- St. John of Rila Church in Chicago
St. John of Rila in Chicago, referred to in Bulgarian as 'Tsurkva Sveti Ivana Rilski' is a historic church of the
Orthodox Church of America located in Chicago,Illinois . It is considered to be one of the most aesthetically noteworthy churches in the Portage Park area ofChicago .History
The church building was originally built and housed a
Lutheran congregation under the name of the "Peace Lutheran Church" [http://www.elca.org/archives/chicagochurches/lutheran_church_of_peaceulca.html Lutheran Church of Peace - Lutheran Churches of Chicago - ELCA Archives ] ] . The building was put up forauction as Peace Lutheran consolidated its parish with a number of otherLutheran congregations on Chicago's Northwest Side. The congregation ofSt. John of Rila , Wonderworker which had formed in February 1996 was looking for a church of its own as it had been celebrating services in the Holy Cross Chapel at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church inChicago . After winning the highly competitive auction, the first services at the new beautiful church were celebrated on February 7, 1999 [http://www.oca.org/DIRlisting.asp?SID=9&KEY=OCA-BU-CHISJR OCA - Parish Listings ] ] .Today,
St. John of Rila is an extremely important center forBulgarians inChicago because of the specificity of national churches in America to function not only as a place of worship, but also as an important social center devoted to maintaining thelanguage ,culture and tradition of the Bulgariandiaspora throughSunday school s and social gatherings [Pogorzelski, Daniel and Maloof, John: Portage Park, Arcadia Press, 2008, p. 69] .".In 2001,
Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria toured the church.Architecture
Originally constructed in 1928, this beautiful
brick andlimestone church building has approximately convert|3979|sqft|m2 above grade area, including a convert|552|sqft|m2|sing=onbalcony , overlooking the main church floor which seats approximately 216 people. The original interior has been adapted to conform toEastern Orthodox liturgical requirements, and a traditional hand carvediconostasis has been installed. The convert|3427|sqft|m2|sing=on finished basement has a large auditorium with a stage used for theatrical and cultural performances [Pogorzelski, Daniel and Maloof, John: Portage Park, Arcadia Press, 2008, p. 68] ."The parish house which is attached to the church building was completed in 1923 and served as the main place of worship until the church's completion in December 1928 [http://www.elca.org/archives/chicagochurches/lutheran_church_of_peaceulca.html.]ee also
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St. John of Rila External links
* [http://www.oca.org/DIRlisting.asp?SID=9&KEY=OCA-BU-CHISJR Website of St. John of Rila in Chicago]
* [http://www.elca.org/archives/chicagochurches/lutheran_church_of_peaceulca.html Webpage of the ELCA archives dedicated to Peace Lutheran Church in Chicago]References
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