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Evangelical Covenant Church
The Swedish Christians of this section of South Chicago had
talked of the necessity of combining to form a church. They had their background
in Lutheran, Methodist and Mission churches. There had been considerable
discussion as to whether the new church should be Mission, Methodist or
Lutheran. Those in favor of a Mission Church then met and formed the organization
in 1883 under the name the Free Swedish Mission Church. On Sundays they
first met in the Swedish Baptist church but after a few Sundays they arranged
to meet in the old brick church, on Avenue J between 98th and 99th streets,
where the First Evangelical Church was then located. At this time Rev.
A. G. Nelson was pastor at Pullman and frequently journeyed to South Chicago
on Sunday afternoons to preach and help the newly formed church. The little
group was ambitious to have a church home of its own and was laying plans
to fulfill that desire. In December 17, 1889 they held their first prayer
meeting in their own building located on Avenue L between 100th and 101st
streets. On September 3, 1892 the church voted to join the Covenant. It
was then known as the Evangelical Covenant Church. In the summer of 1901,
the church building was remodeled by being raised and a basement constructed
under it . The gallery was built inside and the choir loft rearranged so
that the appearance of the building was vastly improved both inside and
outside. On March 28, 1979 the church burned and was gutted. However, the
congregation rebuilt and continued to serve the community. The church closed
its doors on June 29, 1997 after 114 years of service.
Saint Kevin's Church
St. Kevins Catholic Church is located on 105th and Torrence
Avenue on the Southeast Side of Chicago. In 1881, Father Martin A. Van
de Laar, of St. Patrick's Church, organized a mission and began to keep
separate records for this congregation in Cummings, as the area was then
known. St. Kevin is a territorial Catholic parish. The current boundaries
are from 103rd street to 125th Street (although few families live south
of 109th Street) and from Torrence to Yates Avenue. It was officially established
as a parish in 1884 under the leadership of Father Timothy O'Sullivan.
Through these years the church underwent many obstacles. The parish held
its services in a hall at 106th and Torrence for two years after which
it moved to the public school at 108th and Calhoun. In the fall of 1885,
Father O' Sullivan purchased six lots from Notre Dame University, which
originally had plans to build a boys school there. It was not until July
of 1887 that the first mass was said in the frame church (shown above)
at 105th and Torrence. The original frame church was almost destroyed by
a wind storm as it neared completion. Father Sullivan opened a mission
church in Hegewisch, St. Columba, and later, another at St. Bride's in
1900. It is said that the pastor of St. Kevin's in 1900, Rev. David Crimmins,
gave the name South Deering to the community formerly called Irondale or
Cummings, to honor the head of the International Harverster Company for
his generosity to the parish. The frame church building was replaced by
a new building housing a church, school, and church hall in 1925. The architect
of the new structure was James Burns. The first mass in the new church
was celebrated on Christmas Day 1925. The original parishioners of St.
Kevin's were predominantly Irish. The names of the sixteen parishioners
killed during World War II (Cichantk, Gianquilio, Graff, Janotta, Juda,
Kovacovich, Koziol, Krause, Mercon, Monocchio, Przybyla, Ruiz, Rios, Schoenfeld,
Wisz, and Zehme) reflect the ethnic diversification that had taken place
in the neighborhood by that time period. According to the 100th
Jubilee booklet, published in 1981, the 300 families in the parish were
40% Mexican, 20% Irish, 20% Polish, and the remaining 20% Italian, German,
Slav, and African American. At the time of the 100th Anniversary the school
had 110 students enrolled. In a recent interview Pastor Alfredo Gundrum,
who has been there since July of 1994, stated that one of the best aspects
of St. Kevin's history was the integration of Hispanics into the parish.
The present ethnic make up of the congregation, according to Fr. Gundrum
is 60 % Mexican, 38% mixed white ethnic, and 2% African American.
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