Saint Paul Lutheran Church and School stands on School Street two blocks east of downtown Mount Prospect, in a quiet neighborhood of modest homes and century-old brick buildings. The congregation has been here so long that it predates the village itself. Seventeen families signed the church constitution on July 7, 1912 - five years before Mount Prospect was incorporated. Within months the founding pastor, the Rev. J.E.A. Mueller, gathered children into a Main Street cottage and began what is now a parish school stretching from prekindergarten through eighth grade. Today Saint Paul is known as a bilingual congregation that worships in both English and Spanish, as the home of a PreK-8 school that has been on the same street for over a century, and as a neighborhood church that welcomes families week after week. Their motto sums it up: Called to Faith, Equipped to Love, Sent to Serve.
A century on School Street
The roots of Saint Paul run deeper than the village around them. When the founding families signed their constitution in 1912, Mount Prospect was still unincorporated farmland. The early congregation worshipped in the language of the German settlers who had built the place, and the school began in a rented cottage on Main Street with eight days of history behind it. Over more than a century the German services gave way to English, the farmland gave way to streets and houses, and downtown grew up two blocks to the west. The school grew with the neighborhood and now occupies its own building next door to the church. The Senior Pastor, Rev. Bo Graham, puts it simply: much has changed, but God's faithfulness remains the same.
Three styles of weekend worship
Saint Paul holds four weekend services between Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, and each has its own feel.
The Saturday 5:00 p.m. service is the traditional service, drawing on the heritage of Lutheran liturgy and hymnody with organ and choir accompaniment. Sunday morning brings contemporary worship at 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. (the later service pauses during the summer months), with a worship band leading modern songs in a setting designed to be child-friendly. The 9:00 a.m. service runs about an hour or less, and the 10:30 a.m. service runs about 45 minutes in a simpler, more intimate style.
All services follow a historic Christian order that includes scripture reading, confession, communion, and the Lord's Prayer. Communion is open to all baptized Christians. A communion card in the pews explains the practice for anyone who wants to read ahead. The 9:00 a.m. service is also livestreamed each week for those who cannot attend in person, and past services are archived on YouTube.
La congregacion en espanol
Sundays at 12:00 p.m., the sanctuary fills again for the contemporary Spanish service. The worship is energetic and contemporary, with music that fills the room, prayer in Spanish, and preaching that shares the love and good news of Jesus Christ as Savior. After the service the congregation shares food together around tables, in the conviction that community grows stronger when they share not only faith but the meal itself. Throughout the year the group hosts festive events, retreats, and special gatherings that deepen bonds across generations.
Visitors can come as they are, whether in casual clothes or something more formal, and children are welcomed and celebrated. A dedicated space for the youngest worshipers lets parents focus on the message. The Spanish-speaking congregation also maintains its own Facebook page.
First-time visiting
Greeters wearing yellow lanyards stand near the sanctuary entrance before each service, ready to answer questions, point the way, or simply find a place for a visitor to sit. There is no dress code at Saint Paul. Jeans, business casual, or a shirt and tie are all equally welcome. What matters is being comfortable enough to worship.
Parking is easy. A small lot on the south side of the building has reserved Guest Parking spots, the surrounding neighborhood streets have plenty of room, and the school building next door offers additional spaces. Cyclists and pedestrians are welcome too. The church is handicap accessible, with a ramp at the south (Main) entrance, an elevator to the lower level, and handicap parking near the north entrance on East Busse Avenue as well as in the south lot.
Blue activity bags sit near the glass doors of the sanctuary for children who want something to hold during the service. An unstaffed nursery with toys and a changing table is tucked off the lobby near the side doors. Children's laughter and noise are considered part of the experience rather than a disruption.
Children and youth
Children's ministry at the church is led by Dari Hartmann, Director of Children and Family Ministry, with Jeff Kuester, the Contemporary Worship Director, also guiding the high school ministry. Programs walk alongside families at every stage, from infants through senior year of high school.
For the youngest worshipers, Kids Time serves ages 2 through grade 1 during the Sunday 9:00 a.m. contemporary service year-round and during the 10:30 a.m. service throughout the school year (combined with Faith Builders). Children begin in the sanctuary with their families, then head downstairs to Luther Hall for Bible lessons, crafts, games, and songs. Faith Builders, for grades 2 through 5, follows a similar pattern with age-appropriate lessons.
Confirmation is a three-year journey beginning in sixth grade with a Bible overview and preparation for First Communion. Seventh and eighth graders work through Luther's Small Catechism using the Guided by Truth Confirmation Journal, and the celebration of confirmation takes place in the fall of ninth grade.
Lighthouse is the middle school youth group for grades 6 through 8, meeting twice a month on Sunday evenings during the school year in Luther Hall. Underground is the high school youth group for grades 9 through 12, gathering every Sunday night during the school year (excluding holiday weekends) in the Youth Room. The high schoolers spend time in Bible study, service projects, and social events. Most summers they head out on a week-long mission trip through Group Workcamps to help families struggling financially with home repairs, and every three years they join peers from across the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod at the Youth Gathering.
Crosswalk, the Sunday school program for grades 3 through 5, meets from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. between September and May.
The school on School Street
Saint Paul Lutheran School has been educating children since January 1913, when the founding pastor gathered his first students into a Main Street cottage. Today the school occupies its own building at 18 South School Street, just steps from the church, and offers programs from prekindergarten through eighth grade. The philosophy is to educate the whole child - spiritually, aesthetically, emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially - in a Christ-centered environment where teachers know each student by name.
The school day opens with the Pledge of Allegiance and Luther's Morning Prayer. Weekly chapel gathers K-8 students together for worship, supplemented by a monthly early childhood chapel that includes preschoolers and kindergarteners. Specialty classes in art, music, PE, computer education, and library round out the week. Extracurriculars include volleyball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, and track for grades 3 through 8, plus band during the school day for grades 4 through 8 and private music lessons after school. Book clubs, a homework table for older students, and the SPOT before- and after-school care program complete the picture. SPOT runs from 7:00 to 8:45 a.m. and 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. on school days.
Prekindergarteners must be 3 years old by November 1 of their enrollment year and must be potty trained. Kindergarteners must be 5 by September 1. Tuition varies by grade level and number of days attended, with multi-child discounts (35 percent for the second child, 45 percent for the third, and 55 percent for the fourth) and a non-refundable $250 registration fee. The school admits students of any race, color, sex, or national and ethnic origin.
Growing in faith as adults
Adults at Saint Paul have several avenues for going deeper. A variety of Bible studies meet throughout the week, and small groups gather throughout the year for fellowship, prayer, and shared study. The whole congregation has also embarked on a Year of Scripture, learning a common memory verse each month while working through age-appropriate reading plans for the books of the Bible. Crosswalk kids memorize the verses during their weekly meetings, school students learn them at school, and families receive monthly take-home games and YouTube videos with songs or actions to help the words stick. Pastor Peter Berauer leads a hybrid-style Bible study tied to the initiative, sending out daily reflections based on the advanced reading plan and gathering monthly in person for conversation about the book.
Breakfast with Baby
One of the most distinctive community ministries at Saint Paul is Breakfast with Baby, which meets the second Saturday of every month at 8:30 a.m. in the church building. Expectant mothers (at least seven months along) and families with infants up to two years old gather for a hot meal, fellowship, and a free Baby Store stocked with diapers, toys, clothes, and other essentials. While parents shop, volunteers entertain the older children. Dads get their own time of fellowship with other fathers. Space is limited, so families are encouraged to reach out ahead of time.
What we believe
Saint Paul is a member congregation of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, a national body of more than 6,000 congregations headquartered in St. Louis. The LCMS supports mission work in more than 35 foreign countries and helps train pastors, missionaries, and teachers who staff the largest Protestant system of parochial schools in the United States. Saint Paul's own teaching follows the Lutheran Reformation of the sixteenth century, with roots reaching back to first-century Christianity.
The church summarizes its faith in this way. There is one true God, revealed as Father, Son, and Spirit. This loving God created all that is, perfect and whole. People, as the crown of creation, were made to represent God in the world. But we rebelled against our Maker and went our own self-centered ways, and because of that rebellion we are lost, incapable of living life to its fullest. Yet God cared so deeply that he came into the world as one of us in the person of Jesus Christ, to seek and save us by taking the punishment we deserved. Jesus died publicly on a Roman cross and rose bodily from the grave to open the door to forgiveness and eternal life. Because he paid the full price, God now offers forgiveness, peace, and life eternal as a free gift of grace. We receive that gift by trusting in Jesus as the giver of it. And by his inspired Word and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, the Spirit brings us to faith, incorporates us into his family, nurtures us in service, and will one day bring us to live forever in the heavenly home prepared for those who believe.
Visiting Saint Paul
The church building sits at 100 South School Street, the church office is at 108 South School Street, and the school is at 18 South School Street. Office hours are Monday through Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The church phone is (847) 255-0332 and the school phone is (847) 255-6733.
Worshippers can give online, watch past services on YouTube, follow along with the daily Bible study videos, or download the Church Center mobile app to keep up with announcements and events. Through the church's affiliation with the LCMS, members share in a network that supports mission work across the country and around the world.