November 2016
By Diane Strzelecki
St. Paul Lutheran Church and School (836 N. Menard, Chicago) has a 130-year history of spiritual and educational development. However, as with many Lutheran congregations in Chicago, it has been a challenge to keep their doors open.
Instead of dwelling on declining enrollment or church membership, the congregation chose instead to focus on the needs of their Austin community on Chicago’s west side. For St. Paul, this meant opening a preschool.
“The preschool had been on our wish list for some time,” notes School Board President Donna Moss, a member of the congregation since the 1960s. “We heard it from parents, who asked many times over the years if the school had thought about opening a preschool program. We were trying to figure out how to do it and funding was always a challenge.”
In 2015, the wish list item became a to-dolist item with the support of LUKE (Lutheran Urban Kingdom Expansion), a renewal collaboration between Chicagoland Lutheran Educational Foundation (CLEF), the LCMS Northern Illinois District and Trinity Lutheran Church in Roselle, Illinois, with outreach training provided by LifeSpring Network and coaching from the district’s Mission Facilitators.
August 2015 saw the installation of Rev. Tom Gibbons as associate pastor and Rev. Tom E. Engel as senior pastor at the church, through generous funding from a CLEF donor. “The churches within LUKE help each other with ideas and encourage each other to do new things,” notes Engel. Like the preschool, many of these new initiatives have taken root and are growing at St. Paul.
“We’re working on refocusing our after-school daycare into more of a tutoring program, using our gym for basketball or hosting Scouts, developing a community garden—just opening up our building and property for the community,” Engel says. “Everybody’s working as a team, and when they do that, things come together.”
St. Paul found room for their preschool in the library and converted the space fairly quickly. There are 13 children in the inaugural preschool class—and Engel feels their goal of 20 students will be reached fairly quickly due to high interest.
“There are a lot of day care providers, but we’re less expensive and our educational focus is better because we are a school,” he says. “As the word spreads around that these kids are learning and having fun, I think we’ll do well.”
Opening the preschool sends an important message to the community: that St. Paul’s ministry is willing and ready to invest in their children at a very young age. Noting the low literacy rate in the community, the school board at St. Paul hopes the preschool will help close the literacy gap and provide a spiritual foundation as well.
Engel sees plenty of opportunities for St. Paul to reach out and establish connections with community members and leaders, opportunities that refocus the congregation. “When you are doing something a little different, it changes the dynamic of the church,” he says. “When you do something, it should be with an intentional reaching out with the love of Christ. You can host a dinner, but have a prayer station as well. Conversations and connections—they lead to things. We just need to be patient, be aware and follow up.”
After 22 years as a teacher at St. Paul, Donna Moss left to pursue a doctorate in ethical leadership but she continues to stay involved, volunteering in the preschool when she can and mentoring preschool teacher Ashley Strong. She is excited for the future.
“I look at the parents coming in and they want to be involved, they want to help out, but most of all, they feel comfortable leaving their children with us,” Moss says. “Everyone seems so happy: the teacher is happy, the pastors are happy with the program, the church is excited and the parents are excited. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.”
Engel is optimistic about creating pathways for school families to become part of the church. St. Paul’s Discovery Class ran two Saturdays in October for parents to attend and ask questions about the church in general and Lutheranism in particular. But for him, personal connections are key.
“During school-year registration I was able to connect with many of our K-8 families and former students—and that was great,” Engel says. “The school’s greatest salespeople are our own parents and alumni.”
Moss agrees that connections are truly important and is grateful for the connections that made St. Paul’s preschool a reality. Her advice to other Lutheran schools trying to reinvent themselves: collaborate, work collectively, and spend lots of time in prayer.
“I believe there’s nothing too big for God,” she says. “If you want to do something that will be of service and help others, I believe God will give you what you’re asking for.”