St. John Lutheran to get a new home

This week reminds the Rev. Marcus Nelson of the jitters young couples often feel on the eve of their weddings.

"It's kind of surreal," said Nelson, an associate pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Wheaton. "Several people are excited about the move, but we know there's still a lot of work ahead. There's a lot of nervousness but a lot of excitement."

Church leaders at St. John closed this week on the purchase of the roughly five-acre property that was home to the old Wheaton Bible Church at Cross and Union streets. Over the next few months, St. John will be renovating the facility into a second church site for its 2,000-member congregation. The new worship space is set to open sometime next spring.

The completion of the sale marks a key milestone for the church, which spent the past four years running two capital campaigns to raise the $7 million for the building and renovations.

Nelson said that work will put the church in a position to grow and unite its congregation.

"The larger space lets us cut down on the number of services so we can be together in fellowship," Nelson said.

The church has no plans to sell its old church or elementary school at 125 E. Seminary Ave. That church, which seats about 350 people, will still be used as a chapel for the church-run school and possibly for Sunday services.

The potential for more growth, though, is already being seen in the church's preschool program.

Val Gaede, the director of children's ministry, said the preschool program has hired a second teacher and doubled its number of students for this fall to 51 children. Volunteers will be at the new church campus renovating the classroom space Friday, and Gaede hopes to begin its operations there by the end of August.

"I'm beyond excited," Gaede said of the new church building. "Now we have many more classrooms to grow. The opportunities are endless."