Grace Place Campus Ministry at Northern Illinois University has a rich history of ministering to the NIU community in DeKalb. Beginning in 1957, Lutheran Campus Ministry began meeting with interested students at a property near campus for weekly bible study and fellowship time.

From there Lutheran Campus Ministry worked in partnership with area campus ministries and parishes to minister to the staff, faculty, and students at NIU. After purchasing our current property, Lutheran Campus Ministry opened up their facility for several campus ministries to use, Canterbury House not only utilized our facility but shared in programming dating back to 1988.

In February of 2008 there was a campus shooting that killed 5 students and injured 17 more people. Within a few days Lutheran Campus Ministry became a place of refuge. Our building was open around the clock for students and community members to begin the process of healing. Outside of the building 6 crosses were erected, one for each of the victims plus one for the shooter, these crosses stood as beacons inviting everyone to come and begin the process of healing. It was in the following months that the leaders of Lutheran Campus Ministry and Canterbury House began conversations about how they were able to do more together in a formal
partnership than as separate ministries. Their goal: to be a place where everyone could feel the love that had been poured out. It was in these conversations that Grace Place Campus Ministry was born, a joint effort between the Northern Illinois Synod of the ELCA and the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. When they began worshiping in the Fall of 2011, the six crosses that once stood as beacons of hope were built into the altar that we still use today.

RIC Welcome Statement
As a community we firmly believe that God loves everyone and creates us with our own unique gifts. In celebration of God's radical love, we welcome everyone of any sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, race, ethnicity, religion, disability, and walk of life.

Recognizing that we are all born into sin, we are committed to doing the work of being an anti-racist community, learning how we can better serve our neighbors.