Community Corner
Phat Bao Temple Continues Diverse Spiritual Legacy
The church building at Prospect Avenue and Illinois Street has been home to several congregations.
A humble church with a spiritual history sits at Prospect Avenue and Illinois Street. It has served as an incubator to several growing congregations during its history.
The little church grew when 43 members founded Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in 1945. At the time, the meetings were held in a private home. Then, in 1946, the simple, concrete block church was built.
The congregation grew, and the church expanded in 1947, again in 1950. The congregation completed construction itself.
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By 1954 the church was running out of room, and launched a fundraising drive for a new edifice. In anticipation for the new church's 1960 completion, the old church was sold to St. John Greek Orthodox Church in August 1959, and another addition was completed as they moved in. The congregation planned a new, permanent church in 1962, and moved out in 1965.
Next, the building became the Pentecostal Church of God, from approximately 1971-1983.
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Since 1994, it has been home to the Vietnamese Buddhist Phat Bao Temple. This congregation recently completed a beautification of the building.
