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Welcome to the website of the Church of St. Benedict!   You are welcome to arrange for a meeting with me:  please contact me via the church phone number or by email.  Come visit us at worship on a Sunday morning, or read some of my sermons under the icon on the left column. 

May you find the face of God in your seeking, wherever you are on your faith journey. 
The Reverend Heidi Haverkamp
Email me

About the Vicar:

I grew up in Hyde Park, a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, where my family attended a church affiliated with the American Baptists and the United Church of Christ.  I went to the College of Wooster, in Ohio, where I earned a B.A. in English in 1998, and hung out at the campus Presbyterian church. After college, I spent some time working on organic farms and working with adults with serious mental illness in western Massachusetts. There, I attended a church of about twelve people -- the Monterey United Church of Christ. Much to my surprise, when our pastor resigned, the parish asked me if I would consider taking his place. So, when I was twenty-four, I was licensed as a "local pastor" (not ordained!) and served with that tiny parish for a year.

When I came home to Chicago, I worked as a legal secretary for two years before I decided to start the Master of Divinity program at the University of Chicago.  I graduated in 2006, and went on to complete a certificate in Theological Studies at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, as part of my Anglican studies.  I was ordained a priest in December 2007, at St. James Cathedral in downtown Chicago.

My spiritual practices are grounded in prayer, cooking, Sabbath-keeping, spending time with Benedictine monastic communities, sermon-writing, and spiritual reading.  You can see some of what I'm reading and thinking about right now on my blog:  The Vicar of Bolingbrook.

I live in Bolingbrook with my husband, Adam Frieberg, who is studying for the ministry with The Christian Church: Disciples of Christ at the University of Chicago.  My parents still live in Hyde Park, and join us for worship a few times a year. 

I first started attending an Episcopalian church in Advent of 2002 -- I loved the beauty, the sense of history, and the sacramental focus of our liturgy.  The repetition feels like a letting go into prayer and meditation, with our whole bodies, even, into the presence of God in our worshiping community. 

May we feel God's presence among us, at worship, and in every aspect of our lives.


The Reverend Heidi Haverkamp
revheidi@stbenedict.ws