Wheaton, Naperville churches strengthened with merger

A Wheaton church with a small congregation has merged with the 3,000-member Compass Church of Naperville in hopes of strengthening itself for the future.

Wheaton Evangelical Free Church, located at 520 E. Roosevelt Road, is now called the Wheaton campus of The Compass Church.

Darcy Ruscitti, executive director of ministry, said leaders are calling the merger, approved last month, a "reunification" because worshippers from Wheaton EFC founded The Compass Church in 1957.

Jeff Griffin, the senior pastor at The Compass Church, started visiting Wheaton EFC in January to give attendees a feel for the kind of worship they could expect if the churches merged.

"We started it as kind of a trial. It worked really well," Ruscitti said.

Average weekly attendance at Wheaton EFC has shrunk to about 285 in recent years. Sunshine Preschool, which was housed in the church's basement for 44 years, closed last month, due in part to declining enrollment.

The church considered merging with the Arlington Heights-based Orchard Church a few years ago, but that idea fell through.

"You want it to be something that works for both sides," Ruscitti said. "Over time, they decided they wanted to look for what would be the right fit."

Wheaton EFC and The Compass Church meshed well, she said, because of their shared history, their common affiliations with the Evangelical Free Church of America and their proximity.

"We have a lot of people who actually live closer to the Wheaton campus that come to Hobson," Ruscitti said, referring to The Compass Church main campus on Hobson Road in Naperville.

The hope, she added, is that those worshippers will start attending the campus that is most convenient for them. The Compass Church also has a third location on 95th Street in Naperville.

Ruscitti said leaders are hopeful the merger will bring some "healthy perspectives" to the table and put the Wheaton campus in a position where it can continue its ministries and gain more members.

There also are plans to improve programming, especially for kids, in Wheaton. Staff from all three campuses have been combined, giving those who were working on the small staff in Wheaton access to more people to "work and plan and mentor with," Ruscitti said. In addition, each campus now has its own "campus pastor."

"That different type of staff structure can really help," she said. "It's just a different way of doing it and a different style."