German Christmas Service at St. Paul Lutheran Church December 21st

St. Paul Lutheran Church at 100 S. School St., Mount Prospect will be hosting a German language Christmas Service, December 21st at 5:00 p.m. This is the congregation's ninth annual German Christmas Service and it draws worshipers from across the Chicago Northwest Suburbs. While the traditional Lutheran service will be conducted in German, an English translation of the sermon will be available. Musical selections will be sung by the German-American Singers of Chicago.

St. Paul Lutheran Church was founded in 1912 by German farmers and small businessmen residing in the area that was soon to become the Village of Mount Prospect. The first church building was built in 1913 a couple blocks east of downtown Mount Prospect on farmland donated by the Busse family. Many of the village's founding families were members of the congregation. St. Paul was originally a satellite church of St. John Lutheran Church which in 1848 was the first Lutheran church established in Elk Grove Township. Both churches held services in German until the mid-1930's and the St. Paul Lutheran School taught the German language until the late 1970's. In 2011, St. Paul reintroduced a German Christmas Service in connection with the celebration of its 100th anniversary. The service was so well received by the congregation's members and the broader community that it was decided to turn it into an annual tradition. Senior Pastor Kris Whitby noted that the service "is not just for German speakers but for all who would like to experience Christmas in the tradition of our area's earliest residents."