Minooka church to – finally – host groundbreaking on new church May 1

For more than 100 years, the brick building at 205 W. Church St. in Minooka has provided the spiritual home for the membership of the Minooka United Methodist Church – with the actual site being used for worship by its members for 157 years.

This will change at 3 p.m. May 1, when the church hosts the official groundbreaking ceremony for its new church, to be located on 15 acres at 1210 Ridge Road in Minooka.

The public is invited and may even see construction equipment on the site. Face masks and social distancing are required. The Rev. Sarah Hong said some former members who are now living out of state plan are planning to attend, too.

The event will include the ceremonial “first dig” by representatives of the church and testimonials by current and former members of the church’s building committee. Snacks, water bottles, koozies, tents and chairs will be provided.

However, Hong stressed that the event is a community event since the new church is for the benefit of the community. Hong said that the church is not a “clique group” and that if a church doesn’t serve the needs of the community, then it “doesn’t have to exist at all.”

Hong envisions the church serving as a community center with activities and programs for all ages. She said a church should serve everyone in the community, even if some people will live in the community only a short time and never become long-term members of the church.

She stressed that a church isn’t meant to be just “prayer and Bible study.”

“We are excited about it,” Hong said. “This is a leap of faith, seriously … we have a good church leadership. They are determined to do something for tomorrow.”

Features of the new church will include plenty of room for parking, space for Sunday school curricula featuring activities with movement, and accommodations and accessibility for people with physical limitations, Hong said.

In the meantime, Minooka United Methodist Church is planning to start hosting outdoor services at its new location at 8 a.m. Sundays, Hong said. The church also plans to host some more community activities in the future, too.

Since the church bought the land at Ridge Road in the early 2000s, it has hosted a variety of programs for the community, including soccer Sunday, pet blessings, Easter egg hunts, trunk or treats, picnics and prayer services, Hong said.

A variety of reasons delayed the actual building, Hong said. The primary reason is that the congregation didn’t want to pass the “financial burden” of a new church to the next generation. Several years after the church paid for the land, the recession hit and construction plans were set aside, she said.

“Some of them were really concerned about this whole plan,” Hong said. “They also suggested, ‘Why don’t we build ourselves up first and see how much money we can collect before we move on?’ ”

Hong said the church collected $1 million, which is enough to put up the building’s shell.

Other considerations included discussions on the need for a turn lane, retention and detention ponds for water, and ensuring the pipeline at the property’s rear remains intact, so the church worked with consultants for that information, Hong said.

To date, six pastors have overseen this project, including Hong, who came to the church in May 2015.

But with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the church took a hard look at its resources and overall plan, especially now that the “hub” of Minooka has moved away from Church Street and closer to Ridge Road, Hong said.

The pandemic brought change to everyone, whether or not anyone wanted it, she said.

“People didn’t want to meet online, but we had to do it,” Hong said. “People didn’t want to change our worship time, but we had to do it. The pandemic made us humble. It made us feel it is inevitable to change to accommodate the needs of everything.”

So the church plans to move forward with the first phase – putting up the church’s shell – and then work on additional funding through a capital campaign and possibly other sources of financing, Hong said.

“We have a tremendous opportunity to reach the community,” Hong said. “We want to seize this opportunity and not miss it.”

For information, call 815-467-4322, email Hong at pastor@minookaumc.com or visit minookaumc.com.

History of Minooka United Methodist Church

• 1856: Minooka United Methodist Episcopal Church was organized.

• 1917: Church membership was 60. Sunday school enrollment was 90. Construction for the new brick church was finished in just six months and ready for use in December 1917. The total cost was $8,000, with all but $2,000 paid by Dec. 9, 1917, when the dedication was originally scheduled. This building is still in use today.

• 1918: The church building was officially dedicated.

• 1939: The name changed from Methodist Episcopal to Methodist in 1939, then to United Methodist in 1968. These changes reflected growth and merger within the denomination.

• 1949: An annex was built, which was later sold.

• 1960 to 1961: Church membership was 175. An education wing was built. It included church school rooms, a library, an office and a fellowship hall.

• 1968: The church repurchased the annex and its land and building.

• 1973: The annex was completely remodeled into the youth room, combination dining/meeting hall and kitchen.

• 2001: The church bought 15 acres of property at Ridge Road in November. A capital campaign had raised funds to purchase 10 acres of land and be given an additional 5 acres.

• 2014: The church building committee hired Progressive Vision Management, which provided some lower cost options to building a stand-alone church.

• 2018: Congregation approved preliminary financial and architectural plans in November and voted in favor of selling the existing church.

• 2021: Minooka United Methodist Church has nearly 270 people on its membership roster. Ministries, Christian education, worship, evangelism, outreach and communication endeavors have been added through the years to help support every member.