OUR STORY

Our History

In 1894, a group of Elgin farmers had a vision to start an independent Sunday School and Bible Church to preach and teach God’s word.  They began meeting where the Illinois Park School is located today.  The name of the church was the Illinois Park Union Chapel.  One year later, a “little white church” was built at 1405 Wing Street where it served as their church home for the next 87 years.

In 1958, the Illinois Park Union Chapel was accepted into the Evangelical Free Church of America.  Initially, it was known as the Illinois Park Evangelical Free Church, but later the name was changed to the Elgin Evangelical Free Church to reflect its vision to reach a growing city with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Along with a larger vision came a larger congregation, and in 1985 a new church was built on Big Timber Road.

For more than one hundred years, this body of believers has been committed to the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and to the authority of the Scriptures as the complete revelation of God’s will for the salvation of men and the final authority for all faith and life.   This commitment is expressed through our mission statement and our new logo.

The mission of the Elgin Evangelical Free Church is to do life in Christ together.  The new logo captures the essence of our mission:

• The Bible is God’s word and the foundation for what we believe and how we live.

• The Cross of Jesus stands at the center of the gospel we believe and preach.

• People are the object of God’s love, and we are to love them with the love of Christ.