Queen of Apostles Parish
Chicago IL

Mission Statement:

Queen of Apostles is a Christian Community joined in one Catholic Faith and Nourished by the same sacramental life. We celebrate the diversity of our people through our spiritual life, sharing of faith and knowledge, enjoyment of one another, the concern for human needs and the stewardship of all we have. We understand this challenge as Disciples of Jesus guided by His word and strengthened by His love.

 

https://parish.queenofangelschicago.org/  

 

Queen of Angels Catholic Church is located at 2330 W. Sunnyside Ave., Chicago, IL, 60625, just east of Western Avenue, north of Montrose, south of Lawrence, and west of Lincoln Avenue. The Church is directly across the street from Welles Park.

The Parish School is located at 4520 North Western Avenue, on the west side of Western just north of Sunnyside

The Voss Parish Center is located at 4412 North Western Avenue, on the west side of Western just north of Montrose

The Guild Hall is located at 4416 North Western Avenue, just north of the Voss Parish Center  

Queen of Apostles Parish was created on August 1, 2020, under the temporary name of Queen of Angels and St. Matthias Parish. This merger of two historic parishes in Lincoln Square happened through the Renew My Church process. Monsignor Jim Kaczorowski had been named in May 2020 as the Pastor of the newly created parish, and Father Larry McNally remained to help him as a Resident Priest through his official retirement in April 2021.

Since January 17, 2021, Queen of Angels Church has been the shared worship site that is home to all regularly scheduled Masses and other events for Queen of Apostles Parish. Queen of Angels School is the parish school. St. Matthias School, an IB World School, has become an archdiocesan school, not under any particular parish, and continues to use St. Matthias Church at least through the end of the 2020-2021 school year. Though buildings are the often first things seen, a parish is not a series of buildings. What’s inside is us: a group of dynamic and devoted parishioners with diverse backgrounds.

The new name Queen of Apostles was chosen by Cardinal Cupich and announced in March 2021 after a process of several months, including gathering suggestions from parishioners and a survey for parishioners to rank the suggestions in order of their own preference. The name combines the Marian traditions of Queen of Angels and the missionary spirit of St. Matthias, who was chosen to replace Judas Iscariot among the Twelve Apostles. The name also reminds us of the mission we are given through our Baptism, to go forth and share the Good News with all we meet. The feast day of Queen of Apostles is the Saturday of Ascension weekend, which in 2021 will be Saturday, May 16.

Queen of Angels Parish Queen of Angels Parish was founded July 1, 1909. Rather than a parish for a particular ethnic group, Queen of Angels was created as a Christian community to welcome people of diverse cultures rather than as a “national parish” for one group. The first Mass for the parish was celebrated, as the story goes, on top of a piano in a large room above a tavern on the corner of Montrose and Lincoln on August 8, 1909.

The Parish’s first building was constructed on the northwest corner of Western and Sunnyside and dedicated June 28, 1910. The church was constructed to serve as a combination church-school-convent. Due to the rapid growth of the parish, a larger church became necessary. In 1924, property at the corner of Sunnyside and Claremont and Queen of Angels purchased it for $85,000. The intent for this space was to be a new church. Due to engineering difficulties brought on by soft soil and an underground spring, the church and rectory would take 14 years to complete. After 14 years the church was finished in the spring of 1940. The Mass of Dedication was May 5, 1940. Stained glass from France was installed around 1950. After a small electrical fire in the wiring for the Nativity scene in January 1959, further renovations were needed to the baptistry (later adoration chapel) before the 50th anniversary of the parish.

The parish site at Queen of Angels grew as the neighborhood’s needs changed. The original multi-use building became Queen of Angels School, with a separate rectory and later convent built at the north end. In 1935, two closed car dealerships on Western Avenue were purchased and turned into the Guild Hall, a community center and social hall for job training, athletics, and barn dances. In 1973 the Guild Hall burned down and was rebuilt in two phases over the next 10 years as the Guild Hall Gym and Voss Social Hall. After the departure of the last Adrian Dominican Sisters, the former convent served the needs of the Korean community in the 1980s and the Hispanic community in the 1990s. A grant by an anonymous donor trust in 1998 brought handicapped access to the buildings and major renovations to the church and school. The upper floors of the Social Hall were renovated and the Parish Center offices opened in May 2001.

St. Matthias Parish St. Matthias Parish was founded on August 1, 1887 as a German national parish. The first church and rectory were completed by the Fall of 1888. The first church was an A-frame wooden building measuring 49′ by 93′ built on a stone foundation. The upper floor was used as a school beginning with 17 students. These buildings faced south toward unpaved Ainslie Street with its east side running along what is now Claremont Avenue.

Work was begun on a stone church in 1915 and St. Matthias Church was dedicated on May 28, 1916. The church’s Möller organ from 1929 is lovingly nicknamed Helga. The stained glass windows were installed in 1939. A chapel with the Shrine of Our Lady of Penafrancia, Patroness of Bikolandia in the Philippines, was dedicated in May 1994. The latest round of painting and renovation work was completed on the church in 2016.

Friends of the Grape, Friends of the Craft, and Christkindlmarkt traditions have connected St. Matthias with the wider Lincoln Square community.