Saint Clement Church — Attraction in Lake View Township

IF YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED DO NOT GO HERE! I am a Chicago wedding photographer and in 5 years of doing this job and going to many Churches I have not been treated with so much disrespect, nor have I seen a Bride and Groom treated so poorly after the ceremony on such an important day.

A Church assistant essentially followed me around making sure I would not go in front of the first aisle to get IMPORTANT moments of the Bride and Groom, parents and Bridal party. Even with a very long lens I had lots of trouble getting the moments I needed too because of their restrictions.

These types of restrictions are common with many Churches, but I have never seen them so passionately enforced. The logic of these Churches is always, that they do not want people looking at the photographers, they want them focused on the wedding taking place and my response is always well duh! I have the SAME goals! Why would I be doing anything that took attention away from that?? So shadowing me and restricting me from doing my job only acts as a dis-service to the Bride and Groom who have paid me to document their day for them in the way that they have seen on my portfolio, which sometimes involves getting closer that 50ft from the Bride and Groom.

After the wedding ceremony we had family formals. I was told that we were quoted a half hour for family formals but another Church assistant came up and informed us we only had 15 minutes, which is one thing on its own as Family formals take at least a half hour to complete. I have to say I made a mistake here. Even though I was told 30 minutes by the Bride and Groom I should have double checked with the Church that this was the case as this is a detail that can slip under the radar.

However, even though I admit to making a mistake on time. The Church assistant who came up and told us we only had 15 minutes because another wedding was coming in began breathing down all of our necks 10 minutes in saying things like (AND I QUOTE) "..you guys are reaeealllyyy testing my patience here..." " TICK TOCK TICK TOCK" and "I'm just going to keep standing here telling you to go, until you leave.."

We finished the Family formals in 20 minutes. Everyone was stressed, everyone was annoyed and the Bride and Groom were just dumbfounded by his behavior. Absolutely ridiculous behavior.

Considering what an important day this is for two people, the lack of consideration was nothing short of amazing. I get it, they are a Church they have their schedule, they don't care about the photography of the wedding day because in their minds that has nothing to do with them. Which is my point, If YOU care about the photographs that you will be looking back on with your loved ones for the rest of your lives of this incredibly significant day that you share only once with the person you love most in this world then do not go here, because that is not a...

Editing my previous review, same score, but for different reasons:

This is a very pretty church that, under the leadership of Fr. Peter Wojcik, has become a welcoming parish with strong attendance, and with different styles of presentation of the Mass, and has a high-quality music program. Long gone are the dorky "sing-a-long" songs from 10 years ago, replaced with good instrumental arrangements and talented singers. Generally speaking, I think the parish is a step-and-a-half better under Fr. Peter's leadership than the previous pastor (just my opinion).

However, the reason I am editing my review is based on some of the things that happened today, 8/24/2025 at the 7pm Mass. During the Offertory, for the 2nd time in the past few weeks with the new Priest, we were called upon to go through the dreaded "Talk to the person next to you and ask them to pray for you!" experience. I am not a shy person, but I do NOT come to Mass to babble to a random stranger next to me about my problems, many of which are personal and none of their business. As such, we are put in a position where we have to either make up something lame/fake (which isn't a serious representation of our struggles as Christians), or outright refuse to go along with this awkwardness, in which case we are potentially offending the person next to us. Even if it's as simple as, "Say hello to the person next to you!" I simply want NO part in this cringe, and since I don't want to be made to feel awkward in this would-be exchange in the future, I simply decided to stop attending the parish because I don't know if the same priest will be the celebrant at other Masses putting us through the same thing, which I straight-up refuse to do. I come to Mass to follow along with the Priest to worship, not chit-chat with people.

Additionally, today there was a 'voiceover' on the sound system while the collection basket was being passed around explaining how we can give online, the procedure, etc. This was very distracting/unusual. I think anyone would suggest that the more appropriate time to mention this would be either during the announcements or before Mass begins. It felt like I was at a baseball game and the announcer was announcing the starting lineup over the organ or something...which was weird to experience during Mass, where we are trying to stay focused.

Lastly, the Offertory has apparently once again become home to various sociopolitical stances being listed off under the guise of "protecting the marginalized" which is an code phrase for social justice causes. I don't know if all of this is being done at the direction of the Pastor, or if this is just the style of the new Priest, but in any case, I'm not...

Beautiful aesthetically, but not a good choice for those looking for a reverent Mass. I go to the 7pm here occasionally bc it's the closest to me, but this church seems to consistently offer a cheapened/watered-down version of Catholicism. In general, the liturgy is handled casually- laity doing the purification of the vessels after communion/returning the Eucharist to the tabernacle, which I’ve never seen anywhere. The other month there was a woman in an actual mini-skirt administering communion up at the altar. The parishioners seem led astray, because every single Mass attendee consistently goes up to receive Communion, though Confession is not offered before Mass on Sundays… I’m not surprised because I've never once heard the priests speak on the importance of receiving Communion in a state of grace and what that means specifically. The homilies are sanitized, kumbaya “love everyone” “see Jesus in others” type messages, but never anything challenging to our culture or delving into the catechism. Sitting in the pews, there is not a natural or comfortable place to fix the eyes straight ahead that is focused on Jesus (there’s a muted cross painting up in the dome) and the tabernacle is a small afterthought off to the side. They sometimes bring random speakers up to the altar in the middle of Mass like it's a Town Hall. The music is beautiful and reverent, but besides that the vibe here is like if a spiritually Protestant/ cheesy nondenominational service took place in a pretty (albeit poorly designed)...