tHIS WEEK AT  ST.  PAUL'S



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So glad you found us. Best way to learn about us is to come to worship, meet people, and find a group.

We are thrilled to welcome back Pr. Keith Fry as our Pastoral Fellow for post-Easter through Trinity Sunday (June 15th).  Pr. Keith has been a good friend of St. Paul’s for many years.  He served his Ministry in Context internship year with us back in 2006-2007, and was pastor a couple of blocks away at Immanuel from 2015-2020, where he shared in joint Confirmation classes and joint worship services with us over the years.  Most recently, Pr. Keith has been a regular Pastoral Fellow, leading us in worship during Advent/Christmas 2023 and during Lent/Easter 2024. It is a great joy to have him returning to us in 2025.

Currently, Pastor Keith serves as the Executive for Office of the Secretary Administration for the ELCA churchwide organization, where he’s responsible for the rosters of ELCA ministers and congregations,  congregation statistics, official documentation for the Churchwide Assembly, Church Council, and  Conference of Bishops, and the Archives of the ELCA.

Pastor Keith lives in the Beverly neighborhood on the far southwest side of Chicago with his spouse, Tom Rowan, Archie the yellow Labrador, and Edith the Cornish Rex cat.     
                                                            
He is a graduate of Northwestern University and of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.

We are thrilled to welcome Rev. Matthew J. Holmes as our new Pastor of Care & Engagement at St. Paul's.  Currently serving as  an Emergency Department Chaplain at Loyola University Hospital, Pr. Matt served until recently as a  Chaplain and Grief Support Specialist with Advocate Hospice. Pr. Matt is a 2010 graduate of The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and is ordained to Word & Sacrament in the ELCA.  Though he's spent most of his clerical career serving as a chaplain in the healthcare ministry setting, Pr. Matt loves to preach and lead worship, and he's frequently invited to be a guest pastor at ELCA congregations around the Chicago area.

Matt is married to Rachel Wind, a former St. Paul's MIC student and another graduate of LSTC who works in development for the ELCA. They have two children, Hugh (12) and Louisa (9). In his free time, Matt is a paid-on-call Firefighter/EMT for the village of LaGrange Park, and a prolific if rarely published writer. Matt is the author of two published books Breath: 52 Reflections for those who Care for the Dying (Avenida Books, 2017).and coauthor with Rev. Thomas Gaulke of Everyday Armageddons: Stories and Reflections on Death, Dying, God and Waste (Cascade Books, 2023).

Formerly, Matt has worked as a commercial fisherman, nervous bouncer, short order cook, carny and plenty more.

Kurt Westerberg has been privileged to serve as Director of Music at St. Paul’s since 1998, performing on piano and pipe organ, directing the St. Paul’s chancel choir, and arranging music for the choir as well as instrumental and vocal soloists.   He recently retired from the DePaul University School of Music, where he served as an Associate Professor of musicianship and composition and held several administrative posts.  He holds degrees from St. Olaf College and Northwestern University and has been active as a composer of modern classically-oriented music. 

Kurt, soloists, and choir aim for a blend of classical, gospel, and global music to meaningfully enhance the worship experience at St. Paul’s like

Come and Fill Our Hearts With Your Peace featuring soloists, choir, and cello.