St. Simon's Evangelical Lutheran Church

St. Simon's Evangelical Lutheran Church, originally the Ev. Luth. St. Simonskirche, was organized in 1889 as a member of the Wartburg Synod of the General Synod.

The mission congregation in the western side of the Humboldt Park district purchased two lots on the northwest corner of Pierce and Sheridan (later named Spaulding) Avenues. A small brick church building (pictured at left) was completed by December 1890.












The congregation's financial situation was hampered by the depression of the 1890s, but by 1899 had completed the church building (pictured at right).

The original brick church was sold to St. Peter's English Evangelical Lutheran Church and moved one block south to Spaulding and LeMoyne, where it served as church and later parish hall for many years.

St. Simon's added a parish house in 1916. The church was remodeled in 1929.

English services were held every Sunday beginning in 1915.

In 1965 St. Simon's merged with St. Peter's (1895, General Council) to form Simon Peter Lutheran Church at 1540 N. Spaulding Ave. Simon Peter disbanded in December 1991.










Pastors

Karl Freitag
1889-1890

William Popcke
1890-1892

Christian W. Knudten
1892-1948

Walter E. Wittman (asst.)
1945-1948

Walter E. Wittman
1948-1965







Sons of the congregation
Arthur Knudten
Edwin Knudten
Walter E. Wittman

Original records
Original record books for St. Simon's are located at the ELCA Region 5 Archive in Dubuque, Iowa. The ELCA Archives congregational histories and other materials relating to St. Simon's.

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Sources
St. Simon's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Chicago, Ill. Diamond Anniversary Book, 1964.