The article examines the complicated history of the search for Lithuanian identity in the church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Chicago. After leaving their homeland in the aftermath of World War II, the Lithuanian community struggled to maintain its national identity under difficult conditions of emigration. The search for a Lithuanian architectural character became an important part of this political task. Based on a case study, a church near Chicago’s densely populated Marquette Park in Lithuania, the text analyzes the Lithuanian community’s debate about the cultural and political mission of Lithuanian architecture in exile, and the way to express it. Although the concept of the