Who we are

Mission

To joyfully share in the redeeming work of Jesus in Chicago and the world.

Vision

To become a church so thoroughly built on God's good future that our present lives radiate hope and love until we see sorrow and strife replaced by joy and peace.

Our Values

  • We want to be a community where every kind of person, in every stage of life, can say, “These are my people.” Children, youth, young families, college students, single adults, empty nesters, and everyone in between have a home here. We try to live this out through our conversations, taking care of each other during hard times, and providing excellent ministries from the nursery on up. We also want to be a community with an open seat for those outside our walls, giving the same welcome to others that Jesus has given to us.

  • The Bible is God’s own Word given to us to show us the truth and goodness of who he is and what he is doing in the world through Jesus. So we make the teaching, preaching, and studying of the Bible the driving engine behind everything we do at Redeemer Church Chicago.

  • We want to be people who enjoy a vital relationship with our God, expressed in shared and individual prayer. Prayer is how we grasp onto all of the blessings of the gospel, and it’s how we bring our needs to a Father who loves to care for his children. We want our worship services, small groups, families, and private lives to be filled with prayer as we long for God.

  • The more we grasp the infinite depths of the power, love, and beauty of God, the more we cannot help but cry out our praise to him. We want to enjoy musically and liturgically beautiful worship services to help us grasp his beauty, but we also believe that worship is not just what happens on Sundays. We want to live our entire lives—our work, relationships, and everything else we do—in love and service to Jesus.

  • The very beginning of the Bible says that God’s people are called to “be a blessing” to the whole world (Gen. 12:2). Chicago is filled with the beauty and brokenness of humanity. Towering skyscrapers, world-class museums, and leading universities exist side by side with crime, poverty, mental illness, and relational conflict. We want to be a blessing to our city by loving our neighbors and seeking their good without expecting anything in return. And as God loves his creation, so we love and care for it as well.

  • We long to be a church where the mind of Christ is present in our midst. We are convinced that biblical Christianity doesn’t belong to any one culture, nation, or political party. Biblical Christians should never be predictably partisan but rigorously biblical. We must nurture the mind of Christ through careful biblical and theological reflection lest our minds become more cultured than Christian. The renewal of our minds (Romans 12:2) is a key component of our ongoing spiritual transformation.

Our Beliefs

Redeemer Church Chicago is a non-denominational church in the Reformed tradition of the Christian faith. RCC uses the historic Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) as our doctrinal statement. We are governed by a Constitution, also called the Book of Church Order. It is, in part, based on the Presbyterian Church in America Book of Church Order. It is comprised of three separate parts, with each part and subsequent amendment adopted by full vote of the membership of RCC. You can find a summary of our beliefs here.

Our Story

Redeemer Church Chicago’s history dates back to the 1950s. Though our congregation has changed locations and names a few times, one thing has stayed constant—our desire to faithfully minister to the north side of Chicago. In June of 1998, a core group of 37 adults relocated from suburban Chicagoland to launch Holy Trinity Church. Holy Trinity Church began as a dream in the hearts of founding pastors, David R. Helm and Jon M. Dennis, to establish a reproducing Word and gospel-centered church in Chicago. In December 2002, Holy Trinity Church launched a second congregation downtown from a core group of 35, which quickly grew.  In 2009, God miraculously opened the door to expand Holy Trinity Church even further. Lakeshore Baptist Church, a congregation in the Lakeview neighborhood, joined HTC to launch Holy Trinity Church North Side led by Pastor Tom Barrett. In 2014, Pastor Kyle Edwards was called to the North Side. 

The past few years have seen innumerable changes around the world and closer to home. HTC Hyde Park became an independent church (Christ Church) in 2020 right at the beginning of the pandemic, and HTC Pilsen closed in 2022. By the end of 2024, in light of these changes, and in the growing sense of our unique identity, the elders of HTC North Side believed that God was calling us to become an independent church while remaining in fellowship with Holy Trinity. We thank God for HTC and count them as friends.

In September 2025, we launched as Redeemer Church Chicago with the mission of joyfully sharing in the redeeming work of Jesus in Chicago and around the world.