The Ceremony:
Saturday, October 15th, 2011 at 3:30 PM
Wicker Park Lutheran Church
2112 W. LeMoyne Street
Chicago, IL
Semi-formal attire requested
We are proud to have Wicker Park Lutheran Church in Chicago, IL, be the site of our wedding. Austin has been attending and assisting services at Wicker Park Lutheran since 2006, and we are thrilled to have such a beautiful setting and historic religious Chicago community join us in marriage.
With a congregation founded in 1879, the current building, located at the corner of Hoyne and LeMoyne, was erected in 1906. The building's architecture was meant to echo the Romanesque design of the Église de la Sainte Trinité in Caen, France. From the website:
The mica-flecked granite stones were salvaged from a famous house of ill-repute that the City had razed. The windows are exceptionally lovely “Munich style” stained (painted) glass. The marble baptismal font was inspired by Thorwaldsen’s angel font in Copenhagen, and the famous German sculptor Alois Lang carved the altar piece of diVinci’s Last Supper. In 1991, Wicker Park was designated a historic landmark district, and the church building was placed on the national registry.
Our Officiant:
Pastor Ruth VanDemark will be officiating the wedding service. Pastor Ruth has been serving Wicker Park Lutheran since 1999, and has an impressive background in the Lutheran faith and service. A 1966 Vassar graduate, she received a Masters of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School in 1969. She went on to practice law in Chicago from 1976. In 1992 she began part time courses at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, and obtained her Masters of Divinity in 1999, at which point she left her law practice to lead the congregation at Wicker Park Lutheran.
From 1998–2004, Pastor Ruth was on the board of Lutheran Social Services of Illinois, serving as the board’s chairperson from 2002–2004. Pastor Ruth was Dean of the Central Conference of the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in American from 2002 to 2005. She currently serves on the Metro Chicago Synod's Constitution and Discipline committees.
