Starting as a Bible study group with the Rev. Luke McFadden and six others in an old doctor’s office near downtown Waukegan in 2010, Christian Neighbors Church grew over the years, drawing more people.
“We saw people’s lives change in Bible study,” McFadden said, “Some overcame addiction, became Christians and started to heal. We were a multiethnic gathering united in faith.”
Moving from the doctor’s office to holding services at Carman Buckner Elementary School, and then to 4,500 square feet in a downtown Waukegan basement, where the church grew. There was a sanctuary, two classrooms and offices. McFadden said he felt something else was needed.
During several recent springs, McFadden, church administrator Sara Weibel and volunteers organized more than 300 people from churches and other organizations around Lake County to come together to remove trash from Waukegan neighborhoods as part of the city’s Earth Week.
By late 2024, McFadden said, the opportunity for a larger, more conducive space was needed. Marcus Mols, a church elder, said people were gathered at the annual membership meeting when someone saw an online listing offering the campus of St. John’s United Church of Christ for sale.
“It was an amazing blessing,” Mols said, “We had to raise a lot of money, but it was as if God had ordained it.”
Christian Neighbors Church purchased the building in the 1500 block of North McAree Road in Waukegan last year and is now putting the finishing touches on the renovation with a goal of completing it in June to meet the unmet needs of members and the community.
“We celebrated joyfully,” McFadden said of the reaction to closing the deal. “Then we began a massive renovation. We are focused on flourishing so we can help others in our community to flourish. This is an oasis of hope to people in our community.”
With both the original sanctuary and another, which is newer and larger, McFadden said the Initial one was refurbished into a fellowship and multipurpose room. The floor is the hardwood of a gym, and there is a backboard with a hoop so people can play basketball.
With a kitchen nearby, the multipurpose room is also the ideal location for the church’s midweek fellowship gathering — common ground. Nathan Thebargbe, a church elder, said it is a time for people — church members and others from the community — to have a meal and learn.
“We learn what we have in common,” Thebarge said. “We look at Scripture as well.”
When more than 250 people came to the new church for the Earth Week cleanup, the multipurpose room was where the volunteers came to get their assignments and T-shirts. They ate lunch there when they were done.
Redoing the entire sanctuary, McFadden said, all the pews were removed as well as the organ. New flooring, lights and seats were installed. There is still an organ, but there is a set of drums on the altar. He said guitars are used regularly during services.
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“We made the space beautiful, but simple for worship,” McFadden said. “It’s a place for introspection and worship where people can seek God individually.”
On the lower level are Sunday school rooms geared to different age levels. It provides room for additional learning space as the congregation grows. McFadden said it is more conducive than the two rooms in the downtown space.
“Teachers have much more space to do a lesson,” he said.
Nearing completion on the lower level is a fellowship hall with a commercial kitchen adjacent to it. McFadden said it is also a multipurpose space and fills a need for larger events like weddings or a gathering after funerals. Art exhibitions are another possibility.
Weibel said funerals were impossible at the downtown Waukegan location. With a narrow staircase leading to and from the sanctuary, it was impossible to get a coffin up or down the stairs. They had to use an area funeral home.
“The room is great for big events in people’s lives,” Weibel said of the fellowship hall. “Whether it’s a marriage or a funeral, the new church is a place where people can have it.
Barbara Poynter, one of the six original Bible study group members with McFadden, said what has not changed are the issues which brought the members of the church together in the first place — combatting poverty and homelessness locally.
“Now we have the room to be a warming or cooling shelter,” Poynter said. “We can have a soup kitchen, but our role hasn’t changed. We want to get to the root cause of poverty and homelessness in our community.”