Who We Are

Our Mission

“Shepherd’s Heart is a progressive, radically inclusive, justice-seeking community of faith.“

What is a Lutheran? (click to find out!) Welcome to Shepherd’s Heart!

Who We are…

Shepherd’s Heart is a faith based ministry on the NW side of Chicago near Wright College located in the corner business center at Nagle and Gunnison.   Our mission is to serve all persons according to our statement of welcome in areas of faith formation and spiritual questioning.  We reach out to high school and college aged persons to provide a safe place for meeting up with friends and peers for coffee and conversation, a place to study or use our internet, watch the news or view a movie.  The same is true for anyone who would like to make use of our facilities in this manner.  Moreover, we offer Bible Study, grief support, addiction counseling and pastoral counseling to those in need.  

We have a Lutheran ethos and our ministry is guided by confessional understanding of the Lutheran faith, we are glad to journey along with any who are exploring their relationship with the Divine, now matter where they may be on the journey.

Shepherd’s Heart hosts a weekly  Monday evening Mass @ 7:30 pm.  It is a multi-sensory liturgy based on ancient patterns and rituals that go back to the early centuries of Christianity. We gather to hear the scriptures and wrestle with their meaning for our lives today. We share the sacred meal of bread and wine and depart to serve a world in need. Though ancient, worship is always fresh and new as the gospel of Christ comes alive for our contemporary context. Earthly Time is put on hold and God’s Time is celebrated. Open to Christ’s Mysteries,  we connect, strengthen and serve as we Love God; Love People; and Love Creation.

Our Statement of Welcome explains who we hope will find a home among us at Shepherd’s Heart.   But even more, we want it known that we are for welcoming refugees and immigrants as the biblical injunction to provide hospitality to strangers.  In our weekly Mass and in our daily prayer offices, we hope there is a  reverence and joy in worship that spills over into everyday life. Cultivating empowering relationships, not only in a gathering of God’s faithful at the ministry center,  but everywhere.  We provide an openness to questions and faith struggles and place a value to treasuring the  mystery of God  above certainty.

At Shepherd’s Heart, we stand firmly against the power and privilege that has led  to prejudice and oppression. We are repulsed by systems that perpetuate white preference and advantage over the value of all others.  We are learning and growing in our understanding that binary ways of looking at gender, sexuality, and expanding our world view of accepting all persons. We want our elected leaders to strive for a more inclusive world and stand against political ideologies that pit love of country against service to the earth and all its people.  We strive to be better than the old style of patriarchy and sexism that have  discriminated against women and gender non-conforming people. We object to senseless violence that lead to negative and hateful partisanship. We find that superficial responses to life’s painful and difficult realities do more harm than good.   We object to the misuse of the earth and its resources, because God has called us to be good stewards of all creation- both people and all living things.

In response to all this, Shepherd’s Heart has:

**  an LGBTQIA+  Social & Spiritual group

**  an Anti-Racism  Task Force

**  a  Creation & Environment Study group

** a Government Polity Watch 

** a Senior Care Ministry team

** Faith Formation and Spiritual Journey opportunities

** Shepherd’s Heart Choral Society (on hold until the pandemic eases) 

** Shepherd’s Heart Community Table (A pay what you can meal- pick-up only) Resumes April 2021.

**Addiction Recovery Ministry

AND

An openness to create new ministries, events, & opportunities to meet the needs of our members, friends, and neighbors. (Just Ask!)