News & Events
April 30, 2026
Rev. Woolf Receives Alumni Honors Award from Harvard Divinity
On April 30, Lake Street's Rev. Dr. Michael Woolf received the Peter J. Gomes Alumni Honors Award from the Alumni/Alumnae Council of Harvard Divinity School. The award recognizes community members whose life, work, and service amplify the mission and vision of Harvard Divinity School. Below is the press release:
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"Rev. Michael Woolf is a Baptist minister, scholar, and community organizer serving in the Chicago area. His work focuses on interfaith solidarity, immigration justice, and reparations. He is co-author, with his spouse Rev. Anna Piela, of Confronting Islamophobia in the Church. Known for his public witness and pastoral leadership, he works at the intersection of faith, justice, and anti-authoritarianism. Woolf is the senior minister of Lake Street Church of Evanston and the co-founder of Challenging Islamophobia Together Chicagoland. HDS recognizes Rev. Michael Woolf, MDIV '14, ThD '21, as a Gomes honoree for embodying a theology that speaks boldly, listens deeply, and calls us toward justice rooted in sacred traditions
February 4, 2026
December 1, 2025
We celebrate with Pastor Michael as he was honored as the distinguished fellow in professional ethics by the Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics. His co-honoree was Bishop Budde, who in a sermon at the Washington National Cathedral pleaded from the pulpit to the president to “have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared right now.”
“We wanted to use our First Amendment rights. We wanted to pray with these people,” Rev. Woolf said. “We want the facility to be closed down.”
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Woolf said his Friday arrest was his first. It has brought him to better understand what goes on in ICE facilities like the one in Broadview. “It’s dehumanizing to depend on another human being to loosen your restraints while you are watching your hands go numb.”
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Woolf spoke about his experience in his Sunday, November 16 sermon at Lake Street Church. “I think it’s important for regular people to see the church actually cares. That religious people care.”
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​On Sunday night, Woolf was interviewed on an episode of The Weekend Primetime on MS NOW, which you can watch here.
November 10, 2025
LSC Archives Receives Cultural Heritage Award
from Evanston Preservation Commission
