St. Stephen's Evangelical Lutheran Church
St. Stephen's Evangelical Lutheran Church was organized on January 10, 1915, led by the Rev. Grover Rapps, a General Council missionary. The Board of Home Missions purchased a site on Parker and Kostner Avenues, at 4352 West Parker, in the Kelvyn Park neighborhood of Chicago. A bungalow chapel (pictured above), which later became the Parish Hall, was built and in use by Christmas 1915.
Work on financing a larger building was begun in 1926 and dedication of the completed building (pictured below) was held October 7, 1928.
The congregation dissolved in 2003.
|
Pastors |
|
|
Grover Rapps |
1915 |
|
Earl S. Rudisill |
1915-1919 |
|
A. Langendorf |
1919-1922 |
|
A.D. Whittaker |
1922-1923 |
|
A.J. Hoyer |
1923-1959 |
|
Dale Jeffers |
1960-1964 |
|
Donald Pardonner |
1965-1970 |
Sons of the congregation
Donald Karnuth, ordained 1959
Gerald Peterson, ordained 1961
Records
The record books were not turned over the ELCA Region 5 Archives at the time of the congregation's dissolution, and no current location of them is known. No microfilm has been produced from these records. The ELCA Archives has congregational histories and other materials relating to St. Stephen's.
Sources
St. Stephen's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Fiftieth Anniversary booklet, 1965.