Old St. Mary's Catholic Church

What Old St. Mary's Catholic Church does

Old St. Mary's is the first Catholic parish in Chicago, established in 1833 and continuously served by the Paulist Fathers (Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle) since 1903. Operating under the spiritual jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Chicago from a campus of three purpose-built facilities at 1500 S. Michigan Ave. in the South Loop neighborhood, the parish delivers a full spectrum of canonical Catholic services including weekly and holy day Mass, the seven sacraments (Baptism, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Confirmation, Marriage, Anointing), faith formation across all age groups, youth and young adult ministry, and RCIA/OCIA for inquirers. Its wholly-owned educational subsidiary, Old St. Mary's School, serves nearly 500 students from age 3 through 8th grade and was named a 2019 National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.

The parish's underlying technology stack is composed of standard, off-the-shelf SaaS tools rather than proprietary systems: Pushpay and Zelle process online donations; CCB Church and SignUpGenius manage liturgical scheduling and volunteer sign-ups; YouTube and Dacast livestream daily and weekly Masses; Teamup handles event calendaring; Zoom supports remote faith-sharing groups; and Google Workspace (Forms, Classroom, Meet) supports school and formation administration. In 2024-2025 the parish adopted the Hallow prayer app parish-wide across Faith Formation, Youth Ministry, and the school.

Revenue is generated through a diversified mix of recurring and episodic streams: weekly offertory and online giving from parishioners, school tuition bundled with sacramental preparation, sacramental fees ($40 for First Reconciliation/Communion, $80 for Confirmation, $300 per child for faith formation), Mass intentions and Paulist Mass cards, the Annual Paulist Appeal, capital campaigns (parish was at 99% of a $1.6 million 'Generation to Generation: Answer the Call' stretch goal with the Archdiocese of Chicago), planned giving via QCDs and stock donations, and Illinois Invest In Kids Act tax-credit scholarships. The customer base consists of individual parishioners, school families, youth, young adults, and inquirers/seekers across the South Loop catchment, with engagement funneled through in-person worship, the school, formation programs, community events, and digital channels.

Name

Old St. Mary's Catholic Church

Legal name

Old St. Mary's Church

Website

https://oldstmarys.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1833

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Old St. Mary's is the first Catholic parish in Chicago (est. 1833), served by the Paulist Fathers since 1903 and operating from its South Loop campus. It delivers Mass, sacraments, multi-age faith formation, and outreach programs, and runs Old St. Mary's School, a Blue Ribbon school serving nearly 500 students age 3 through 8th grade.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Parish Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131), Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111)

akta.pro primary industry

Religious Orders & Monastic Communities (Monasteries, Convents) (BPAGAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Faith-Based (Religious) K–12 Schools (EDAJABAC)

Keywords

• Catholic parish services
• Worship and sacraments
• Faith formation programs
• Catholic school education
• Religious community outreach

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Tithes: Primary revenue from parishioner donations including weekly offertory, online giving via Pushpay, Zelle quick pay, and traditional offertory envelopes. Donors can make one-time or recurring gifts.
2. Annual Paulist Appeal: Annual fundraising campaign supporting the Paulist Fathers' mission of evangelization, reconciliation, and outreach to those on the margins. Parish participates in this denominational-wide appeal.
3. Capital Campaigns: Occasional capital campaigns such as the 'Generation to Generation: Answer the Call' campaign with Archdiocese of Chicago. Parish was at 99% of $1.6 million stretch goal.
4. School Tuition: Revenue from Old St. Mary's School serving nearly 500 students from age 3 through 8th grade. Includes sacramental fees bundled with tuition for school families.
5. Planned Giving and Legacy Donations: Opportunities for Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs) from IRAs for donors 73+, stock donations, and legacy planning.
6. Sacramental Fees: Fees for sacraments including Baptism preparation materials, First Reconciliation and Communion ($40), and Confirmation ($80).
7. Tax Credit Scholarships: Support for Illinois Invest In Kids Act tax credit scholarship program benefiting school families.
8. Mass Intentions: Parish accepts paid Mass intentions at each Mass celebration with suggested donation. Paulist Mass cards available for memorial purposes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Old St. Mary's Catholic Church delivers Catholic parish services including regular and holy day Mass celebrations, the seven sacraments, faith formation programs for all ages, youth and young adult ministries, and community outreach. It also operates Old St. Mary's School, a National Blue Ribbon Catholic school serving nearly 500 students from age 3 through 8th grade. Digital channels support Mass livestreaming, online donations, and parish communications.

Product overview

Old St. Mary's Catholic Church offers a comprehensive suite of Catholic parish services centered around weekly and holy day Mass celebrations, with supplementary programs for faith formation across all ages. The core offering consists of liturgical services (Mass, sacraments, and music) supported by integrated digital platforms for giving and communication. Faith formation programs include Sunday Faith Formation for children, Youth Ministry for teens, Young Adult Ministry, and Adult Faith Formation including RCIA/OCIA for those joining the Church. The parish also operates Old St. Mary's School, a Blue Ribbon Catholic school serving students from age 3 through 8th grade. Digital integrations with Pushpay (donations), Dacast/YouTube (livestreaming), Google Workspace (administration), and various scheduling platforms support parish operations.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mass Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 45 children welcomed to First Eucharist during Easter season 2023
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration10 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Paulist Fathers (Congregation of St. Paul the Apostle)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1903Paulist Fathers have served Old St. Mary's since 1903. The Paulists are the first men's congregation of Catholic priests established in the United States (founded 1858). They provide pastoral leadership, liturgical services, and mission direction. The parish aligns with Paulist priorities of evangelization, reconciliation, and reaching those on margins.
• Archdiocese of ChicagocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOfficial diocese governing Catholic parishes in Chicago area. Parish participates in Archdiocesan campaigns,服从主教 directives, and follows liturgical norms. Cardinal Cupich serves as Archbishop.
• Illinois Invest In Kids Act (Tax Credit Scholarships)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerState program providing tax credit scholarships benefiting families at Catholic schools including Old St. Mary's. Parish promotes and supports scholarship donations.
• St. James Catholic ChurchminorOthersNearby parish with food pantry. Old St. Mary's supports through 'Just One Item' monthly campaign collecting toiletries, soap, toothpaste, deodorant for St. James Food Pantry clients.
• St. James Food PantryminorOthersWeekly volunteers needed to assist in registering clients. Old St. Mary's promotes volunteer opportunities and donation drives.
• Aquinas Literacy CenterminorOthersLiteracy center sponsored by Adrian Dominican Sisters. Old St. Mary's promotes volunteer tutoring opportunities to help adult immigrants learn English.
• Various Community OrganizationsminorOthersPartnership with organizations including Little Sisters of the Poor, Providence Soup Kitchen, Women's Center, Chicago Shares, Mission of Our Lady of the Angels for volunteer opportunities and community service.
• Chicago Loop ParishesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCluster of downtown Catholic parishes collaborating on events and initiatives such as the Declaration of Nullity Information Night presented at Old St. Mary's.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii: Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii is a historic Catholic parish in Chicago's Little Italy / Near West Side. Comparable as another historic Chicago Catholic parish under the same archdiocese serving an urban community with cultural-heritage identity and integrated faith formation.
• Old St. Patrick's Church: Old St. Patrick's is a historic Catholic parish (founded 1846) in Chicago's West Loop. It is comparable as another historic downtown Chicago Catholic parish serving urban professionals and young adults with similar liturgy, formation, and event-driven community engagement.
• St. Mary of the Angels: St. Mary of the Angels is a historic Catholic parish in Chicago's Bucktown/Logan Square area. Comparable as a long-standing Chicago Catholic parish with strong community identity, cultural heritage, and integrated faith formation and school programming.
• Holy Name Cathedral: Holy Name Cathedral is the cathedral church of the Archdiocese of Chicago located in the River North neighborhood. It is directly comparable as another downtown Chicago Catholic parish under the same archdiocese serving an overlapping urban professional demographic with similar Mass, formation, and outreach programming.
• St. Clement Catholic Church: St. Clement Catholic Church is a Catholic parish in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. Comparable as an urban Chicago Catholic parish serving families and young adults with similar multi-generational formation programming.
• St. Pius V Parish: St. Pius V Parish is a historic Catholic parish in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood. Comparable as a long-standing Chicago Catholic parish with strong community identity and similar parish-school operational model under the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Regional players

• St. Paul the Apostle: St. Paul the Apostle is a Catholic parish on Manhattan's Upper West Side served by the Paulist Fathers. It is comparable as a fellow Paulist Fathers parish with the same evangelization charism and parish-school model, operating in a different major U.S. metropolitan market.
• St. Austin Catholic Parish: St. Austin is a Catholic parish in Austin, Texas served by the Paulist Fathers. Directly comparable as a fellow Paulist Fathers parish with shared evangelization mission, formation programs, and university-area community engagement, but in a different geography.
• St. James Cathedral: St. James Cathedral is a large Catholic cathedral in downtown Seattle. Comparable as an urban Catholic cathedral/parish serving a similar downtown professional demographic with comparable formation, liturgy, and community-outreach programming in a different regional market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@oldStMarysChurch/live
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/old-st.-mary's-catholic-church

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Old St. Mary's Catholic Church