50 years later, church grows on solid roots

The history of St. Monica Catholic Church in Carpentersville is in some ways the history of Carpentersville itself.

On weekday mornings, as commuters stream to jobs, a handful of worshipers gathers for weekday Mass.

Some have been with St. Monica for its entire existence.

On Sundays, the 1,000-seat church brims as worshipers come and go to five full Masses -- one in English and four in Spanish.

The church will celebrate its 50th anniversary today and Sunday with festivities featuring former priests, deacons and parishioners who have been with the church from the beginning.

Founded in 1957 in a converted dairy barn, St. Monica first served a small German and Irish Catholic population in the then-new Meadowdale subdivision. The tiny church, surrounded by open fields, hosted Mass twice weekly and had to solicit donations from local Catholics to build a chapel.

"It was a pretty small congregation," said Marge Edwards, a former congregation member and current board member of the West Dundee Historical Society. "There wasn't much around here."

Today St. Monica's bilingual pastors attract Hispanic parishioners from across the Fox Valley area, and the church occupies multiple buildings to serve its ever-growing population. The original barn still stands and hosts religion classes for parish children.

"As the area's Spanish-speaking population grew, the Rockford Diocese eventually decided they needed a pastor here who was bilingual," said church member Bill Wenzloff. "That opened the gates to us for the Hispanic community in Carpentersville, Elgin and all around."

St. Monica will host a celebratory Mass at 4 p.m. today, with a dinner and presentation of longtime members after. Sunday's Mass will include Bishop Thomas Doran of the Rockford Diocese and former pastors and congregation members.