verbum domini manet in aeternum

About our directory

Please note, while every effort has been made to list all possible abbreviations utilized in the White Rose Ministries Directory, some abbreviations may have been inadvertently omitted. If this is the case, please let us know.


Synods

  • AALC American Association of Lutheran Churches AALC
  • AFLC Association Free Lutheran Congregations AALC
  • ARC Alliance of Renewal Churches
  • CLC Concordia Lutheran Conference AALC
  • CoLC Church of the Lutheran Confession AALC
  • ECC Evangelical Catholic Church AALC
  • ELDoNA Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of North America AALC
  • ELS Evangelical Lutheran Synod AALC
  • ILC Illinois Lutheran Conference AALC
  • Indep Independent AALC
  • Laestadian Lastadian Lutheran Church AALC
  • LCMS Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod AALC
  • LCR Lutheran Church of the Reformation AALC
  • WELS Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod AALC

Recommendations:

  • 1-Recommended – These churches are personally recommended by White Rose Ministries as being confessional in practice and doctrine. These churches follow the historic liturgy. In order to be recommended, each parish has been visited by a representative of The White Rose Ministries. We also will make recommendations based on the recommendations of partner ministries. If a recommendation is based on something other than a representative visit, it will be listed in the editor's comments. Generally, the most common reason a church would not fit this category is their use of contemporary worship.
  • 2-Suggested – These churches have either confessional pastors or are dedicated to the historic liturgy, but may not be entirely confessional. We suggest that if you choose to explore these churches to take extra time to speak with the Pastor. Churches rated as Suggested may qualify for a recommended rating, but we either have incomplete information or have been unable to visit this parish.
  • 3-Not Rated – These churches may have elements which make recommendations questionable. These churches may also be classified this way because we were unable to obtain complete information necessary to make a recommendation. We encourage you to visit these churches and ask questions of the pastor. If you would like, you may use our Survey as a guide to obtain information.
  • 4-Not Recommended – These churches are non-Confessional and may teach false doctrine. Examples of this are churches which reject the historical liturgy, utilize non-doctrinally pure materials such as Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Anything, or are members of a non-Confessional church group such as JesusFirst, DayStar, Renewal in Missouri, or Voices/Vision.
  • 5-Under Review - These churches have recently changed Pastors or we have received information which may indicate the information may not be current. Review periods for new Pastor's generally do not exceed 6 months and where information is in question no longer than 2 months. We allow this rating in an effort to be fair to the churches and Pastor's in our directory.

Eucharist:

  • Closed – Communion at this church is only for those who hold a common confession to the synod of the congregation. Generally, membership in a congregation of the synod or a sister synod who is in fellowship is required. This is the historical practice of the Lutheran Church.
  • Semi – Often referred to as "close" communion, you can commune here if you share a personal confession somewhat similar to the synod of the congregation. Some of the churches are classified as Semi because we are unable to ascertain the exact policy of the church. In these instances we recommend reviewing the communion statement or contacting the Pastor. If ones public confession does not need to be in agreement with the Synod nor do you have to be a member of a church in fellowship with the Synod, we would strongly recommend not communing at this altar. Please also let us know the results of your inquiry.
  • Open – Anyone is welcome at this altar. There are no restrictions whatsoever. We strongly recommend not communing at this altar.
  • Unclear (or blank) – We are unable to determine the type of communion celebrated at this altar. For this reason, we strongly recommended not communing at this altar without first speaking with the Pastor in advance.

Eucharist Elements:

  • Wine -- Wine
  • NA Wine -- Non-Alcoholic Wine
  • Grape -- Grape Juice
  • Both -- Both Wine & Grape Juice

Eucharist Method:

  • Both - Both the Individual and Common Cup (Chalice) are used
  • Individual - Only individual cups are used.
  • Common - Only a Common Cup (Chalice) is used
  • Intinction - Intinction is practiced.
  • IPC - Individual cups filled from pouring chalice

Bible Version:

  • Beck - Beck's An American Translation (1975)
  • ESV – English Standard Version (2001)
  • NASB - New American Standard Version
  • NASU - New American Standard Version - Updated
  • NIV – New International Version (1978)
  • NKJV – New King James Version
  • NRSV - New Revised Standard Version
  • RSV - Revised Standard Version
  • TNIV - The New International Version (NOT RECOMMENDED)

The White Rose Ministries of Chicago recommends the English Standard Version or the New American Standard Version.  

Hymnal:

  • CR – Creative Worship (Non-Liturgical)
  • CW – Christian Worship, WELS, 1993
  • ELH – Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, ELS, 1999
  • ELW - – Evangelical Lutheran Worship, ELCA, 2006 [Not Doctrinally Sound]
  • HS69 – Hymnal Supplement 1969, LCMS, 1969
  • HS98 – Hymnal Supplement 98, LCMS, 1998
  • LAPPY - Let All the People Praise You, WELS, 1999
  • LBW – Lutheran Book of Worship, ELCA/Inter-Synod, 1978
  • LH13 - Lutheran Hymnary, LCMS, 1913
  • LSB – Lutheran Service Book, LCMS, 2006
  • LW – Lutheran Worship, LCMS, 1982
  • OSB – The Other Song Book
  • SFD – Songs for Disciples
  • TFBF – This Far By Faith
  • TLH – The Lutheran Hymnal, LCMS, 1941
  • TWS – The Worship Supplement, CLC, 2000
  • WPS – Worship & Praise Songbook
  • WOV – With One Voice, ELCA
  • UNK – Unknown
  • OTR - Other hymnal. See editor's comments.

District:

LCMS Districts

  • A - Atlantic District
  • CNH - California, Nevada, Hawaii District
  • CI - Central Illinois District
  • E - Eastern District
  • EN - English District
  • FG - Florida-Georgia District
  • IN - Indiana District
  • IE - Iowa East District
  • IW - Iowa West District
  • KS - Kansas District
  • MI - Michigan District
  • MS - Mid South District
  • MN - Minnesota North District
  • MS - Minnesota South District
  • MO - Missouri District
  • MT - Montana District
  • N - Nebraska District
  • NE - New England District
  • NJ - New Jersey District
  • ND - North Dakota District
  • WN - North Wisconsin District
  • NI - Northern Illinois District
  • NW - North West District
  • OH - Ohio District
  • OK - Oklahoma District
  • PS - Pacific Southwest District
  • RM - Rocky Mountain District
  • S - SELC District
  • SD - South Dakota District
  • SW - South Wisconsin
  • SE - Southeastern District
  • SO - Southern District
  • SI - Southern Illinois
  • TX - Texas District
  • WY - Wyoming District

Staff

  • Pastor - The name of the sole or senior Pastor
  • Associate Pastor - The names of any additional Pastors are listed here. Emereti Pastors have Emeritus after their name
  • Vicar - The name of the vicar, or pastoral "intern". Vicars are seminary students generally in the third-year of a four year program to become a pastor.
  • Other Staff - Other, non-Pastoral staff.

Worship Times

  • S - Sunday
  • M - Monday
  • T - Tuesday
  • W - Wednesday
  • H - Thursday
  • F - Friday
  • A - Saturday

 

Not Yet Active

Due to the complexity of our database, planned enhancements, and difficulty in obtaining some information, certain aspects of our database are not yet active. These features will be brought online as we are able.

We are in the process of migrating a nationwide Confessional Lutheran directory online.  While the information is available in our database, we will be working to bring features online as our programming allows.

Limitations

We have not been able to obtain complete records on all of the parishes in our directory. When limiting your search by Hymnal or Bible Translation, you may exclude churches that we have yet to obtain this information from. For example, the Bible Versions are based upon information we have received from the local parish. Some churches did not specify a particular translation or do not use a particular translation. By narrowing by Bible Version, you may exclude these parishes.

Mapping

As with any map, the locations are approximates. Maps are based on location information obtained from the USGS and through mapping technology by Google, Inc. As this technology is listed as being in beta by Google, the map may experience intermittent times of being unavailable. Please note, we have not visted all of the churches and therefore cannot insure that the location is 100% accurate.

Maps included on the individual church listings are from Yahoo Maps.  If a map is not available, it will not be displayed.

Address Locations on Map

Parishes in the Chicagoland area entered prior to December 2008 were entered based on location data (geocoding) from the U.S. Census TIGER database.  When a match was not located using the Tiger Database, additional sources were consulted.  Parishes added during and after January 2009 are based on information provided by Navteq and/or The University of Southern California WebGIS Service.

 

Church Pictures

We have included graphics of churches in our directory.  We are looking to continually add pictures to our directory.  If you have a picture of a church, please let us know.

Pictures of congregations in Cook County, Illinois are obtained from the Cook County Assessors Office.  Other graphics in the Chicagoland Area are provided by Christopher K. Anderson.

Corrections

If you should note something wrong, please let us know. You may call or fax us at (866) 450-3315, or submit a new survey with the corrected information. Or simply contact us with the requested updates.

Evangelical-Lutheran Liturgical Congregations

We occasionally receive requests for confessional congregations outside of our service area.  Previously, we have referred interested parties to the Evangelical-Lutheran Liturgical Congregations website maintained by Rev. Gary Gehlbach.  Unfortunately, this website has been out of date for some time and has now become inaccessible.  While the information is not 100% accurate, it is a good starting point for those looking for confessional churches.  We have included an archive of the website on our page and are in the process of loading the directory onto our website.  The ELLC directory is an archive of the most recent data on Rev. Gehlbach's website, was last updated in June 2007, and has not been completely checked for accuracy or updated by The White Rose Ministries of Chicago.

Other Notes

* The Renewing Worship initiative has published a new book of worship, "Evangelical Lutheran Worship" on October 3, 2006. The White Rose Ministries of Chicago expresses deep concerns about the Renewing Worship publications and strongly recommends against attending churches utilizing these materials. Further details will be made available on our website closer to the publication of this hymnal. If you would like further information, call us at (206) 600-4WRM and request publication RW001 to be faxed to you.

This abbreviation list was obtained from White Rose Ministries of Spokane and has been modified for use by The White Rose Ministries of Chicago

Our Contact Information

The White Rose Ministries of Chicago
Attn: Christopher Anderson
PO Box 1161
Plainfield, IL 60544-1161
Telephone: (773) 570-0780
iNum (International [Local Country Access Numbers]) +883 510 07 418 3289
SIP: 17474183289@proxy01.sipphone.com

Generated: February 6, 2012
S/W Version Parish Directory v.4.5

Copyright © 2001-2011 Christopher K. Anderson