In the early hours of March 15, a microburst ripped open a portion of the 100-year-old sanctuary roof at First United Methodist Church in downtown Elgin.
“The miracle is that despite significant storm damage and displacement from our sanctuary, ministry in our building never stopped. We were prepared to shelter people the very night of the storm,” said the Rev. Felicia LaBoy, the church’s pastor.
The east and west wings of the building and its basement were not damaged and are being used while repair and restoration work remains ongoing, LaBoy said. In fact, things have been progressing so well enough that the hope is the sanctuary might be ready for Easter services in April, she said.
Until then, the congregation has been using other sites for its Sunday services. From March through September, they were held in the now-closed Cornerstone United Methodist Church in Plato Center. From October on, church members have been gathering at Old Main, the home of the Elgin History Museum, just a few blocks from First United’s location at 216 E. Highland Ave.
On Christmas Eve, the church held a joint service with neighboring First Congregational Church of Elgin.
First United hasn’t missed a single service, including its weekly radio broadcast on Elgin’s WRMN (1410 AM), since the storm, LaBoy said.
Monday night soup kettle meals have continued without interruption, she said, as has the seasonal shelter that operates in the church basement. Most recently, in partnership with nonprofit One Collective, the church opened its winter warming shelter on Dec. 15 and provided emergency overnight shelter during extreme cold in late November.
“Within two weeks (of the March storm damaging the church), our ministry partners were back in the building,” LaBoy said. “We’ve added new partners, including Bridging Heart, which is a housing and support program for young adults aging out of foster care, and the YWCA’s ESL program for young adults and their toddlers. We’ve also continued to hold our own community nights, featuring board games.”
Beyond its building, First United has continued serving the wider community through partnerships with the Community Crisis Center, The Ruth Project and its therapy dog ministry, which regularly visits hospitals, schools and nursing homes.
Restoring the church, however, has not been cheap. The final cost is expected to be about $5.5 million, LaBoy said, much of which has been covered by insurance and grant money. The National Fund for Sacred Spaces gave them $50,000 to cover the cost of rewiring and reinstalling six lighting fixtures that weigh 140 pounds each, she said.
Other essential partners have been Jeremy Bates of Precision Roofing, who’s serving as historic preservation roofing contractor, and Patrick Jackowiec, of ServPro in Elgin, who is the interior restoration contractor.
As of late December, the hole caused by the storm had been closed and a significant portion of fabricated copper roofing on the east side of the church replaced, LaBoy said. Remaining work includes the repair and replacement of parts for the church organ, installation of new air conditioning units, stucco coating for the walls, replacement or restoration of some flooring, reinstallation of pews, and ongoing work to the church steeple.
The pews alone would stretch more than a third of a mile if set up end to end, LaBoy said, as the church’s capacity is 750 people.
The contrast between the scaffolding and the sanctuary as it once was tells a powerful visual story, she said. That’s because the church’s stained glass windows were not damaged nor was its ever-glowing red light above the altar, which the congregation calls its God’s light, she said.
That’s not to say it’s all been smooth sailing. First United lost more than $60,000 in shared-space rental income, greatly impacting its operating budget, and the church will need to come up with about $150,000 total to complete the steeple repair and a sanctuary lighting and safety project, according to a Dec. 7 letter that LaBoy and her husband, Adrian, sent to family and friends.
The letter was an initial fundraising effort with more likely to follow in 2026, she said.
“Adrian and I are filled with gratitude for God’s faithfulness and for the resilience of a congregation that has weathered storms — both literal and spiritual — with unwavering hope,” their letter said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
