Redeemer Church sits on Gillick Street in Park Ridge, Illinois, a few blocks southwest of downtown. From the outside it looks like a Lutheran congregation, which it is - it is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America - but the people there describe themselves first and foremost as a "Jesus-centered" church. Every Sunday morning they gather twice for worship, once at 8:30 and again at 11:00, and they spend the hour between the two services teaching Scripture to children, youth, and adults. Their mission, in their words, is to follow Jesus together and to put that follow-through into action in their neighborhood.
Two Sunday Services, One Welcoming Approach
The Sunday pattern at Redeemer is built around two distinct services. The early gathering at 8:30am is labeled Traditional Worship. Music there blends old hymns with more contemporary ones, and the rhythm of the service follows a classic liturgical pattern - the kind of flow familiar to people who have worshipped in Catholic, Lutheran, or Episcopal settings. The later gathering at 11:00am is Contemporary Worship, where the music is led by a band. Leaders aim for variety in the music so that everyone has something to sing along with.
Both services last about an hour. In each, the congregation sings, hears a Bible-based message meant to connect with everyday life, prays together, and shares in Holy Communion. Holy Communion is offered every Sunday at both services, and visitors are welcome to participate regardless of church background. Worship is described as "relaxed and welcoming" at both hours, and the pastors do not call on visitors to stand or to draw attention to themselves in any way.
One small tradition sets Redeemer apart from many congregations: everyone in worship wears a name tag each week - members and guests alike. The leadership team says knowing each other's names helps reduce the anxiety of a first conversation and helps the church build real community rather than letting newcomers blend into a crowd.
Sunday Learning Between the Services
From 9:45 to roughly 10:45am during the school year, Redeemer offers what they call Sunday Learning. Kids and youth gather to explore living a life of faith. Adults are invited into a Bible study or discipleship class, with at least one option always open for drop-ins. Some classes ask people to sign up ahead of time, but the Bible study options are intentionally low-commitment. Questions are welcomed and even expected in every setting.
The conviction behind Sunday Learning is simple: people grow best when they learn from one another's experiences, and questions are part of how the Spirit forms a community. Adults and young people study the same broad themes in their own groupings, with the hope that what is learned at 9:45 carries into the rest of the week.
A First-Time Visit at Redeemer
Redeemer anticipates the questions first-time visitors tend to ask and answers them on a dedicated page. Worship lasts around an hour, regardless of which service someone attends. There is no dress code - jeans, khakis, shorts, and dresses all show up in the pews and no one looks out of place. Guests are not expected to put money in the plate; giving is part of the rhythm of the church, but the financial responsibility for Redeemer's ministry belongs to its members and regular attenders.
Children of every age are warmly welcomed into worship rather than being separated from it. When families arrive, busy-bags are available for the youngest worshippers. A staffed nursery runs during both services so that parents can worship with fewer distractions. At the contemporary service, after the music portion of the gathering, kids are invited to head to the gym under the supervision of childcare attendants during the message, and then they return to their families in time to celebrate communion and the closing of worship. The goal is for parents and children to experience the heart of the service together while still respecting the wiggles.
Growth Coaching: A Signature Ministry
Alongside worship and learning, Redeemer runs a program that has become something of a calling card for the church: Growth Coaching. Growth Coaching offers a series of three to six hour-long conversations with a trained coach who asks questions rather than gives advice. Topics people have brought to coaching include navigating change, establishing healthy habits, making career choices, taking on a major project, nurturing relationships, dealing with stress, identifying purpose, building on personal strengths, and pursuing spiritual growth.
Coaching is not counseling, mentoring, or consulting. It is described as a series of question-based conversations that open up new awareness and leave the person with a practical, doable action plan. Conversations can take place over the phone, on Zoom, or in person, depending on what works for the participant and the coach. There is no pressure to continue if it isn't a good fit, and the program is free to access - the cost is "time, openness, and effort." Curious participants can sign up online, and a pastor or coach follows up within the week.
One thing Growth Coaching makes clear: you don't have to be a Christian to use it. The coaches identify as Christians, but they welcome anyone open to exploring change. As the church puts it, "we invite you to put a new way of living to the test even if you think the theology behind it is nonsense."
Love Your Neighbor and Faith in Action
Service to neighbors is woven into Redeemer's identity. Throughout the year, the congregation works together on Love Your Neighbor projects in their community. Once a year, the church sets aside a Faith in Action weekend when regular Sunday worship services are paused and the whole church body heads out into the surrounding neighborhoods and the broader community to serve.
This rhythm matters enough to Redeemer that it shapes the calendar. The week before a Faith in Action weekend, the regular schedule of two Sunday morning services is intentionally broken so that the church's worship that week is the work itself - ministry done together in the wider community, rather than gathered in the sanctuary. Redeemer frames it simply: practicing being God's church differently, at least for a weekend each year.
Core Values: Who Redeemer Is
Redeemer's stated core values are unusually specific for a church and worth quoting in their own language. The community defines itself first by belief: "We are a community of people who believe that salvation is through Jesus Christ alone. In Jesus, we encounter God's unlimited and undeserved love for us, as witnessed in the Bible. Through the Holy Spirit, we are invited to a new and changed life, following Jesus together."
From there, the church names itself as "a multigenerational community that embraces the 'messy middle,' where people from various church backgrounds and with various theological perspectives engage in real relationships and respectful conversation." The phrase "messy middle" is one Redeemer returns to often. It signals that disagreement and differing views are not problems to be solved but realities to be lived with - that the church is a place for people who don't all think alike to love, challenge, and encourage one another toward imitating the life of Jesus.
What Redeemer does, by its own telling, is organized around five commitments:
- Communicating the Christian message - reaching out creatively and intentionally to bring others into a meaningful relationship with Jesus and his followers.
- Experiencing inspired and meaningful worship - gathering weekly to acknowledge God's greatness and give thanks for God's goodness.
- Developing loving relationships - cultivating honest and loving relationships and a welcoming atmosphere.
- Growing spiritually - helping one another grow through hearing and studying God's word, sharing in Holy Communion, praying, and using God-given gifts.
- Serving those in need - reaching out locally and globally through advocacy, financial support for emergency response and development, and hands-on service ministries, especially to those Jesus called "the least of these."
How they do this work is also worth noting. The team uses an intentionally permission-giving environment of trust and mutual accountability. Ministry is done in teams so that everyone can use the gifts God has given them. New ministries are supported as people bring forward ideas and the commitment to lead them. Leadership is reproduced intentionally, and bold, Spirit-led vision is the rule rather than the exception.
The People of Redeemer
Redeemer's staff page is short but reveals something about the congregation: the church leans on a relatively large leadership team. Two pastors, Dan and Peter, share ministry responsibilities, and Petra serves as Family Ministries Director, directing the work with children, youth, and families. The church's own framing is that "we've been blessed with a remarkably large number of leaders," and the staff page only introduces a few of them by name.
First Thursdays: The Senior Luncheon
On the first Thursday of each month, Redeemer opens the sanctuary at 11:00am for a Senior Luncheon. Seniors from the church and the wider community gather for fellowship and a meal together, finishing up around 1:00pm. It is a small, recurring rhythm that has been part of Redeemer's calendar for some time, and it offers one of the easier entry points for someone curious about the congregation but not yet ready to walk into a Sunday service.
Practical Details for Visitors
Redeemer Church is located at 1006 Gillick Street, Park Ridge, Illinois 60068, and can be reached by phone at 847-823-3634. Sunday worship happens at 8:30am (Traditional) and 11:00am (Contemporary). The church accepts gifts online through a secure giving portal, and the events calendar (including any exceptions to the regular Sunday schedule) is accessible online. The Sunday Learning hour at 9:45am runs during the school year and is the best place for children, youth, and adults to dig deeper into faith between the two main services.
Two Sunday services, a learning hour between them, a network of Love Your Neighbor projects, an annual Faith in Action weekend, the monthly Senior Luncheon, and a coaching ministry that walks with people through life's biggest questions - this is what a typical week and a typical year at Redeemer looks like. The congregation's self-description is short enough to fit on a handshake: "We believe Jesus loves this world and everyone in it. That love led Jesus to a life of kindness, courage, wisdom, and strength. We've found that practicing what Jesus taught is a better way to live."