Established in June 1943, a small group of Japanese believers met for the first time in an apartment in Chicago, IL. In September, Sadaichi Kuzuhara, Akira Kuroda, and Harry Hashimoto led the group in meeting at Moody Memorial Church’s Torrey Chapel, calling the new worshiping community “Japanese Christian Church at Moody.” (No official ties to Moody.)

In 1949, property including a church building was purchased on Wellington and Sheffield in Chicago and the church was renamed, “The Lakeside Japanese Christian Church.” Services were mostly attended by 1st and 2nd generation Japanese-Americans.

Lakeside has roots in Japanese and Japanese-American churches from California. Many were a part of the Japanese relocation during World War II and in 1943, upon being released from internment camps, arrived in Chicago. As the congregation grew, changed, and moved to the suburbs, the number of congregants living near the church building decreased. Eventually, the building on Wellington was sold in 1998, and a search began for a new facility. Our church worshiped temporarily at South Park Church in Park Ridge, before purchasing our current Skokie building at 3939 Howard St. in 2001. Although more congregants live near our new Skokie location than the Wellington one, we have retained a number of “commuter” congregants, attesting to the strong bonds our attendees have to our church body, regardless of distance.

Currently, Lakeside consists primarily of an English-speaking congregation, and a small Japanese speaking congregation which meets separately. The English speaking congregation is predominantly of Asian descent, although many other ethnicities are also represented. In 2002, the church name was changed to “Lakeside Church of Chicago”, removing the word “Japanese”, to better represent the makeup of our church. Generational family values of hospitality, respect, care, and love for one another continue to be taught and embraced. Our heritage reminds us of God’s faithful provisions to a displaced people group, and His special care and purpose for Lakeside.