Founded in 1907, the National Church Goods Association represents the manufacturers and dealers of religious items, publications and church goods. The NGCA tracks issues that affect the industry, provides a searchable online database of its member dealers and otherwise promotes its members' business and social interests. The office is located within Roosevelt Glen Corporate Center.
St. Luke Evangelical Lutheran Church is a small, family-oriented church offering programs for children, teens, adults and seniors.
St. James the Apostle Catholic Church, founded in 1965, has a simple mission statement of worship, grow, respond and reach out. Over 1,800 families attend St. James the Apostle which has programs for all members, from kids to seniors. A vibrant youth ministry holds Bible studies and goes on frequent field trips. Study groups and church events are regularly held for adults and seniors as well. The church also runs St. James the Apostle School, serving preschoolers through eighth grade.
It sits across from Giesche Shoes and kitty-corner from the Bells & Whistles Snackery, and its steeple can be seen from the center of downtown Glen Ellyn. Glen Ellyn Bible Church, at Hillside and Main, has always been about welcoming the community, and that doesn't just encompass the faithful. The church, with its blend of old and new – it has row upon row of church pews but also a modern, gray-walled indoor gym – makes it a point to tell visitors that skeptics are welcome. Part of its mission is helping people who doubt Christianity learn more and possibly find answers. In addition, the church has small groups and a kids program that starts from newborn and goes up through high school. Its high school youth group, in fact, recently spent nine days on a mission trip to Pohlheim, Germany. The brick church features a soaring steeple and stately Doric columns, but it's on the inside where community happens.
For more than a decade, DuPage Center for Independent Living has been serving and advocating on behalf of persons with disabilities in DuPage County. DCIL is a nonprofit agency and works with all disabilities and all ages. Its services include independent living skills training, peer counseling and the personal assistant program, which provides training and referrals to those seeking to hire or be hired as personal assistants to the disabled. For more information, contact any one of its caring and committed staff.
Bridge Communities is a nonprofit organization that provides relief services to homeless families through housing, mentoring, tutoring, counseling, case management and employment counseling programs, as well as car donations.
New Beginning Ministries is a Church of God in Christ (COGIC) congregation led by energetic founder and pastor James C. Wiggins. This one-story brick church, nestled in a field next to Glenbard South High School, is the setting for "life-changing anointed services," including Sunday worship, Bible study, Power Hour of Prayer and Sunday school. The Women's Ministry is led by First Lady JoAnne Allison Wiggins, a licensed COGIC Evangelist and anointed vocalist who has performed with a number of choirs as well as gospel legend Dr. Mattie Moss-Clark.
Southminster Presbyterian Church has been serving the Glen Ellyn community since 1961. Southminster Presbyterian has weekly worship services and Sunday School, in addition to study groups, counseling services and activities for adults, teens and children.
The history of St. Petronille Catholic Church stretches back to April 19, 1925, when 60 Catholic families celebrated their first parish Mass in a third-floor room of the Glen Ellyn State Bank Building, the landmark that still stands on the corner of Crescent and Main. Today, parish facilities occupy nearly a full square block in downtown Glen Ellyn (from Glenwood to Prospect, between Hillside and Duane), and the steeple of the present church, erected in 1956, is the highest point in Glen Ellyn.
The ministries of the church extend into many areas including education. The St. Petronille School enrolls more than 500 students in grades kindergarten through eighth. Also, catechetical programs for children and spiritual enrichment programs for adults are available through St. Petronille Religious Education.
Its proper name is Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, but those who know it well just call it "Faith." Located on Park Avenue just north of Roosevelt Road, Faith seeks to encourage people to become "stewards of God's abundance" and to live "in relationship with God through Christ and each other." A cross shoots above Faith's building, forming its highest point. The exterior, which bears cornerstones dated 1949 and 1959, also displays wall relief sculptures depicting key Christian beliefs: a sacrificial lamb representing Jesus, God creating the universe and the Bible as the Word of God. Toward the back of the building, a play area marks the location of the church's Rainbow Place Preschool. Led by Senior Pastor James Honig and Associate Pastor Heidi Johns, Faith offers three Sunday morning worship services in its sanctuary, where a palette of colored light streams through tall, skinny windows of glass.
First Church of Glen Ellyn is a United Methodist Congregation offering patrons a place to worship and serve the community. The church offers numerous educational and outreach programs, including housing Walk-in Ministry, hosting The Warming Center for homeless adults and families, and sponsoring Parent's Day Out, a Christian-centered child care program. All of First Church of Glen Ellyn's fellowship, music and Christian education programs are open to the public. Check the church's website for details on the congregation or for details on getting involved.
A picturesque, charming building on the corner of Prairie and Elm, the Church of Christ of Glen Ellyn looks as if it's straight out of New England. Painted white and complete with a brick chimney and ivy and branches crawling up its walls, the church is nestled serenely in the quiet neighborhood. An old-fashioned lamppost light hangs above the doorway entrance, greeting visitors. Chandeliers of thick glass light the sanctuary, where the church offers a Sunday morning and evening worship service. The church also has a Sunday morning and Wednesday evening Bible study.
The logo for the church is two open doors with a cross in the center -- representative of the way Glen Ellyn Evangelical Covenant Church approaches those who enter its doors: "Open Hearts. Open Lives. Open Doors." The vision of Glyn Ellyn is "to be a church that is making disciples who walk in love."
Founded in 1946, Glen Ellyn Evangelical Covenant Church acts as a community for its parishioners and newcomers, offering not just Sunday worship but also camps for kids and The Ark Preschool, which serves kids ages 3 - 5. It also has "Kidzone," a library of Christian books and materials for children. And there's "Jonathan's Kids," a ministry for families with children who have special needs. There are also small groups and Bible studies designed for men and women, just men, just women, college students, high school and junior high students and even a "Shawl Ministry," a group that gets together once a month to pray, find fellowship and knit.
The church building itself, whose cornerstone is etched with the words, "To the Glory of God," gives a sprawling, stately impression of old and new, featuring a chapel topped with a towering steeple and a modern atrium made of glass.
Streams of light tinted red, blue and yellow fall across the pews inside of Giao Xu Trinh Vuong Queenship of Mary Roman Catholic Church. Mass is celebrated on Wednesday and Sunday and is entirely in Vietnamese. At the front of the church, where the priests preside over Mass, three large windows illuminate the sanctuary, accompanied by two long green banners that depict Communion and the Alpha and the Omega, representing God.
The Parent's Day Out (PDO) child care program was started in 2005 by First Church of Glen Ellyn, a United Methodist Church. It offers a Christian-based environment where parents can bring their children once or twice a week. Children's activities include crafts, songs, Bible stories and gym time. Tuition is $25 per child per day, and the annual registration fee is $50 for one child and $75 for more than one child.
Willowbrook Wildlife Center acts as both an education center and wildlife rehabilitation service in the town of Glen Ellyn. Operated by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County is a 50-acre preserve that is home to about 80 native Illinois animals, including disabled owls, raccoons, foxes and more. For more information on its services, be sure to stop in or visit the Web address provided.