Saint Paul the Apostle Catholic Church sits on Gages Lake Road in Gurnee, a Lake County village north of Chicago, where it serves as one of the larger Catholic parishes in the area. Tucked into a stretch of Gurnee residential streets with Gages Lake just to the north, the parish gathers hundreds of families each weekend for Mass and offers a broad calendar of formation, fellowship, and outreach the rest of the week. As the parish itself puts it, the community aims to be a place where visitors can encounter the God who loves them, engage in a community that welcomes them, and serve the world that needs them.
Mass Schedule, Reconciliation, and the Sacraments
The rhythm of the parish centers on the Eucharist. Weekend Mass is celebrated on Saturday at 5:00 PM and on Sunday at 7:30 AM, 9:30 AM, 11:30 AM, and 5:00 PM. Weekday Mass is offered at 7:30 AM Monday through Friday, with a 9:00 AM schedule on Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. On Holy Days of Obligation, Mass is offered at 7:30 AM and 7:00 PM.
Reconciliation is heard every Saturday from 11:00 AM to noon in the chapel. Adoration follows the morning Mass on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8:00 AM, opening the day to quiet prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.
The parish walks members through the seven Catholic sacraments. Baptism, First Eucharist, and Confirmation are prepared through age-appropriate formation, with First Reconciliation and First Communion coordinated through the K-6 program and Confirmation through the dedicated Confirmation Coordinator. Anointing of the Sick can be requested at any time, with an emergency option through the parish phone line. Marriage preparation begins with a conversation with the parish office, and the parish provides both a Funeral booklet and a Marriage booklet to guide couples and families through the planning process. Adults seeking full communion with the Catholic Church are welcomed into the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA), the process formally known as RCIA.
Music Ministry and the Liturgical Life
Music carries the parish through each liturgy. The Music Ministry calls on singers, cantors, guitarists, drummers, and instrumentalists to lead the assembly in song, with a robust set of ensembles giving shape to that work. The Adult Choir, Teen Choir, Cantors, Instrumentalists, Brass Ensemble, Handbell Ensemble, and Recorder Ensemble all serve the weekend and seasonal liturgies, while the New Life Singers Funeral Choir provides music at funeral Masses.
Behind the scenes, the Sound Design team mixes audio for Mass and other events, the Projection team runs slides for announcements, readings, and music, and the Weekend Counting Team processes the collection. Art and Environment volunteers build the visual language of the liturgical year, sewing, arranging floral displays, caring for plants, and laundering linens so that the sanctuary reflects the seasons and feasts.
The Wedding Ministry works directly with engaged couples, meeting about three months before the ceremony, walking through paperwork, planning the liturgy, drafting a play-by-play narrative for the clergy and music director, assisting at the rehearsal, and coordinating the wedding day itself with florist, photographer, videographer, and bridal party.
Faith Formation for Children and Teens
Children in kindergarten through sixth grade meet weekly through the parish Faith Formation program, designed to bring young people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ through dedicated catechists, engaging formation, and prayer experiences. Sacramental preparation for First Reconciliation and First Eucharist runs alongside this work, and Baptism Preparation Classes gather parents on the first Thursday of each month to reflect on the sacrament, the role of parents and godparents, and the family's place in the parish community.
For older students, Confirmation is a two-year journey offered for grades seven through eight and again at the high school level. Year 1 and Year 2 formation sessions build toward the celebration of the sacrament, with a Confirmation Service requirement rooted in Catholic Social Teaching and the Corporal Works of Mercy. Service hours must be pre-approved, and the parish asks families to consult the Faith Formation staff if they are unsure whether a particular activity counts.
SPRED (Special Religious Education) creates a nurturing community for children and adults with developmental disabilities or other special needs, pairing catechumens with trained adult volunteers who serve as special friends within a faith community of their own.
Becoming Catholic: OCIA
The Order of Christian Initiation of Adults welcomes adults who are unbaptized, baptized in another Christian tradition, or baptized Catholic but seeking Confirmation and Eucharist. Weekly classes begin in late September and run through the Easter Vigil, when the Sacraments of Initiation are celebrated. The parish encourages current members to invite spouses, adult children, parents, siblings, friends, neighbors, and coworkers who might be searching, treating each personal invitation as a quiet act of evangelization.
Curious Catholic is an adult ministry series designed for those who want a more academic setting. Sessions walk through catechetical topics including beliefs, dogmas, doctrines, liturgical practice, Church history, and the lives of the saints.
Life Teen: Youth Ministry for High School
Saint Paul the Apostle runs its high school youth ministry through Life Teen, gathering teens each week for a meal, large and small group time, games, and faith formation. A regular Life Teen night opens with the 5:00 PM Sunday Mass, continues with dinner at 6:00 PM, and runs from 6:30 to 8:00 PM with fellowship, teaching, and prayer. The program is designed for teens wrestling with the bigger questions of identity, belonging, and purpose, giving them space to share struggles, fears, and joys with peers and to encounter Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the love of the Father.
The Youth and Adult Minister also oversees a Curious Catholic Junior track, which meets on the third Tuesday of each month from September through March, 7:00 to 8:00 PM in the upper gathering space.
Parish Life: Hospitality, Fellowship, and Fun
The parish life commission keeps the social calendar full. Hospitality Sunday takes place once a month from September through June, serving donuts, cookies, juice, and coffee after each Mass, with volunteers of all ages helping with setup and cleanup. Special Events Hospitality handles the bigger receptions that follow First Communions, Confirmations, and other parish milestones.
Women's Fellowship is a faith community of women dedicated to Christ's mission of service and charity. The Senior Luncheon gathers seniors three times a year for a meal, social time, and a speaker or game, while the SSSC, the Single Senior Social Club, plans events, activities, and travel for active singles 55 and older.
The Flying Angels are on-call volunteers who step into short-term or one-day service opportunities across the parish. The Knights of Columbus Divine Mercy Council 11112 invites Catholic men eighteen and older to a fraternal community that meets the second Thursday of each month and serves the Church through charitable works. The Annual Golf Classic, now in its fifth year, brings parishioners and supporters to Valley Ridge Golf Course in Antioch at the end of summer for a round of golf, dinner, and an auction in support of the parish.
Evangelization and Spiritual Life for Adults
The Evangelization and Spiritual Life commission offers a wide menu of adult formation. Bible Study gathers weekly on Wednesday evenings to walk through a particular book, a series of books, or a Bible-related topic, with sessions ranging from a few weeks to a full semester. Faith Sharing groups meet weekly to discuss the upcoming Sunday readings using the Living the Word resource.
Men's Legacy, founded by Fr. Ray Clennon, is a community of men who meet to be better husbands, fathers, brothers, colleagues, and friends through gospel living. The Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals meets on the fourth Saturday of each month from 9:00 to 11:00 AM in the lower level for prayer, a free breakfast, and a witness talk. The Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals is a community of lay people and professionals committed to Christian values in the marketplace.
Circle of Women meets on Saturday mornings from 9:30 to 11:00 AM in the lower level. Each month takes on a different topic; each session stands on its own, so consistent attendance is not required. Fireplace Talks gathers adults every other Tuesday from 7:00 to 8:30 PM in the Gathering Space for drinks, snacks, and an engaging talk on a topic in the Church. Theology on Tap, a thirty-five-year-old Chicago archdiocesan tradition, brings the parish together in the summer with a group of twenty-somethings and older adults at an offsite location for drinks and a speaker.
Contemplative Prayer groups meet during the day and in the evening to deepen spiritual life through reading, contemplative prayer, and small community experience. The First Saturday Prayer Group gathers in the chapel at 1:30 PM on the first Saturday of each month to pray the decades of the Rosary in response to the Blessed Virgin Mary's apparitions at Fatima. The College-Age Ministry invites young adults to go deeper into Catholic teaching and to find peers exploring the same questions.
Human Concerns: Outreach Beyond the Parish
The Human Concerns commission is the parish's bridge to the wider community. Through the generosity of its members, the parish supports Holy Family Food Pantry and St. Anastasia Food Pantry in Waukegan through food drives, clothing and seasonal item collections, volunteer recruitment, and awareness work. St. Anastasia also operates a soup kitchen on Mondays and a food pantry on Thursdays.
Meals and Services volunteers deliver home-cooked meals, give rides, and run errands such as picking up prescriptions and groceries for families facing illness, bereavement, or other difficult times. Funeral Hospitality provides a luncheon after a funeral Mass at the family's request, with ministry volunteers donating salads and desserts and serving alongside the family-catered trays. The Prayer Shawl Ministry knits and crochets prayer shawls, baby blankets, and other items for members of the parish and residents of Gurnee and greater Lake County.
Ministers of Care bring the Eucharist to parishioners who can no longer attend Mass or are temporarily homebound, visiting area nursing homes weekly and offering a communion service along with room-by-room visits. The St. Vincent de Paul Society, a Catholic lay organization, offers person-to-person service to the needy and suffering in the tradition of Blessed Frédéric Ozanam. The Respect for Life ministry supports the most vulnerable through prayer, fundraising, and public witness.
Grief Journey Support offers individual sessions with a licensed counselor and can form a support group when there is enough interest. Divorce Support provides a framework of physical and spiritual care for those contemplating or living through separation and divorce, including conversations about feeling separated from the Church. The Annulment ministry walks those who are divorced or divorced and remarried through the declaration of nullity process when they seek spiritual closure.
Catholic Charities Parish Outreach rallies the parish around a Mother's Day appeal supporting Catholic Charities programs in Lake County and a Christmas Gift Campaign that provides gifts to families and individuals referred to Catholic Charities. Natural Family Planning classes are taught by Ed and Sharon through the sympto-thermal method as instructors with the Couple to Couple League.
The parish also keeps two Filipino Catholic traditions alive. Santo Niño Charities supports LifeTEEN and the Catholic Rogationist Priests in honor of the Santo Niño, the Holy Infant Jesus, the oldest Catholic icon in the Philippines. Simbang Gabi Charities grows out of the nine dawn Masses leading up to Christmas, raising funds that support religious organizations educating poor children and orphans, caring for the abandoned elderly, combating human trafficking, and rehabilitating children and teens in conflict with the law in the Philippines.
The Legal Aid Clinic, hosted in partnership with Administer Justice, opens on the first Saturday of each month from 9:00 AM to noon, offering walk-in legal help, hospitality, and prayer. Administer Justice operates under a church-led model that affirms the dignity of clients and provides sustainable, biblical, and holistic support.
Parish Leadership
The parish is led by Rev. Steve Lanza as Administrator, with Rev. Martin Szczypula serving as Associate Pastor. Rev. Joe Curtis and Rev. John Guthrie assist on weekends, and the parish is blessed with six permanent deacons: Dcn. Mike Penich, Dcn. Ivan Siap, Dcn. Bob Birck, Dcn. Rod Reyes, Dcn. Andy Baker, and Dcn. Brent Bertke.
The Parish Council of Ministries serves as the primary advisory body to the pastor, with representatives from each of the five commissions - Worship, Faith Formation and Catechesis, Evangelization and Spiritual Life, Parish Life, and Human Concerns - along with at-large appointments. The Parish Finance Council advises the pastor and business manager on the temporal goods of the parish, supporting the development of the annual budget and stewarding the parish's financial decisions.
Music and liturgy are led by Matthew Harris, Director of Music Ministry, and Julie Jester, Director of Liturgy and Music Ministry Assistant. Amy Russell coordinates Faith Formation for grades K-6, Cassie Bertke coordinates Confirmation, and Tom Wattelet serves as Youth and Adult Minister.
Online Life, Stewardship, and Giving
Mass is livestreamed on the parish's YouTube channel, with recordings available for those unable to attend in person. The parish maintains an active presence on Facebook and Instagram, publishes a weekly bulletin, and shares music for daily praise through a Spotify playlist.
Parishioners can register their families through the Parish Registration Form, request Mass Intentions through the parish office, and give online, by mail, or through stock and estate gifts. The parish is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. Recurring electronic giving is encouraged as a way to provide predictable support for staff salaries, utilities, maintenance, and the everyday supplies that keep the parish running.
FORMED, the parish's Catholic content platform, brings award-winning studies, parish programs, audio content, movies, e-books, and family-friendly programming into the homes of parishioners. The parish also partners with Administer Justice for its monthly Legal Aid Clinic, walks parishioners through the Rosary in a Year podcast with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR, and supports the annual Archdiocesan Catholic Appeal as a member parish of the Archdiocese of Chicago.