Rebirth

Below: chart of a congregation's life cycle

November 2021

The board made its recommendation to the congregation to pursue a hybrid of two of the ideas and on August 22, 2021 the congregation voted to close after one hundred and twentyeight years and give birth to a new community-

based nonprofit ministry to be a legacy of Central Christian Church.

The remnant that remains loves their church and is grieving the loss. It is difficult to understand that Central Christian Church will no longer exist as an organization. The oldest member is 101 And the youngest is 12. Churches, however, have a life cycle, and Central has been hovering in the old age stage for years. It has stayed afloat longer than many thought it would. And yet, it continues to have new people visit and hosts programs despite its imminent close.

A member ready to rescind his membership returned instead. A couple plans to be married here in November. A substitute pianist loved the simplicity of the church. Two people ready to vote against proceeding with The Grow Center changed their minds and voted for it instead. Others still have left, and others will likely leave, not wanting to attend worship in something that is not called a “ church.

Though there is grief—

and some doubt and fear —for many in the process of closing what is known and comfortable, it is an act of faith for the people of Central to take the next step in their journey.

Through the years,

they have been through many changes; their history has brought moments of progress as well as times of regression. Through it all, a faithful people was always on the move and still is. The church is not the building; the church is the people, doing the work of Jesus in the world. While the organization of Central Christian Church will cease to exist, its people and its legacy will live on.

In this exploration of Central’ s history, there have

been many endings and beginnings, and Central

has shown that from small, seemingly

inconsequential events, great things can come.

Indirectly, the tiny church at Iroquois, Illinois influenced the congregation of Central and the life and faith of A. Dale Fiers through his mother Leah. Today, all that stands in Iroquois at the church’ s location is a parking lot and a memory of a building.

Central’ s building in Kankakee belongs to another congregation now, and the West Kankakee Mission is a residence.

Levasseur Elementary School continues to educate students, with no reference to the church that once met within its walls.

It is, as the preamble to the Design says, God’ s love that binds us together to God and to each other. This is not only to the congregation, the region, and the denomination, but to other Disciples throughout time. Their lives and histories, while faded, are not all forgotten. They have influenced us in their work, their faith, and

their love. Like the cross that was designed for a specific space over the baptistry in the Oak Street building and did not fit well in the Bourbonnais building, the church today must be designed for the space in which it lives. As the community and world changes, so too must the expression of church. The Grow Center, as a legacy of Central Christian Church and a recognized ministry of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the Christian Church in Illinois and Wisconsin will continue to be a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.

It will continue to welcome all to the Lord’

s

Table as God has welcomed us. The words of

Central s mission to be

’ “ empowered by the Holy Spirt and guided by Christ’ s teachings

(lxxxviii) will continue to ring true, even after

the organization dissolves, because it will still

be able to

“ provide opportunities to grow in our faith and understanding, touch people ’ s lives with Christian love, and share our gifts and resources within and beyond our congregation (lxxxix

). That will not cease.

The words of E.L. Frazier from 1893 can be

echoed today

, as with transformation there is a realization of the “ magnitude of the undertaking.

We have many hindrances and few helps. It will

take gospel, grace and grit, with patience,

perseverance and push, to succeed” (xc). We also

know death is not the end, because:

“In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;

in our doubt there is believing; in our life,

eternity. In our death, a resurrection; at the last,

victory, unrevealed until its season, something

God alone can see ” (xci).