Village Profile Home Page | About our Company | Sales Opportunities | Community eStore | vpmobile.us

Strong Religious Community

The churches of Lake Zurich represent an important part of the lives of local residents.

Established in the Hawthorn Woods area of Lake Zurich over 140 years ago, St. Matthew Lutheran Church is nationally accredited by NLSA and has 1,800 baptized members. The congregation is offered a choice of three different styles of Sunday worship, all based on a strong Bible-based teaching and family values. St. Matthew Lutheran School was opened in 1863 with one room. Today it is a K-8 school, preparing students academically, socially and spiritually with Christ-centered learning experiences. A pre-school has also been added, focusing on a “hands-on” program. Students are taught to work and play in groups and develop individual expression through the arts. St. Matthew sponsors a scout troop that has been in existence for over 50 years, and it is the site of the oldest active cemetery in town. Pastor Ronald Moritz invites everyone to come to the annual Pig Roast held from 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m. on the third Sunday of August. It is a huge event with over 2,000 people in attendance during those five hours.

St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church has existed since 1948 when the first Mass was held in the Ela Town Hall and the parish had 97 families. Today, 3,950 families attend one of seven Masses on weekends. The most recent Mass, added at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, is a young people’s liturgy, although all are invited to attend. A new church, which seats 850-900 people, was dedicated in January of 1990. The parish K-8 school has 590 students and underwent a $4.5 million renovation and expansion in 2004 when existing facilities were updated and improved. A gym, library and computer/science labs and air conditioning were added. A new pre-school program began this year at the parents’ recommendation. There are 1,390 students in religious education programs as well. Father David Ryan describes St. Francis as “a good parish with good people spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.” A very active St. Vincent de Paul Society runs a food pantry, the Emmaus Hospitality Ministry provides a Sunday meal at Valker Hall for those in need, and the parish operates Jubilee Garden on Route 22 where food is grown on land donated by a farmer and is given to people in need. A job search workshop held in conjunction with other area parishes provides two days of training in the best ways for unemployed people to get back to work.

Harvest Bible Chapel on Quentin Road was founded in 2002 and is non-denominational with contemporary worship. Rev. Mel Svendsen began with a core group of approximately 200 people that has grown to 1,000 members. Three weekend services stress quality of discipleship through practical teaching on how the Bible applies to current living. There is a children’s church for 5th grade and under during all services. Junior and senior high school student ministries are also active, each with its own youth pastor. One evening during the week home groups of eight to 12 people meet to share food, study and discuss Bible passages and have a prayer time. Rev. Svendsen relates that the church is about “having passion for loving God and others.”

Next door is Quentin Road Bible Baptist Church, which was started by Rev. James Scudder in a Chicago storefront in 1971, and has grown to a huge complex with nine pastors and 2,000 members. It’s a self-governing church with two Sunday services and many ministries, including radio, TV and a monthly magazine with a circulation of 10,000. The K-12 school established in 1979 has 300-400 students and the preschool has 1,800 children between three and five years of age. Many amenities are available for the students including a large indoor playland, swimming pool, moonwalk, two full size gyms, four horses and an outdoor riding arena, a regulation-sized baseball diamond and miniature train rides. A closed-circuit video monitoring system insures safety and security of the children. Dayspring Bible College has a seminary and offers a one-year degree in Bible studies. Reformers Unanimous is an additions program, which focuses on the positive in peoples’ lives. “A new tutoring program is helping people with dyslexia,” said Julie Dearyan, editor of the magazine. “We have students from seven to 70 years old.” Many other community outreach services are provided.