Major renovations at local church done mostly by volunteers
By Dee Longfellow
For The Elmhurst Independent
Family, fellowship, friends and fun…
Those are the words most used by members of Faith Evangelical United Methodist Church, who offered a guided tour to the Elmhurst Independent to see the new renovations to the interior. The improvements serve to define another chapter in the growth not only of the building but also of the church and its spirituality.
“It’s about vision,” said Cynthia Wagle, a church member who raised her family in the church. “We took one person’s vision to make the church more accessible and to make people more comfortable.”
The man responsible for that vision makes for a bittersweet story. It was long-time church member and Elmhurst resident Alan Emmering who brought forth numerous ideas and worked hard as a volunteer to bring it to life. They were in the midst of installing a new central air-conditioning system when Emmering, while working in the pastor’s office, collapsed and died of a heart attack. His wife Linda still attends church weekly.
“It was so sad that Alan never got to see his vision come to fruition,” Wagle said. “He worked so hard toward it, literally until the day he died.”
One of the first things to see is a new ramp leading up to the front door of the sanctuary. That door and several others were made wider to fit wheelchairs or are on the docket to get done soon.
Sanctuary becomes major project in itself
Knowing the good Lord works in mysterious ways, it must be the reason Richard and Nancy Cichy came to be members in 1973. Now in their 80s, the couple is still very active in the church including in the renovations. In fact, Richard was an engineer by trade which couldn’t be a better fit to oversee the project of updating the church sanctuary.
“Rich measured everything out exactly so he knew how and where to move the pews out of the way so the painters and carpet layers could do their jobs,” Wagle said.
To complicate matters, the pews are all curved — a beautiful sight but one heck of a project to move out of the way for contract workers. But Rich Cichy, being a detail-oriented worker with years of experience in engineering, not only measured each pew, but also figured out how to remove them, set them aside (or stack them, actually), then put them all back where they belong after the work was done. A board, also carefully measured, was placed on top of the back pew to serve as a spot for stacking the next one; then another board, another pew, and so on until the entire east half of the sanctuary was cleared for the painter and carpet layers.
“That half of the room was painted, and then the carpet layers came to put down the carpet,” Wagle explained. “Let’s put it this way, the painter was done on a Saturday and moved out Sunday so the carpet could be installed as quickly as possible. Then, the next week, we did it all again for the west half of the sanctuary.”
The only professionals who were paid for their work in the sanctuary was the painter and the carpet company, church members proudly said. Everything else was done by volunteers from within the church — all ages, young and old alike.
“We especially appreciated the young people who came out to help,” said Nancy Cichy. “It’s nice to see the younger people involved with the church — they can lift things that the older people cannot.”
One of the young volunteers had never used a drill before so he was able to learn from the other workers.
“The young man’s father was not what you’d call a ‘tool man’ so the teen had never learned how to use things like a drill,” said Wagle. “He sure learned how on that day and it is a skill he was happy to learn and will likely remember the rest of his life. He ended up staying through the entire project, even after other volunteers had called it quits for the day.”
The next stage of the project was to build the handicapped bathroom, which required widening the door. It was completed in 2015.
Reaching out to the disabled
It may seem the church is completed, but there is one more project on the horizon — an elevator.
“In our commitment to reach out to the disabled community, we really want to put in an elevator,” said Jason Turner, the 19th pastor to serve at Faith Evangelical United Methodist since its inception in 1911. “It will not only encourage members of that community to attend, it will also be helpful for families with small children. It is our hope to have it all here, to be accessible to all ages, all abilities, young people, folks who are less mobile.”
“I could have used it when I had my back surgery,” said Hannah Wagle, Cynthia’s daughter who had to undergo an operation while still in high school. “I really missed it when I couldn’t come to church.”
“[Pastor Turner]’s heart is with individuals and families with disabilities,” said Cynthia.
So much so that he has been leading services just for the disabled at the Elmhurst Public Library once a month. The program is called Accessible Hearts Worship.
“They have an elevator at the library, which we don’t have at the church,” Turner said. “We’re partnering with Phil’s friends, [a Christ-centered cancer support group], to make a real difference in the community. It’s a multi-sensory and support-based experience designed with special needs families in mind.”
A bit of history…
The church’s humble beginnings took place as a Bible study and prayer group meeting in someone’s home in 1911. As more and more members took part, they began meeting in the upstairs of Maylor’s Hall, which is the building with the little tower on top at Park and Adell Streets in downtown Elmhurst, above the Karen Solem Gallery.
In 1914, the first church building was erected where it still stands at 111 W. North Ave. at York Street. An addition was completed in 1952, which was a time of growth for all of Elmhurst and the entire country for that matter, as the Baby Boomer generation began going to school. The new expansion provided Sunday school rooms as well as a Fellowship Hall.
In 1948, the church was known as the First Evangelical United Brethren, then in 1968, it merged with Methodist Episcopalian and was renamed Faith Evangelical Methodist. In the 1990s, the word United was added to the name.
How do they keep it all going?
This humble church supports numerous missions along with its own.
“In the beginning, there was a Fall Harvest House dinner held every November to raise funds,” said Nancy. “At first, coal was used to heat the church and they had to raise money every year to buy the coal to keep them warm in the upcoming winter.”
Coal was soon dropped for oil as fuel and then for gas, as it is today. Since it became a tradition, the Fall Harvest Dinner is still held every November but they have been able to use the funds for other things. It is hoped the funds can be used for the elevator on their wish list.
“We still have our original boiler which is 100 years old,” Cynthia said. “I say a little prayer over it when I’m down there [in the basement where it is located]. We asked an expert once if we should replace it and he said no. He said it was better than anything that was built today. So we’re going to keep it as long as we can.”
Other church missions
Besides tending to its own congregation and its community outreach through Accessible Hearts Worship, the church supports other missions locally, nationally and globally. Local efforts include Elmhurst’s own Walk-In Assistance Network, formerly the Elmhurst Walk-In Ministry, Yorkfield Food Pantry, CareNet DuPage, and more. National endeavors include the Red Bird Mission, which helps people in the Appalachians in Kentucky; and Joni’s Friends, which provides wheelchairs and holds training for churches with disabled members.
On the global level, the church supports Joy in the Harvest, for those in Tanzania; Freedom Firm, which serves to fight human trafficking around the world and right here in the U.S.; and Sole Hope, a shoe fund that provides footwear to the less fortunate. This year, shoes went to Uganda.
A true extended family…
Hannah Wagle summed up the feelings she had growing up at Faith Evangelical United Methodist Church.
“I remember going to Sunday school — I’m sure I had my diapers changed here — then I got old enough to work in the nursery so I changed some diapers myself!” she said. “Then you watch those kids grow up and I say, ‘hey, I used to change your diaper!’ Then people get married and begin their families here I the church.
“We are a very progressive church with a small church feel. We are small but mighty.”
