A suburban church is reopening its doors after severe storms tore off nearly half of its roof.
Cheers erupted on the front steps of First United Methodist Church of Elgin for a ribbon cutting ceremony as members of the congregation celebrated the reopening on Saturday.
“It’s so nice to be with the congregation, the members who really make the church, back in the space that feels like home,” said Diana Alfaro, church member.
People gathered for a weekend of faith, hope, and community in the sanctuary and reflected on the past 18 months from the stained-glass windows to the restored pews.
“Thank God we didn’t lose our stained-glass windows, but everything you see in here the painting, the flooring, the plaster—all of that new,” said Rev. Felicia LaBoy of First UMC Elgin.
Severe storms damaged their church last March. The pastor said parts of their roof were gone. The repairs, restoration, and upgrades ended up costing $8 million.
“Going through and looking back at it we can see how God worked,” she said. “This whole thing we didn’t have it, we shouldn’t have had it and yet we’re here.”
The pastor told NBC Chicago the community rallied together to cover the cost, including local businesses to restore the building to its glory.
“This is a miracle we couldn’t do it by ourselves,” she said. “Once our steeple went up and stated gleaming in the sun so many people called me and said pastors that’s a sign of hope to our community.”
The church has been around for more than 100 years. The pastor at times didn’t think they were going to make it.
But with this new beginning, love and support from the community, she hopes the ministry will continue for another 100 years.
“We’re in this building because 102 years ago some people faced a storm and had to build,” she said. “Our whole mind going through this was that we pray that 100 years from now, some of us deem that we’ve been faithful at our time to do what we needed to do in a storm, and to let that serve as a beacon for what they all have to do when they hit a storm.”
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