People of all ages and walks of life are part of the community of Faith. People here are young and old and in-between. Many among us are brand-new to Christian faith and church life. All of us bring our questions and find a place at Faith where we can learn and wonder about God. We believe that God welcomes all of that — all of who you are!
Here is what we say as part of every worship service:
The table of the Lord is made ready for those who love him,
And for those who want to love him more.
So come, you who have much faith and you who have little,
You who have been here often and you who have not been here long,
You who have tried to follow and you who have failed.
Come.
Faith’s building is completely accessible, so we can worship and work, together.
We believe that God is touching our lives, and we want to share that Good News with everyone.
We believe in service to others as an integral part of Christian life. People from our Faith community can be found in all kinds of service work — see other places on this website to find out more, and to join in! We end every worship service with the words: “Go in peace. Serve the Lord.”
With roots in the Midwest, Pastor Amy Wiegert grew up northern Colorado and then just kept moving east. She is a graduate of Coe College (BA religion and psychology)
and the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (MDiv).
She’s served congregations in northern Illinois and the Metro Chicago area for 20 years as solo and associate pastor. She first came to Faith in fall 2017 and began her work as senior pastor in fall 2022. She points to the ways the Gospel comes alive today and connects God’s people to community. She works from a deep understanding that God calls us into joy and work together, that God is moving through us, our days and our relationships, into deeper freedom and love.
Her spouse, Doug Kenshol, serves as executive director of South Suburban PADS, a non-profit that works to end and prevent homelessness in the south suburbs. Together with their two children, they live in Homewood.
First and foremost, an emphasis on God’s grace. Also, a significant emphasis on vocation, our calling from God to be instruments in his hand, in our daily work, in our household life — wherever God might call us. Finally, Lutheran Christianity has a long tradition of bringing the Gospel to the world in very new ways: The Lutheran Reformers proclaimed “ecclesia semper reformanda est,”
the church is always reforming!
Faith was founded in 1952 by a group of households who began worship in the VFW Hall in Homewood. Property was purchased at 186th Place & Dixie Highway, the first building was erected and dedicated in 1953, and we’ve been there ever since, through several building expansions.
Faith is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (elca.org), one of 200 such congregations across Chicagoland and more than 10,000 across the US. The ELCA is part of the Lutheran World Federation (lutheranworld.org), which counts a membership of about 75 million.
In 1972, Faith was the first Lutheran church in the United States to call a woman, the Rev. Karen Knutson, to a regular ordained pastoral position. That historic vote took place in the same sanctuary in which we worship every Sunday!
