UPDATE on Partners:
Chicago Office
St. Matthias Parish,
in Chicago’s
Lincoln Square
neighborhood, is a
recent graduate of
Partners’ New Dollars/
New Partners training
program. They are
using what they
learned to prepare for
a capital campaign
to address long- and
short-term needs.
Photo courtesy of St.
Matthias Parish.
Where are They Now?
St. Matthias Parish serves as a strong anchor for the Catholic
community of Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood. Over
120 years ago, German immigrants arrived in this north
side outpost of Chicago and built homes, a parish, and a
neighborhood. In 1887, parishioners met for Sunday Mass for
the first time and exactly one year later, they had completed
and opened a combined church and grade school building. In
1915, the current neo-Romanesque church was completed;
ten years later, the current school building opened for class.
Over the next two decades, Chicago’s downtown public transit
systems extended into the neighborhood and new residents
streamed into the parish. Today, St. Matthias is home to
families with varied international ties.
Through their recent participation in Partners’ New Dollars/
New Partners For Your Sacred Place training program, St.
Matthias came to better understand its parish and school as
community assets. They learned how to calculate the public
value of their historic buildings and how to effectively tell
their story to a wider audience. As a result, they are now
able to attract new resources to help maintain their aging
buildings. Father John Sanaghan recounts, “Our team was
a bit amazed when it started the public value assessment
process and saw all of our programs in one long list,” which
includes their current homeless and food distribution
programs, Boy Scouts, young adult programs, and ethnic
support networks.
13 • Sacred Places • www.sacredplaces.org • Spring 2011
Chicago Advisory Board
Rolf Achilles, Co-Chair
Corlis Moody, Co-Chair
Barbara Abrajano
Rabbi Michael Balinsky
Joel D. Bookman
Chris Botti
Jay Braatz, Ed.D.
The Very Reverend Msgr.
John F. Canary
Bishop Demetrios
of Mokissos
Steve Edwards
Sunny Fischer
Suzanne Germann
Brian Goeken, AICP
Gunny Harboe, AIA
Nevin Hedlund, AIA
Marilyn Hennessy
Lisa Klein
Jody Kretzmann
The Reverend George A.
Lane, S.J.
Ken Marchetti
The Reverend James M.
Moody, Sr.
Michael P. Mosher, Esq.
Andrew Perlman
Joan Pomaranc
David Sauerman
St. Matthias is renewing the spirit of faith and community
on which it was founded. According to Sandria Morten, the
principal of this preschool-through-eighth-grade school,
“Partners took a personal interest in our school and church,
directing and supporting us as we put the pieces together of
who we are, what we do, and what we need.” The team spent
several months working with architects, engineers, and
Archdiocesan consultants assessing the parish school and
church buildings to determine their long- and short-term
needs. The outcome was an ambitious development plan to
accommodate a rapidly growing school enrollment, expand
and enhance the educational programs, and restore the
church.
Even in the midst of this process, Father Sanaghan
acknowledges, “It was evident that the school is our absolute
top and urgent priority. The parishioners seem to be telling
us to do our best for the kids first and, at least for now,
patch the church until we can do a later restoration.” The
parish just completed a campaign feasibility study and a
town hall meeting is being organized to review the findings
with parishioners and school families. The next step will be
discerning how to move forward with all aspects of the project,
including forming a campaign committee and finalizing the
details of the fundraising effort and construction.
“Capital campaigns can seem overwhelming,” adds Principal
Morten, “The first parishioners of St. Matthias must have felt
similar anxiety as they embarked on building a church and
school in one year. Yet they recognized that there was a need
for a spiritual, cultural, and educational home, harnessed
the gifts and talents of their neighbors, and made it happen.
Partners has helped us to realize our own potential and take
concrete steps toward building our future.” The parishioners’
optimism and common faith, along with their hard work,
generosity, and foresight – in go