Trinity Slovak Lutheran Church
Trinity Slovak Lutheran Church was organized on October 8, 1893, led by members of the Slovak Evangelical Society, which had been organized in November 1892 to foster conditions to establish religious services for Slovak immigrants in Chicago.
Originally meeting in the German school at Bickerdike and Superior Streets, the congregation purchased a church building (pictured below) at May and Huron Streets on September 1, 1901. Members on the West and South Sides found this location difficult to travel to. A second congregation,
Sts. Peter and Paul Lutheran, now in Riverside, Ill., was established to serve that area of Chicago.
In 1911, due to a lack of space at the May and Huron building, as well as the migration of members to other parts of Chicago, a church building (pictured below) was purchased at Chicago and Noble Avenues. This building served the congregation until 1950.
Many members had moved to the northern part of Chicago. To serve them a new church building was constructed in 1923 at Wilson and Kilbourn in the Mayfair neighborhood. By the late 1930s plans were made to sell both buildings and construct one large church, but World War II forced a delay in these plans. From 1941 to 1950 Trinity shared the building of Mayfair Methodist Church at Kilpatrick and Wilson Avenues, as its second building.
On February 19, 1950 the new church building (pictured at top) was dedicated at 5106 N. LaCrosse Ave.
Pastors
Louis Boor
1894-1904
John Somora
1905-1909
Samuel Lichter
1910-1936
Samuel Placko (asst.)
1930-1931
Karol Molnar (asst)
1933-1936
Jaroslav J. Pelikan, Sr.
1936-1963
Jaroslav J. Pelikan, Jr. (asst.)
1946-1958
Theodore P. Pelikan (asst.)
1959-1961
Theodore P. Pelikan
1963-1966
Rudolph S. Shintay
1967-1983
John M. Siedem
1983-1988
James B. Galezewski (asst.)
1983-1984
Juan Cobrda
1988-1993
Sons of the congregation Louis Klesken
Stephen Tuhy
Stephen Osusky
Daniel Bella
George Roh
William Kmet
Jaroslav J. Pelikan, Jr.
Theodore Pelikan
Clifford Hanus
Original records Original record books should be found at the congregation, 5106 N. LaCrosse Ave., Chicago, IL 60630-2431. The ELCA Archives has microfilmed records, including baptisms 1894-1945, confirmations 1937-1979 on #1235; while marriages 1894-1948 and burials 1894-1948, plus new register 1948-1980, are on film #1236. Congregational histories and other materials relating to Trinity Slovak are also available.
Sources Trinity Centennial Directory, 100th Anniversary Celebration, Chicago: Trinity Lutheran Church, 1993.