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The West Side has a new Chicago landmark: the 90-year-old Pentecostal Church of Holiness in the K-Town neighborhood of North Lawndale.
Landmark designation was approved by the city council on May 26, removing the building at 1444 S. Keeler Ave. Protection from demolition and access to tax and financial incentives. Church pastor Chaun Johnson began pursuing milestone status in 2019.
“We want to make sure those who hear about North Lawndale know that there is a lily in the valley. There is beauty in what appears to be humiliation, ”said Pastor Chaun Johnson.
The church was originally founded as the Catholic parish of Our Lady of Lourdes, which served the predominantly Czech population who immigrated to Lawndale from the Pilsen neighborhood. The Catholic parish was originally a wooden building, but as the parish grew it was rebuilt in 1932 in the Romanesque architecture that has survived to this day.
The church remained a central part of K-Town even when the area turned black in the 1950s as racist housing policies and divestments made it one of the poorest parts of Chicago.
The milestone status also recognizes the contributions of Bishop Michael R. Dempsey and the legacy of social service that has been sustained in the Pentecostal Church of Holiness since his tenure.
Dempsey became pastor of Pentecostal in 1965 when Lawndale unemployment rose sharply and Church membership shrank. Dempsey started a program called Lawndale for Better Jobs to help residents find work. Over 300 people were granted jobs in one year, officials from the planning department said.
Lawndale for Better Jobs was eventually converted into a citywide program that served over 93,000 job seekers by 1973. The program received national recognition after a visit by then Vice President Hubert Humphrey.
After becoming a Pentecostal ward in 2005, the Church continues the legacy as a center for the advancement of the quality of life in Lawndale.
Church services continue to support job seekers in the area. They also have programs that provide residents with free food, educational resources, mental health services, and clothing. The church is currently working on vaccination initiatives to help alleviate the pandemic, and the community is also working on creating a community garden, Johnson said.
“I want to keep it. We want to preserve our history and show the community and show that we are invested in our neighborhood, ”said Johnson.
Pascal Sabino is a member of the Report for America Corps, covering Austin, North Lawndale and Garfield Park for Block Club Chicago.
CONTACT: pascal@blockclubchi.org
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