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Saint Clement Church
Rating Details »
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
642 W Deming Pl
(between Geneva Ter & Orchard St)
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 281-0371
642 W Deming Pl
(between Geneva Ter & Orchard St)
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 281-0371
- Nearest Transit:
-
Fullerton (Purple Express, Brown, Red)
9 reviews for Saint Clement Church
Well, I didn't burst into flames when I walked in, so that's got to be worth a couple stars right there....
In all seriousness though, this is a gorgeous church. I live a couple blocks away and have walked by it a million times, but had never been inside until one of my dear friends was married here yesterday. When my friend had gotten engaged she was adamant about getting married here, and looking around I could see why. When you walk in and look around and up, it's truly breathtaking. The outside is nothing to sneeze at either.
Father Ramil Fajardo officiated the service, and he was quite entertaining. I've been to weddings where the officiants try to be funny and fail miserably, but he pulled it off and also said a lot of things that just made sense. He did a great job with the service, and it was a truly lovely wedding.
Minus one star because the acoustics weren't great - we were seated towards the back, but perhaps they are better up front.
St. Clement's is far and away the best church I have ever attended. Several things that commend it:
First, the community is welcoming. The parishioners are generally kind and inviting, the church has a wide range of programs from book clubs, prayer meetings, small groups, service opportunities, and ministry options that enable diverse forms of participation in the community. When I wanted to start a CS Lewis book club, I got complete support as well as space from the church to do so, and it was a great success. Furthermore, the priests were very good homilists, particularly Fr. Eddie de Leon, and I always felt they did a good job of striking a balance between conservative/liberal and traditional/progressive views in the Church. As a result I felt both challenged and supported in my faith.
Secondly, in an artistic sense, the church is a masterpiece. The choirs are excellent, and the music is thus a real treat. Once a month, the 7pm Sunday mass has a Taize service, which was a particular favorite of mine. Architecturally, the church is beautiful, and the sanctuary itself is used as an extended canvas for religious and spiritual art. Each of the arches in the center has the faces of saints; in the back of the sanctuary there are seven stained glass windows of the seven sacraments interspersed with six mosaics of some of the major saints in the church. It's impossible to describe in a review the beauty inside, so I recommend seeing it yourself.
All in all, one of the things I miss most about Chicago is this church and its community, and I always make a point to go there whenever I visit Chicago now. If you're in Chicago and looking for a parish, especially if you're between the ages of 22 and 35, I can't recommend St. Clement's highly enough.
The place is amazing, even for a staunch agnostic like me.
St. C. is architecturally fabulous. Although a Roman Catholic church, the architectural style is heavily Byzantine. But wait, there's more: the exterior is a combination style - Greek, Byzantine and Roman. The interior was painted by a Russian priest, again in Byzantine style - so many iconographic images.
They do great community work. Their projects include HIV/AIDS outreach, affordable housing, and sponsorship of international families displaced by war.
I have to dock a star for the extremely bossy wedding coordinator who told me I was not permitted to pee ten minutes before my sister's wedding ceremony was set to begin. Ready to box, I ignored her scolding and found the bathroom. Fortunately, we both walked out of church that evening.
And wouldn't you know it...the nuptials began on time and I didn't "christen" their marble floor.
I was surprised to see that Churches are rated on this website, but I'm happy to spread the good news about St. Clement Church.
I'm involved in the choir and the parish respect life committee here, and I love it. This parish is doing a great job of addressing key issues like post-abortion healing, ethical stem cell research, end-of-life care... A lot of real issues that people are facing but that a lot of Churches in this area don't discuss. The respect life group is very young and vibrant with a lot of members. The Church itself is very beautiful, and I think the music is awesome, if I say so myself! We visited many Catholic parishes in the area and chose this one because of the beautiful music, the respect life presence, and the great priests - Fr. Ramil, Fr. Vince and Fr. Ken! Those guys are awesome!
It feels wrong to rate a church but if I had to... I am proud to be a parishioner of Saint Clement Church. It's most meaningful to me because of its liberal theology and its inclusiveness of gay and lesbian Catholics like myself.
There are few Catholic parishes that dare to call itself a "Welcoming Community" as this church does, and it is! It has a wonderful, vibrant and intensely active gay and lesbian outreach that drives a church ministry to local persons with HIV/AIDS in homes and in the hospital. These are not repressed or oppressed gay Catholics. They've taken ownership of their faith in Christ and not let others dictate the direction of that faith.
I love the church's commitment to community service. With millions of dollars in donations to the church, it has a nice track record of spending much of its income on neighborhood needs: the Lincoln Park homeless shelter, homebound persons, creation of youth programs, and much more, without regard for the faith traditions of those receiving these generous gifts from the parish.
Young adults will enjoy the Sunday evening Mass at 7:00 pm. There's a wine and cheese gathering every month as a meet and greet. One Sunday evening Mass each month is a contemplative Mass, taking from the Taize traditions. I recommend that service for non-Catholics to enjoy, too! It is absolutely wonderful!
I went to see Handel's Messiah at St. Clement a few weeks ago. The performance was outstanding, but the ushers kept chatting up, which I thought was very unprofessional. However, the church itself is very impressive. Was told that the inside was decorated by some Russian priest in the early 20C. I have been to many Catholic churches all around the world, and this neighborhood church is doesn't look shabby at all in comparison.
Beautiful Catholic church. I always feel welcome when I am there! the services are nice b/c if you are unable to go to early sunday morning mass they have sunday evening masses as well!
This church is an architectural gem.
I live across the street from this church! It's beautfiul...there are always weddings here. I've been to one service and although I am not Catholic I enjoyed it. I have heard they have a large youth group at this church for anyone looking to join that type of organization.
