Rev. Williams installed as senior pastor at Elgin church
When the Rev. David Williams agreed to interim at Westminster Presbyterian Church, he thought it would be a temporary gig. But the Elgin congregation recently installed Williams as its new senior pastor, and he couldn't be more delighted.
"I'm very excited about what's going on at Westminster," Williams said. "There's a lot of strength in the church, and it's my job to sort of focus it and grow it."
Williams' work schedule was already full when he stepped in two years ago for Westminster's former pastor, the Rev. Ewan Kennedy, who moved on to Utah. As an experienced leader-21 years at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Chicago-Williams became a "pastor to pastors" in the two dozen churches of his denomination's Chicago Metro Presbytery.
The essence of the job, he said, is to visit these leaders to see how things are going and help them work through any issues or struggles.
Even though Williams is once again a congregational pastor himself, he didn't want to give up his counseling ministry. He offers three quarters of his time to Westminster and one quarter to the other churches.
Never married, Williams also has a personal ministry right in his Oak Park home. He has five guys living with him, most of whom need counseling in life skills. One is a young Christian man who helps the pastor help these guys find jobs and get on their feet financially, emotionally and spiritually.
"I try to mentor them in the ways of Christ, so the guys who come there have to be open to that," Williams said. He's been shepherding young men in his home for 20 years.
"It's been a wonderful thing," he said. "I've grown a lot as a Christian man just from that."
With all his various ministries, Williams said he spends a lot of time counseling.
"A lot of people are very wounded, and they don't understand what the love of God looks like, and they also don't know how to apply it to their life," he said.
"I can help people understand what it is to be a Christian, what it is to love Christ," Williams said. "The second thing is, I want to help them live it."
Breaking new ground: Too many people in too little space is hardly considered a blessing, unless you're a church. Then it may be an affirmation that you're doing something right.
Cary Evangelical Free Church has been struggling with this problem for a long time and is hoping to break ground soon for a new worship center. They have already got a seven-acre property on Silver Lake Road, purchased in 2006, that's just waiting to see some action.
"We've been maxed out here at this facility for about 10 years, so this has been a long time coming," said Pastor Rick George, worship pastor. "We're using other facilities on Sunday morning to help us with our classes."
Talk about spilling over into the neighborhood. George said the church of about 350 regular attendees rents space from Briargate Elementary School and Kraus Senior Center just to handle some of its Sunday school classes. "They're within walking distance of our current property," he said.
On Wednesday nights, Cary E Free hosts 150 children for an Awana discipleship program. Half the kids meet at Briargate, the other half at the church. High schoolers go to Maplewood Elementary School for their weekly youth group ministry.
Bursting at the seams? It would seem so. Even on weekends, said secretary Lisa Sigler, the 240-seat sanctuary is usually full for 10:45 a.m. worship You can still get seats at the early service, but blueprints for the new building call for a larger sanctuary.
At this point, it's all about money and divine timing. The church is running a $1,600,000 three-year capital campaign they call "Building His Story." And members are waiting and praying for God's timing and an interested buyer for the current facility.
• "In the Spirit" covers churches and synagogues in the Fox Valley area; contact cmchojnacki@yahoo.com to submit information or ideas for upcoming columns.