First Immanuel Lutheran Church sits on the corner of Ashland Avenue and Roosevelt Road, at a crossroads between the Illinois Medical District and the communities of the Near West Side. It is the second oldest Lutheran parish in the city of Chicago, organized in 1854 by German immigrants as a daughter congregation of First St. Paul Lutheran Church. Today it is a deliberately diverse gathering of Christians who describe themselves as centered and immersed in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, growing as disciples through baptism, teaching, worship, and service.
A Lutheran Witness Since 1854
The congregation traces its roots to 1854, when German immigrants founded First Immanuel as a daughter church of First St. Paul. The sanctuary the parish still worships in carries the marks of that long history: a vaulted ceiling, an altar at the front, and a rose window whose careful replacement is documented in the church's archives. Members once crowded into the church's towers in 1909 to watch the Cubs win their last championship at the old West Side Field a short distance away.
First Immanuel's modern identity is closely tied to its history of racial integration. The parish was one of the first churches in Chicago to vote to integrate in the 1950s, and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. preached at First Immanuel in 1966. When the city was torn by racial strife in the 1960s, members of all races worshipped together here and worked to better the surrounding community. That story is retold in a 2021 panel of long-time members and is kept alive in ongoing conversations about civil rights and antiracism ministry.
On December 6, 2020, First Immanuel joined the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). In March 2024 the congregation adopted an updated constitution and bylaws, written to align with the new model constitution released by the Chicago Metropolitan Synod in August 2025.
Meet Pastor Anne
The Rev. Dr. Anne Ritke McCall was installed as the 15th and first female pastor of First Immanuel on March 17, 2024. She had been ordained as a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the ELCA on February 11, 2024, and served as the Synodically-Authorized Minister at First Immanuel during the transition. Pastor Anne grew up in Aurora, Illinois, earned a BA at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, and completed her MD at Rush Medical College. She is an Associate Professor at the University of Chicago and continues to practice medicine at Silver Cross Hospital.
She first felt a call to ministry on March 18, 2018, while at a conference at Duke University, and began seminary that fall. Her internship at First Immanuel included preaching, leading Bible study, making home visits, teaching Sunday School, giving Ashes to Go, distributing food with Paws Salvation, and walking the CROP Walk. She still keeps the picture that Pastor Therwanger snapped of her in the pulpit the day she visited First Immanuel for the first time in January 2021.
Sunday Worship at 10:30 am
Sunday worship is the weekly center of life at First Immanuel. The service is held every Sunday from 10:30 am to noon in the main church building at 1124 S Ashland Avenue. Worship is also livestreamed on Facebook Live and joined through a recurring Zoom link that is shared in the weekly bulletin and on the calendar page.
The service follows a traditional Lutheran liturgy. Children of all ages are invited to gather at the front during worship for a Children's Message that interprets the Gospel reading in a way they can readily understand. A Pastor's Youth Message is given several Sundays each season, with a take-home craft that connects the day's reading to the life of the child. On the third Sunday of the month, youth from the congregation serve as readers and help sing during Communion.
The bulletin for the week is posted online before each service. Audio recordings of the sermon are published the same day on the church's Sermon Audio page, and the full worship video is archived on the church's Facebook page. Giving is available online through a secure donation portal linked from the home page.
Wednesdays: Supper, Study, and Connection
On Wednesday evenings, the rhythm at First Immanuel is simple: a light supper at 6 pm in the Parish Hall, followed at 6:30 pm by Bible Study that runs until 7:30 pm. The study is led by Pastor Anne and is offered in a hybrid format so that members and friends can join either at the table in the Parish Hall or through the Zoom link posted on the Bible Study page.
The Parish Hall is also the meeting place for the Recovery Cafe, held on the second Tuesday of each month from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. The Recovery Cafe is a sober space where anyone supporting a journey of recovery can share stories and connect over coffee in an informal setting. It is co-organized by Cindy Komar and Tyrone Wallace.
Children, Youth, and Choir
Children and young people have a place in the worship life of the congregation from the earliest ages. Second-Sunday Sunday School gathers children ages 3 to 12 in Friendship Hall during the sermon for learning and crafts, organized by Tracy Howard and Andreia Leon. Older youth, ages 13 to 17, take part in a Youth Ministry that includes Confirmation preparation, occasional movie nights, basketball games, and trips to the ELCA Youth Gathering and other Metro Chicago Synod youth events. Ray Gesiakowski coordinates youth ministry, and acolytes ages 10 to 18 serve by lighting the candles at the front of worship.
Music is woven through every part of congregational life. The choir rehearses immediately after worship in the sanctuary on the second and third Sundays of the month; there are no auditions. The choir is led by Yvonne Tabb and accompanied by organist Maria Kloess Noble, who was installed as the new music director in April 2025. A Youth Choir for ages 7 to 17 meets separately, with sign-ups available in the Narthex.
Many other hands support Sunday worship. Readers proclaim the first and second lessons from the lectern, with Linda Kloess as the contact. Ushers, led by Tyrone Wallace, hand out bulletins, greet worshippers, and collect the offering. Communion assistants help distribute Holy Communion during worship, while Communion Servers take communion to those unable to come to church. The Altar Care Committee cares for and changes the altar linens and paraments in keeping with the liturgical calendar.
Outreach Beyond the Walls
First Immanuel sits in the middle of a changing neighborhood and takes that geography seriously. The congregation partners with two main social service organizations, Paw Salvation and the Pilsen Food Pantry, sharing its facilities and the time of its members.
Tabitha's Closet is First Immanuel's newest ministry. It provides gently used women's clothing free of charge to those in need and operates out of Friendship House at 1134 S Ashland Avenue. The closet opens at noon immediately following Sunday Worship on designated Sundays and by appointment through the church office (312-733-6886). Visitors are asked to bring their own bag if they can. Linda Kloess, Pat Downing, and Charman Downing coordinate the ministry.
Migrant Support is a partnership with the Pilsen Food Pantry. Under the leadership of Kathy Kuehner, the congregation collects seasonally appropriate clothing and personal hygiene items for migrant families arriving in Chicago and offers a weekly conversational English-as-a-Second Language class for migrant adults on Saturday mornings. Donated items are placed in the basket labeled "Migrants" in the Narthex.
CROP Walk. Every third Sunday in October, First Immanuel hosts the Chicago CROP Walk to raise awareness and money to reduce food insecurity. The walk leaves from the church and loops around the surrounding community, ending with a welcome-back celebration and a slice of Eli's Cheesecake. The 44th Chicago CROP Walk was held at First Immanuel on October 18, 2026, with registration at noon, the step-off ceremony at 1:30 pm, and the closing at 3:30 pm.
Civil Rights Then and Now
Few features of the congregation's life are more distinctive than its ongoing conversation about civil rights. In the spring of 2021, the church hosted a three-part educational series called Civil Rights Then and Now, developed by Seminarian Kyle Duff and a team of congregational members.
The first session gathered long-time members Carolyn Becker, George Manning II, Betty Stanfield, and Tyrone Wallace for a panel on First Immanuel's history of racial integration from 1950 to 1970, moderated by Chicago media personality Arthur "Chat Daddy" Sims. The second session featured Beverly Jones of Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois, the social service agency that First Immanuel has sponsored since its foundation in 1873, speaking about dismantling racism inside a faith-based institution. The third session brought in antiracism ministry teams from St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Logan Square and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Lakeview and the Loop. Recordings of all three sessions remain available on the church's YouTube channel.
The work is ongoing. First Immanuel is an active member of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod's African American Descent Strategy Team, with Cyrilene Mathurin, Shirley Ukachukwu, and Christian Ukachukwu serving as congregational contacts. Healthy Eating Demonstrations with Shirley and Christian Ukachukwu and interfaith visits to KAM Isaiah Israel synagogue have grown out of the same commitment. The series is anchored in Micah 6:8: "Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God."
Care for One Another
Congregational life is supported by a steady rhythm of one-to-one care. Lay Stephen Ministers are congregation members who have completed training to provide confidential Christian care to people going through grief, divorce, job loss, chronic or terminal illness, or relocation. Spiritual Care Visitors, also lay members, bring spiritual care to the sick. Members can be connected with a Stephen Minister or a Spiritual Care Visitor through the church office.
Health Care Connections is a newer ministry made up of members who are professional healthcare providers. The goal is not direct medical care but navigation - helping members of the congregation find their way through a complex healthcare system. The contact for the ministry is Fred Brown and Rachel Lauber.
The First Immanuel Chicago Prayer Line previously met on Monday evenings at 7 pm and is currently on break. Members can request prayers for themselves or for someone in their life through the church office, and Adelle Harris has chaired Social Ministry since the mid-1990s, sending cards to mark birthdays, sympathy, get well, graduation, thinking of you, and encouragement across the congregation.
Music, Fellowship, and the Parish Calendar
First-Sunday Fellowship takes place immediately after worship on the first Sunday of each month in the Parish Hall and is catered by the Birthday Clubs. Each Birthday Club is made up of members whose birthday falls in that month, and each club has a captain who coordinates food. Cecelia Wilson can point newcomers to the right captain.
Women's Day and Men's Day are annual traditions that honor a Woman of the Year and a Man of the Year and celebrate fellowship after worship. The choir rehearses for those days immediately after worship on the second and third Sundays of the month, with Yvonne Tabb directing. A Back-to-School Event follows worship in August, distributing school supplies. The congregation's Legacy Fund Committee, managed by Sylvia Banks-Ross, Gary Stringer, and Pastor Anne, tends to an endowment that supports First Immanuel's ministries for future generations.
The Building and Grounds Ministry preserves the integrity and beauty of the historic buildings and grounds, organizing Spring and Fall Clean-Up days and arranging for larger repairs through contractors. Cindy Komar coordinates the work. The Romans 8 Technology Team, named for Romans 8:39 and led by Rebeca Covarrubbias, livestreams worship, maintains the church's technology, and trains new members. The Social Media Ministry, led by Michele Harris, keeps the congregation's life visible to the wider community on Facebook and Instagram.
Getting Here
First Immanuel's main church building sits on the corner of Ashland and Roosevelt. On the weekends, visitors can park in the lot directly south of the church building - turn into the alley and into the lot, no pass needed - or in the lot two buildings north, which is entered from Taylor Street. During the week, visitors should drive around the alley and park behind or alongside the church building, then ring the buzzer at the street-level entrance on the northernmost set of doors.
Friendship House, the small house directly south of the main building, hosts ministry gatherings of all sizes, including Tabitha's Closet and Sunday School. Visitors for Friendship Conversations are asked to walk up the front steps and ring the buzzer at the front door.
The church is governed by a Church Council made up of the pastor, the five officers of the church (President, Vice President, Treasurer, Financial Secretary, and Secretary), and members-at-large. Council members are elected by the Voters' Assembly at the March Voters' Meeting, and meetings are held on the fourth Thursday of each month from 6:30 to 8:00 pm on Zoom. All council meetings are open to the congregation. The church office can be reached at 312-733-6886 or at 1stimmanuelchicago@sbcglobal.net.
Facilities are available for weddings, funerals, and other events. A Wedding Guide and Funeral Guidelines are posted on the church's Special Event Guides page, and the Parish Hall can be rented for outside gatherings. The Event Coordinator, Yvonne Tabb, helps arrange all of these occasions.