Program Staff

Pastor Said Ailabouni, Senior Pastor
Pastor Ailabouni was born and raised in Galilee in the city of Nazareth. He came to the U.S. in 1969 to attend Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and majored in Chemistry. Pastor Ailabouni studied for pastoral ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota and graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in 1979. In 1988, he graduated from Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago with a Doctor of Ministry degree in Pastoral Care and Counseling. Pastor Ailabouni served St. Andrew Lutheran Church in Racine, Wisconsin from 1979 to 1987, and Lutheran Church of the Atonement in Barrington, Illinois from 1987 to 1997. In September of 1997, he was called by the ELCA Global Mission Unit to serve as Program Director for Europe, the Middle East, and the Horn of Africa supporting the work of ELCA missionaries and accompanying sister churches and their leaders. He began serving Grace Lutheran Church on Feb. 12, 2007.

Pastor Ailabouni and Helen, his wife were married in 1974. They have two children: Jonathan who is presently a senior at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa and Karis who is a freshman at Valparaiso University. Helen is Director of Worship and Music at Lutheran Church of the Atonement in Barrington.

Pastor Ailabouni loves teaching, preaching, worship leadership and pastoral care. He also loves helping people use their gifts in the church and the world for God's glory.

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