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We are a fun-loving and celebratory community. Playing and praying together is an important part of our common life and how we celebrate our gratitude to God for bringing us together. We serve many outside our walls through our outreach and partnership programs. We are aware we are a mostly white, suburban church, yet we value diversity and we hope to be more diverse in membership and to promote greater understanding and appreciation of people different from us. As disciples, we actively promote social justice.

Women’s Retreat

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Each Winter in January or February for over ten years, the women of St. Mary’s have broken through the bleakness of winter by gathering for a 24 hour retreat of fellowship and spiritual renewal. Our time together is spent in peaceful worship, relevant workshops, simple social time, and free time.   read more »

Lay Eucharistic Ministers (LEMs)

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A group of lay people who extend the fellowship of our communion table to members who cannot make it to church. LEMs are often sent out from the communion table to share prayer, Holy Communion and fellowship with members who they visit on a regular basis. Deacon David Grauer coordinates this ministry.   read more »

Yoga

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Understanding meditative movement as a pathway to spiritual and physical health is central to the practice of yoga. St. Mary's is blessed with two complimentary yoga classes. For information contact the parish office at 847-823-4126.   read more »

Treasure Chest

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St. Mary’s Treasure Chest is a re-sale shop run by the women of St. Mary’s. The shop raises money to support both church charities and the work of our congregation. Generous gifts from the shop helped the church to pay off its mortgage and continue to help us improve our facility and give generously to charitable organizations. The Shop is open from September through June. The directors are Mary Redmann and Ellen Zurek.   read more »

Prayer Shawls

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The prayer shawl knitting ministry is a worldwide ecumenical movement of women’s groups gathering to pray and knit for those in need and those celebrating life’s joys. As the St. Mary’s prayer shawl knitting group gathers to create shawls for others, their handiwork becomes an expression of their love—and of the loving care of the God who works through them.   read more »

Lay Pastoral Visitors

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A group of lay people trained in pastoral care by Bishop Anderson House at Rush Medical Center.   read more »

St. Mary’s Open Doors Campaign

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St. Mary’s has completed its mission to “Open Doors” with greater accessibility, dedicated space for Christian formation, and improved hospitality places for gathering and celebrating.   read more »