Religion in Chicagoland (Evanston, Skokie, Wheaton: house, wedding, schools)

[JHousley]

(Sorry the link to "Chicago Suburbs" isn't working for me right now)

I was just wondering what the relgious climate is like in Chicagoland. I understand that Chicago itself is pretty Catholic, is that right? But i'm wondering about the suburbs because we may be moving there (Dupage or Will County) I heard there is a strong Evangelical presence there, like in Wheaton. But are there many Catholics there? It's just something I wonder about because we currently live down South, and as a Catholic, it'd be a nice change to be around other Catholics, but I'd rather live in the suburbs than in Chicago.

[M TYPE X]

Chicagoland has religion! It worships the dollar bill.

[JHousley]

Is there any way I can have this thread moved to Chicago Suburbs? If not, i'll just restart it there.

[mimi2007]

I googled Catholic churches chicago area and came up with the following site:

ParishesOnline is the online U.S. directory of the Catholic Church. Find Catholic Churches, Mass Times, Pastors, Bulletins, Maps, Dioceses, Schools... and much more!

http://www.parishesonline.com/scripts/default.asp

hope it helps

[tktez]

The most Catholic area is the southwest side of the city itself (Mt. Greenwood and Beverly neghborhoods) but I can't imagine anyone feeling out of place as a Catholic in any Chicago suburb.

[JHousley]

Thanks mimi for the link. I found 83 matches in the 630 area code alone. Pleanty of Catholic churches.

tktez

Yeah, now that I think about it, I don't see why the religious make-up in the suburbs would be drastically different from the religious make-up of the city. But I wasn't really sure because I heard about Wheaton & also Willowcreek Church. Not saying there's anything wrong w/ those but I wanted to move somewhere w/ a strong Catholic presence because it's hard being Catholic where i'm at now, in the South.

[Katarina Witt]

You may be confusing Wheaton w/Wheaton College, which is a religious, conservative Christian school. I've heard of Willowcreek, apparently it is one of these big non-denominational Christian churches. Sort of like Crystal Cathedral in the LA area. I doubt there is any shortage of Catholic churches anywhere in the Chicago area. A lot of people I know from generic "Chicago", meaning also suburbs, are Catholic.

[Steve-o]

There are Catholic churches allllllll over the place in Chicagoland, you should have no problem finding one.

[RonPrice]

My comments here don't cover all of the suburbs of Chicago, but I've visited the Baha'i Temple in Chicago twice. To schedule a guided tour for groups of 15 or more you can contact the Volunteer Coordinator at (847) 853-2300. Those interested in having a simple Baha'i wedding, according to Bahá'í law, at the House of Worship (Baha'i membership not required) may contact the wedding liaison, at (847) 853-2300. Baha'i House of Worship Address: 100 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091. Phone: (847) 853-2300. The temple is impressive, very beautiful. I now live in Australia and visited the Baha'i temple
in 1968 and again in the year 2000.

To get to the temple:

(a) From Chicago:

Drive north on Lake Shore Drive (Highway 41) to Sheridan Road through Evanston to Linden Avenue in Wilmette.

(b) By public transportation: Take the Red Line/Howard El north to the end. Stay on the same platform and take the Purple Line/Linden north to the end. After exiting the station at Linden, go out to the street (Linden Ave.) and turn right. Walk two blocks to the House of Worship. It is about a 40 minute ride from downtown and costs $1.75 one-way.

and:

(c) From Milwaukee: Drive south on Interstate 94. Just inside the Illinois border take the Highway 41 cutoff. Continue south to the Skokie Boulevard exit. Make a left turn at the second signal (Lake Avenue). Travel east to Sheridan Road. Turn right and drive four blocks south.
__________
Worth a look!

[gardener34]

In chicagoland there is every religion to be found in almost every town.

Western suburbs of Lombard, Villa park and elmhurst are very catholic. And has the parochial schools to match.

There are also many of those what I call "big box" churches around too.

I can also speak for St. Charles which has several roman catholic churches, but is low on the parochial schools in this area. There is a 3 year waiting list to get into the one out here. (Maybe that is everywhere? I don't know). so if you are specifically looking to get kids into parochial schools call and ask if they have waiting lists.

Also Batavia and Geneva have RC churches.

There is NO lack of roman catholic churches anywhere in the suburban area that I know of.