Mundelein church to receive recognition

WYLL (Chicago's Christian Talk Radio, AM 1160) will be presenting Northwest Christian Community Church in Mundelein with a plaque this Sunday honoring them as the station's "Church of the Week."

"We have a world-class teaching pastor in Bill Torgesen, who is also the assistant professor of pastoral studies at Moody Bible Institute," said Paul Hurst, one of Northwest's elders. "Our services are casual, contemporary and relevant, without watering down the teachings of Christ or the Bible.

The church is multigenerational, with programs for both adults and youth Hurst added. For youth, a Junior High Winter Retreat is coming up, he said.

Northwest's men's ministry is headed up by local fireman Eric Norlin. Last month, working with Love, Inc., a ministry that serves the poor of Lake County, the men's ministry delivered Christmas presents and bags of groceries to needy families in Mundelein and Vernon Hills.

"Reaching people isn't always done by preaching the gospel. Sometimes it's done by showing grace and compassion. Those are core values for us, along with having fun," said Norlin, who is also one of the church elders.

In February, the women of Northwest will be having their annual Women's Retreat, Deep Roots, at the beautiful DeKoven Center in Racine, Wisc. Later in 2008, the church will celebrate its 20th anniversary.

"I'm really excited about the coming year," Hurst said. "We have a great team in place and it's really nice for a church our size to get this recognition from WYLL."

Northwest Christian Community is located at 28566 N. Lemon Road in Mundelein, near Route 176 and Route 60-83. Services are at 10 a.m. every Sunday. For more details, contact their Executive Pastor Jon Edstrom at (847) 949-6922. More details are available on the church's Web site, www.nwcc.cc.