Mission Project Supporting a Revitalizing Congregation in Chicago
Ad Crucem supports St. John the Divine with a new logo and website consulting
Rev. Dr. Ike Nicholson recently colloquized into the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod after pastoring several Disciples of Christ churches, most recently South Suburban Christian Church in Littleton, Colorado.
His first LCMS call is to St. John the Divine Lutheran Church in Chicago, which is counted among the congregations of the English District. It was a struggling parish that seemed to be on the brink of closure like so many other inner city LCMS churches. It is now revitalizing in leaps and bounds as an orthodox, confessional parish that upholds the historic liturgy, and the progress has been amazing to watch.
The regeneration of St. John as a Confessional inner city congregation has defied all predictions and the nostrums of church growth ‘experts.’ Pastor Nicholson writes, “In a culture full of anger, fear, and loneliness, we have the vision to be an intentional Lutheran community where the Gospel is proclaimed boldly, the Sacraments celebrated joyfully, the Faith taught clearly, the cross is embraced prayerfully, and we serve humbly.”
After Rev. Dr. Nicholson appealed for additional financial support earlier this year, Ad Crucem offered to create a new logo for St. John and provide consulting on developing a new website. Since Pastor Nicholson had worked closely with Pastor Adrian Sherrill and Pastor Adam Koontz at Trinity Lutheran Church in Denver to prepare for his colloquy, Trinity agreed to provide some financial support for the initial website development expenses.
Pastor Nicholson requested a traditionalist / classic logo to fit the historic congregation’s renewed commitment to maintaining Confessional doctrine and practice. That was a straightforward design brief and easy to execute by repurposing an image designed for Ad Crucem some years ago by liturgical artist Ed Riojas.
The color and black and white versions are shown below.
Pastor Nicholson says of the new crest, “St. John the Divine references the theological depth of St. John, the writer of the fourth Gospel. The word "Divine" is an older word that means "theologian." St. John is represented in Christian art as an eagle.
"UAC" references the Unaltered Augsburg Confession, as it was presented on June 25th, 1530, as the confessional standard of Lutherans throughout the world and history. "Lutheran" was the name given to us by the Roman Church. Originally called the "Evangelical" church, many Lutherans understand themselves as evangelical catholics or Augsburg catholics, that is, we hold to the truths of Scripture, tracing our history back to the 1st-century church.
The parish was founded in 1928 as a mission by the English District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
John 1:1-5: Teaches us that Jesus is the Eternal Word, God in the flesh, the second person of the Godhead.
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
Website
St. John needed a new website that would be simple to maintain and functional as a way to attract potential new members and visitors. Today, nearly every visitor or new member first researches or discovers a church online, so a high-quality presence is essential.
One immediate recommendation was to register the domain name ChicagoLutheran.com, which, surprisingly, had never been claimed. Such specific and short domain names are hard to come by, and it is now the new website’s primary domain, and related domains, such as stjohnthedivine.church point there. Combined, the domain name strategy will help to raise St. John’s search profile.
For the website, Ad Crucem liaised with Pastor Nicholson and Provident Promotions in Hastings, NE, to develop an attractive and affordable site that would be easy to maintain and keep secure.
Ad Crucem receives no compensation or commission from Provident Promotions and recommends it as a trusted service provider with over a decade of collaboration to call on. Ad Crucem’s goal is to encourage churches to secure affordable, high-quality websites.
Visit St. John the Divine’s new website at https://www.chicagolutheran.com/