The two shall become one

It happens in Christian marriage and, once in a while, it also happens with doctrinally compatible congregations.

Fox Valley Bible Church, with a presence in St. Charles for more than 50 years, and Grace Community Bible Church, planted in Elgin in 2006, recently merged to become New Covenant Bible Church, St. Charles.

Pastor David Sunday, who shepherded Grace Community both in Elgin and at its mother church in Roselle, has been asked to pastor New Covenant. He and the membership of Elgin Grace now make their spiritual home in the Randall Road building occupied by FVBC since 1983, while the original Grace in Roselle continues to meet under the leadership of an interim pastor.

"Grace had a pastor; we had a building," said Daniel Campbell, deacon and treasurer for FVBC and also for New Covenant. "We ended up with a perfect marriage, so to speak."

Sunday had intended to make Grace's two campuses distinct from each other this year, anyway, Campbell said. The idea of uniting with another church body was a surprise that emerged after Fox Valley's pastor left in November.

And just when the two congregations started talking about becoming family, there was a most unfortunate surprise. In January, the pastor's wife, Kate Sunday, discovered she has cancer.

"We began wondering if we should hold off," Campbell said.

But the Sundays felt confident that talks should continue, and the two churches prayed not only for God's leading about their future but also for Kate's health.

"It gave us the opportunity to come together in a spiritual and prayerful way and get to know each other in a way that we may not have been able to as we went through this process," Campbell said. "I just find it intriguing that God used this crisis in the pastor's life to bring us together and see what the potential for this merger might be."

The first joint service was held on Good Friday. After Easter, the new congregation met for three weeks at Elgin Grace's former home base, Larkin High School, so the St. Charles building could be spruced up and office space expanded.

Last Sunday, New Covenant Bible Church was formally dedicated, and many pastors were invited to help celebrate the union. Campbell said the church has received letters of encouragement from clergy up and down the Fox River.

"You see so many times churches breaking apart and dividing," Campbell said. "To see it the other way around isn't exciting just for us, it's exciting for other churches as well."

Meet a French saint: An inspiring story about a remarkable priest of early 19th century France will be presented this week when a national tour makes a few stops in the Fox Valley before moving on to Michigan and Colorado.

After a performance today in Woodstock, "Vianney," a one-man show, will be staged Thursday, May 6, at St. Mary Catholic Church, Huntley, and Friday, May 7, at St. John Neumann Catholic Church, St. Charles. Both programs begin at 7 p.m.

With Leonardo Defilippis of Portland, Ore., in the lead role of St. John Vianney, the interactive play features a cast of other characters that appear through multimedia technology.

Defilippis said "Vianney" has proved to be more popular with audiences than any other show he's done.

It's an underdog story, in some ways.

"The least likely person to succeed becomes one of the biggest magnets of that time," Defilippis said. People traveled from all over Europe to Ars, France, to see the humble priest who understood them and knew how to help.

"If he met you or me, he could read your heart," Defilippis said. "He was just given that kind of gift."

Defilippis said Vianney was one of the busiest people in history, listening to confessions for up to 16 hours a day, every day. He also experienced spiritual opposition in a very real way, and "it's quite fascinating how he deals with this and how he perseveres," he said.

The story usually leaves audiences in tears.

"You feel in a sense what he had to go through," Defilippis said. "When I look out and see all these people weeping in front of me, it's quite touching."

The actor said he wanted to tell Vianney's story because "I could see the good that he could do for me and the good that he could do for others." He sees Vianney as a positive role model in today's culture especially.

"There's all this media on the priesthood and sexual abuse," Defilippis said, "but this guy is an incredible example that is inspiring everybody."

There is no admission charge, but freewill offerings will be taken.

St. Mary Church is at 10307 Dundee Road, Huntley; call (847) 669-3137. St. John Neumann is at 2900 E. Main St., St. Charles; call (630) 377-2797.

Unsung heroes: Christians talk about being the hands and feet of Jesus, and two area churches are being honored for that very thing at a luncheon today at Elgin Country Club.

Centro de Información, an Elgin social service agency that assists nearly 15,000 Hispanic immigrants each year, gets help from a number of churches.

Among them, Country Evangelical Covenant Church, Elgin, and St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, West Dundee, will be recognized for outstanding contributions at Centro's second annual Community Day luncheon.

"These two churches have been very good at showing their Christian love in action," said executive director Jaime Garcia.

The Covenant church members like to make sure the Centro food pantry remains stocked, and they regularly collect funds, sort canned and dry goods, and process applicants for the free groceries. They supply food baskets for more than 150 families twice a year and send their best handymen over to Centro when odd jobs need to be done.

They've been partnering with Centro for at least five years, Garcia said.

And St. Catherine, which donates toys every Christmas for 200 to 300 children, has been serving Centro families even longer.

"There hasn't been any big thing in the news," Garcia said. "They just do this very quietly, and we want to say thank you."

I doubt that accolades were the reason these churches got involved, but it's always nice to be thanked for your efforts.

• "In the Spirit" covers churches and synagogues in the Fox Valley area; contact cmchojnacki@yahoo.com to submit information or ideas for upcoming columns.