St. Andrew's Lutheran Campus Center

A Church Home Away from Home

Finding a home away from home is not easy on a huge university campus. Neither is finding a place where one can ask the big questions of life without fear of being judged: Who am I? What is my purpose? Whom can I trust? To what or whom do I belong? What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of my life? Who is God and what does faith have to do with all this? What if I don’t know if I have faith? What if I have more doubt than faith?

St. Andrew’s is a place of welcome and grace — a place like home — to all who come through its doors. We are a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and also a Campus Center with ties to both the University of Illinois (we are an official Registered Student Organization) and to the broader church (we’re a member of the Lutheran Student Movement). Unique for a university campus: we are open to the community, so there is a small number of supportive community members who worship with us and who feel like surrogate parents and grandparents to our students. Lots, but not all, of our people are affiliated with the university in some way.

Our leadership is student-centered, focused on the gifts and skills young adults bring to the church. Our Student Ministers and our Council put together a holistic schedule of worship, free food, Bible study, fellowship, service-learning and justice opportunities, and discussion through the year.

Following in the way of Jesus, we welcome all without exception. We are a church Reconciled in Christ (we unequivocally support the LGBTQ+ community) and though our affiliation is Lutheran, we celebrate God’s diversity in culture, language, nationality, ethnicity, age, ability, gender, and orientation.