‘Overwhelmed by the love and support’: Historic Elgin church deals with storm’s aftermath
While it won’t be business as usual, the pastor of First United Methodist Church in Elgin said the powerful storm that destroyed the historic building’s roof over the weekend won’t stop them from their mission.
“God is not out of the ministry business, and neither will we be,” the Rev. Felicia LaBoy said. “For me, it’s can’t stop, won’t stop.”
Strong winds from an overnight storm Friday into Saturday morning tore off almost half the copper-clad roof from the 101-year-old church building at 216 E. Highland Ave.
The church, in its 187th year, is one of the city’s oldest congregations.
While the roof damage is extensive, most of the building’s interior was spared significant harm. The wooden ceiling inside the sanctuary is largely intact, though some water leaked through. Tarps covered most of the vulnerable wood elements like the pews and organ in the sanctuary Monday.
None of the church’s stained glass windows were broken.
Much of the rest of the inside of the church is undamaged, allowing the congregation to carry on with weekday group meetings and ministries. Volunteers were in the basement Monday cooking for the church’s usual Monday night soup kettle rotation.
“Our ministries will be up faster than our sanctuary will be,” LaBoy said. “We’re doing all we can to make sure that folks are cared for. We don’t take it lightly that God has entrusted us with these partners and with these people.”
LaBoy said about 60 guests and volunteers in the church’s overnight shelter during the storm were the first to realize something was wrong when water started coming from down from the ceiling into the basement.
She said she didn’t want to seem “Pollyannaish,” but things could have been worse.
“This is a very big loss,” she said. “But what I see is the faithfulness of God, because we could have lost our friends, there could have been worse damage, we could not be open tonight to feed people.”
LaBoy said they’re still working with their insurance adjuster and finalizing a contractor to discern what the final cost on repairs will be, but they’re committed to replacing the copper-clad roof with something similar.
“We just don’t know, every day we’re figuring out pieces,” she said.
LaBoy said the one thing that almost moved her to tears was the “outpouring of love and support from every aspect of the city.”
“Our community, our friends showed up and asked ‘What do you need?’” she said. “I was just overwhelmed by the love and support that we got.”
On Sunday, congregants held a prayer vigil at the Vineyard Church of Elgin across the street.
LaBoy said they’ll decide later this week what to do about the upcoming Sunday service, adding that at a minimum they’ll offer it over Zoom. It’s also broadcast weekly on WRMN 1410AM. They’ve been offered space by other churches in the area, including Journey of Hope Church in Elgin.
LaBoy said the church’s active congregation is about 250 members, with about 60 attending Sunday services each week.
“I’m just very grateful to this city,” she said. “We love the community, and the response, the love, the support, the prayers have been incredibly overwhelming.”