Quentin Road Baptist says goodbye to leader after more than four decades

Chicago was the last place the Rev. James Scudder thought he'd be after graduating from Florida Bible College in 1971.

“It's hard to explain this,” he said, “but I saw that none of our (Florida Bible) graduates had ever come to Chicago, and I said, 'Why aren't they there?' And they said, 'Well, no one wants to go there.' I felt God leading us to come here.”

That decision to pack his car and head north with his wife, Linda, and two young children led to Scudder founding what today is Quentin Road Bible Baptist Church in Lake Zurich.

Over nearly 45 years, he's built a large, active church with many community programs and ministries, and he's become influential well beyond his suburban Christian base. Scudder, who has led prayers before the U.S. House and Senate, has a national reach through “Victory in Grace” television and radio programs.

But that long run is ending.

As illustrated on a billboard towering over Rand and Quentin roads in Kildeer, Scudder is retiring from the church he founded. The billboard is an open invitation for anyone to attend a church service at 11 a. m. today that'll recognize Scudder and his wife.

Scudder, 70, said while he still has plenty of energy to be a senior pastor and preach in the church's 3,000-seat auditorium, it's time to step away from his part-time duties. His son, Executive Pastor James Scudder Jr., will fully lead the flock after working alongside his father since 2005.

“I've seen a lot of churches and the pastor goes too long,” the elder Scudder said.

His son said he tries to model himself after his parents, who showed him how to lead by serving others.

“While the actual buildings are impressive and we saw God doing miracles to help us along, what is more impressive is how he built up people,” Scudder Jr. said. “What makes Quentin Road Baptist unique are the hundreds of friendly, honest, loving, hardworking folks that are living out their faith and serving the community. I am amazed at how Dad was able to accomplish this.”

Longtime member Karen Vacko is among those sorry to see Scudder and his wife retire.

Linda Scudder, 66, served as the church's music director and became known for writing and leading the annual Christmas pageant, which has live animals, dramatic lighting and typically about 400 church members in the cast and crew.

“Dr. Scudder and Linda have instilled in those who follow the desire to carry on the (Christian) work,” said Vacko, of North Barrington.

Scudder founded what was then called Chicago Baptist Church in 1972 and preached in a Fullerton Avenue storefront. Through one of his few members, he briefly rented part of a Mount Prospect school building to have more room for Sunday services.

Again needing more space, Scudder said he placed a newspaper classified ad that described the church's quest for land. It took a few weeks, but a real estate agent responded and Scudder was on his way to launching the renamed Quentin Road Baptist on nearly 3 acres in Palatine in 1974.

A decade later, continued growth led the church to 43 acres on Quentin Road in Lake Zurich, where a 76,000-square-foot multipurpose building, auditorium and other facilities serve at least 1,000 regular members.

But Scudder said the church's mission goes beyond the traditional Sunday service. He wants to reach as many people as possible and has used the internet and a host of ministries to help do that.

His ministries target youths, adult groups and seniors, and include an addiction recovery program, Christian schools and two gymnasiums.

Scudder said he's especially proud of the year-round preschool he began in 1985 to help church employees. It now has an annual enrollment of about 2,000, drawing students from across the Northwest suburbs.

His church also has responded to national disasters. A team brought a truckload of emergency supplies to New Orleans in September 2005 after Hurricane Katrina and shot video for a televised fundraiser that aired nationally on DirecTV and The Church Channel.

Over the years, Scudder developed some noteworthy associations, such as becoming friends with the late Republican Rep. Phil Crane of Wauconda, who belonged to the church.

Those connections led to a speech at the church by Lake County attorney David Gibbs III on the Terri Schiavo case soon after her death in 2005. Gibbs represented the Florida woman's family in an ultimately unsuccessful 15-year legal fight to keep her on a feeding tube against her husband's wishes.

In retirement, Scudder and his wife will remain in a refurbished waterfront mobile home in Key Largo, Florida, where they've been living part time. He plans to periodically return to the Lake Zurich campus and to help a recent Bible college graduate start a church in Florida.