The Church of the Holy Comforter

Church of the Holy Comforter is an Episcopal Church, part of the Diocese of Chicago. Since 1902 we have celebrated the Good News of Jesus Christ in Kenilworth, Illinois. Worship and community are central to our life. Our doors are open 24 hours a day as a place of prayer, and each morning our ministry begins at the altar with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist.

The beautiful Tudor church campus contains a modest, gracious, and restrained sanctuary, an extensive classrom and education wing, meeting rooms of varying size and atmosphere, lovely grounds, a cloister columbarium featuring an arch from the oldest Episcopal cathedral in the country, and a restaurant-grade kitchen.  Holy Comforter is located in an affluent community and area, and seeks to be engaged with the local neighborhood through hosting many events and programs within our walls, such as being the polling site for the Village of Kenilworth, the sponsoring organization for the local Boy and Girl Scouts organizations, a sponsoring member of, and frequent site for, the Alliance for Early Childhood, the League of Women Voters, and other community-based activities and groups.  

Holy Comforter is proud to be the home of All Things Bright and Beautiful, one of the premier preschools on the North Shore, a school that is explicitly a ministry of the parish and which provides a faith-based formation experience for young children.  We are perhaps most proud of the fact that the sanctuary is open for worship and prayer 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, without fail.  In addition, we have a lively church school program from nursery through high school, and a significant adult formation ministry, comprising weekday classes, weekly Men's Bible Study, seasonal offerings, and an Adult Forum on Sunday mornings.  The compassion ministries of the parish are also vital, including such programs as the Shawl Ministry, Stephen Ministry, Ladles of Love (a food ministry for homebound, those recovering from illness or surgery, new parents, and the like), and a very active visitation ministry involving both clergy and laity, among others.  We are also involved in several outreach ministries, including an annual youth group Mission Trip, now in its 27th year, participation in CUMALI, which provides food and clothing for people living on Lower Wacker Drive in downtown Chicago, Good News Partners and A Just Harvest food ministry, Holy Family Ministries and School, Connections for the Homeless, and others.

Worship at Holy Comforter stretches across a rather wide array of styles, from a traditional Rite One Eucharist early on Sunday through a more formal liturgy featuring our adult choir to the child-friendly 9:00 Eucharist that features a variety of worship and musical apoproaches throughout the year.  Several times a year, specialliturgies are offered--either indoors or out on our front lawn--featuring music of such disparate artists or genres as the Beatles, Elton John, Billy Joel, the Blues, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, U2, James Taylor, Celtic music, and more.