The motto of Rev. Darren Sloniger’s West Ridge Community Christian Church in Elgin is “Never Church as Usual.”
That philosophy is driving Sloniger, a real estate developer turned pastor, to build a $4 million church that will be not only a house of worship, but also a House of Blues-style music site.
The 24,000-square-foot building will also include a cafe and acoustic stage. An amphitheater will be built outside. Another building will offer “family friendly” shopping and perhaps a restaurant or ice cream parlor, intended not just for church members, but also the general public. A private developer plans to build 100 town homes on land Sloniger’s group is selling to help finance the church.
The project, following a “town-square concept,” is aimed at fulfilling the 37-year-old pastor’s idea of what church should be.
“The whole vision for the church is to create a sense of community,” Sloniger said. “People are really longing for that, and the church’s goal is to provide that.”
It is also an approach that is becoming more popular among churches to move beyond religious-based commerce–such as gift shops or bookstores–and open secular commercial operations, experts say.
“This is part of a trend we’re seeing where churches are building huge, all-inclusive or highly inclusive complexes for shopping, living, worshiping and leisure,” said Bill Leonard, dean and professor of church history at the Divinity School at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.
For example, Big Bethel AME Church is a partner in a $45 million mixed-use project in Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn neighborhood. In Decatur, Ala., Calvary Assembly of God Church has plans for a $14 million complex that may include hotels, restaurants and subdivisions.
Dave Essex, a member of West Ridge’s leadership team, sees the commercial aspect of the project as an opportunity to reach more families.
“This will be a place to call our own, [but] it will provide a good place for families who are out and about looking for a nice place to go that is safe and offers good entertainment for the whole family,” Essex said.
“We hope people would come into the cafe and accidentally stumble into a church service,” Sloniger said.
The Illinois Department of Revenue said the tax status of the various operations would have to be reviewed. It is unlikely the operations would fall under the same tax-exempt status as the church, since they would be open to the general public and not for religious purposes only, department spokesman Mike Klemens said.
Sloniger started his church “from scratch” about seven years ago. The 200-member congregation has been renting space at Elgin Community College.
“The idea was that we would reach people that weren’t going to church anywhere,” he said, referring to young adults who spend more time in coffee bars than in churches.
West Ridge enlisted the help of a Pasadena, Calif., group of former Walt Disney “imagineers” to design a church space with retractable glass doors that will convert into a 400-seat auditorium.
Performers such as the Dave Matthews Band and Counting Crows fit the church’s style of music, Sloniger said, but the idea isn’t to bring in big-name bands. “There are plenty of local Chicago bands that have a lot to say and are very talented musicians,” he said.
Work on the church may begin in December. Financing will come from the sale of 15 acres of land adjacent to the church site on U.S. Highway 20 near Nesler Road. Concord Homes will turn that property into a townhouse development.
“This is a unique project in the sense a church is developing commercial and residential property, and it will be an interesting project to watch develop,” Elgin City Manager David Dorgan said.
