Elgin congregation moves to larger church, will expand ministries

An Elgin church has gone from a storefront to the forefront.

The Vineyard Christian Fellowship recently purchased and moved to the old St. Paul's United Church of Christ location at 220 Division St. in the near east side area of town known as "Holy Hill."

The move was a monumental step toward expanding the Evangelical and contemporary church's local ministries and membership.

"We really feel Elgin Vineyard has roots and an established presence in the community," said Brad Weiss, vice president of the Vineyard board of directors. "For 15 years, we've been a storefront church. God's been really good to us for blessing our efforts."

The new location is about 25,000 square feet, including an education wing built in the 1950s.

Tom Severson, Vineyard senior pastor, said the move has been exciting, exhausting and exhilarating rolled into one.

"It's challenging. It's been exhausting, too. A lot of people have pitched in," said Severson, of Elgin. "Our people are pretty excited."

The former location was an 10,000-square-foot banquet hall at 205 Fulton Street with minimal natural light.

Josh Thomas, a worship leader at Vineyard who lives in Pingree Grove, said the different between the old location and new sanctuary are night and day.

"That storefront was literally like a dungeon. There was only one window in the back and a low ceiling," Thomas said. "The (new) room is just stunning. It's literally the perfect sound for music."

Vineyard also hosts a breakfast program to feed the homeless, but the old site lacked a kitchen.

So members had to cook their food at home and bring it in. The new location solves that problem.

Church members held their first service in late April.

"It was fantastic to see the natural light flooding the sanctuary through the stained glass," recalled Weiss, who lives in Gilberts. "When people were dismissed, nobody wanted to leave. Everyone was elated."

Weiss said Vineyard's membership is about 260 people, but about 320 attended the first service. Some in attendance were St. Paul's members saying goodbye after their move to a northwest Elgin industrial park.

"Any time you move, it is always a bittersweet experience," wrote David Ezekiel, St. Paul's interim pastor, in the May newsletter. "There are elements of sadness and joy, fear and hope. Moving a church is no different."

Seven years ago, Vineyard officials did a study of potential buildings for possible relocation. Three out of about 28 to 34 sites were favorable but nothing panned out.

Then Vineyard officials got a call from St. Paul's, which was downsizing. After about a year of negotiations, the sale was completed for $745,000 without even going on the market.

Vineyard leaders said they didn't want to leave Elgin or even go to Randall Road.

They also will allow the Fox Valley Lutheran Academy fulfill its lease at the site before using space to expand ministries for women, men and youths along with reaching out to the homeless, substance abusers and other people in need.

"We want to be in downtown Elgin. We have a homeless ministry that's very important to us. We feel a call to the area," Weiss said.

"(St. Paul's) felt very comfortable passing to torch to us and we felt very comfortable taking the torch. Now, we're able to expand what we want to do."