Remember My Church

Mary, Mother of God is a Roman Catholic Parish with three separate locations in Chicago’s Edgewater, Andersonville, and Uptown neighborhoods. The parish was established on September 3rd, 2020 with the Merger of St. Ita, St. Thomas, and St. Gregory the Great Parishes. Today the parish is staffed by conventual Franciscan Friars who minister to all three individual churches. The grouping of Mary, Mother of God constituent parishes of St. Ita, St. Gregory, and St Thomas was due in part to their proximity and membership in a larger North Side community. Over time and like many other parishes around the country, these parishes were losing attendance and therefore needed help. Mary, Mother of God was created as a part of the Renew My Church program, an initiative by the Archdiocese of Chicago that aims to unite churches and churchgoers as a way to combat decreasing mass attendance and participation. The constituent churches of Mary, Mother of God parishes still perform many of their core services for their individual communities such as language-specific masses or St. Gregory's continuing role as an arts and cultural center. As of today, all three buildings are still in operation, each holding its own masses on Sunday, with the larger parent Parish serving in an operational and community-building capacity. One of the key differences from before the merger perhaps is that many core Franciscan staff are shared among the three churches. It is important to note that Mary, Mother of God is not a Church, meaning it has no physical building; rather it is a parish, which is the community of the church.