Messiah Lutheran Church in Elgin closing after 50 years
After serving the community for 50 years, Messiah Lutheran Church in Elgin announced it will hold its last service Sunday.
With an aging congregation of only 35 members, longtime member Amy Moog said the church couldn't keep up with the financial demands to stay open. The church and its property at 500 Church Road was also becoming too difficult to maintain, she said.
"It's a family. We've been very tight-knit for so long," said Moog, an East Dundee resident and a member for 41 years. Adding that most parishioners have been there for at least a decade, she said, "(Closing) has been a very hard decision for us to make."
St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church, located across the street at 525 Church Road, purchased the property last month for $510,000, according to property records.
Following a banquet for parishioners, Messiah Lutheran Church will hold its last worship service at 9:30 a.m. Sunday, Moog said.
"We've been struggling for some time now, and we felt everything fell into place really quickly with the Greek church," she said. "It's a real blessing."
Representatives from Saint Sophia were unavailable for comment.
Roughly $425,000 in funds from the sale will be donated to missions and organizations Messiah Lutheran Church has partnered with over the years, Moog said.
About $236,000 is going toward various local charities, she said, including FISH Food Pantry in Carpentersville, PADS of Elgin, the Ecker Center, the Elgin Community Crisis Center and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dundee Township and of Elgin. The rest is being donated to national or international faith-based organizations.
"We've been saying we're planting our seeds, so our seed can grow and plant seeds elsewhere," Moog said. "Even though we're devastated that our church is closing and we won't be able to see those people in church every Sunday, we felt that donating all the money to plant new seeds and be able to help more people within our area would be the best thing to do with all those funds."