PEORIA MAGAZINE March 2023

S P O T L I G H T

DEVOTION TO DOWNTOWN Two churches rooted in the central city minister to the immediate neighborhood

BY LAURIE PILLMAN PHOTOS BY RON JOHNSON

Pastor Michael Ritchason, lead pastor at Riverside Community Church

Riverside Community Church

A t a time when some churches are closing their doors due to a decade-long drop in people in the pews, two churches in Downtown Peoria are stepping up and stepping out as models of morality, hope and help in the neighborhoods they inhabit. First United Methodist Church and Riverside Community Church both have congregations made up largely of people who live throughout the city and region, but they have rooted themselves in Downtown Peoria in order to serve central Illinois’ neediest citizens. While they approach their ministries differently, both play a vital role in the physical, emotional and spiritual well being of their immediate environs.

‘WE ARE WHERE GOD HAS PLANTED US TO BE’ At nearly 200 years old, First United Methodist is the oldest Protestant church in Peoria. It started as a missional outpost at var ious addresses Downtown before settling in at its current spot on the corner of Perry and Hamilton. Two additions have been made to the original 1917 building, but through all the growth and change, there has been a singular focus. "The church welcome [from 1917] says, 'This church exists not for itself, but for the community in the midst of which God has placed it,’" Pastor Tim Ozment said. "In 1957, they had a conversation about staying downtown or moving,

and the church restated that statement, not quite verbatim, but pretty close. “We are where God has planted us to be, and we need to stay here for the people who live around this church." For First UMC, that means maintaining programs beyond church services. There's a weekly non-denominational grief support group and a community building group for mothers of young children. An art gallery on-site allows people to study the connection between art and faith. Church volunteers travel a few blocks away to provide after-school art, choir, tutoring and Bible study classes for students at Lincoln K-8 School. One of the most beneficial services First UMC provides is one of the most unconventional. Unhoused individuals

56 MARCH 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE