. 17, 2023
Although the rain forced the festivities inside, everyone still had a great time!
Backpack Blessing Saturday
We invited all students to bring their backpacks to get blessed as we head into another school year. Everyone also had a lot of fun with Mr. Scott's Giant Bubbles! Check out the pictures.
Easter
We had a beautiful worship service on Easter Sunday with wonderful music, an uplifting sermon, and an altar full of flowers.
Christ is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed. Alleluia!
Palm Sunday
Our kids enjoyed processing and waving their palm branches as we celebrate Jesus triumphal entry into Jerusalem as Holy Week begins.
Our Budding Future Organist
One of our youngest members may one day be our church organist. Lorelai Bosko has been taking piano lessons lately and has progressed to playing a bit on the organ. Under the tutelage of Katrina Jurica (music teacher at St John's Lutheran School and an occassional organist at Messiah), Lorelai has played a couple of preservice pieces for us prior to our church service. We look forward to hearing you play more in the future!
Lorelai Bosko
Lorelai and teacher Ms. Jurica
Back to Church Community Fest
We had a wonderful day celebrating Back to Church Sunday! We had tasty tacos from Chew On This and great soft serve ice cream for dessert. Our kids loved getting their faces painted and jumping in the inflatables! The adults enjoyed bingo and everyone loved the Comfort Dogs!
Easter Egg Hunt
Check out our kids having fun at the Easter Egg hunt.