PEORIA MAGAZINE October 2023

S P O T L I G H T

CENTRAL ILLINOIS’ ‘MEGACHURCHES’ Is bigger better? If it means connecting more people with the gospel, the answer is yes, say church leaders

BY SCOTT FISHEL PHOTOS BY RON JOHNSON

F or where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20 Churches, like people, come in all shapes and sizes. They can range from the idyllic country chapel to sta dium-sized “megachurches” capable of accommodating thousands of the faith ful in well-lit, air-conditioned comfort. While central Illinois has nothing that compares with true megachurches in places like Nigeria, Indonesia and Brazil, where the reported seating capacity can reach 100,000, the region has seen the rise of what many observers would consider to be “big” congregations. GRACE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH Grace Presbyterian Church, at 8607 Illinois Route 91, can lay claim to the title of grandfather of central Illinois’ large churches. Its roots go back to 1862, when Sunday School classes were held in railroad cars for children of Civil War veterans. Grace Mission Church was formed in 1868 and grew up in several Peoria locations before landing at the corner of Forrest Hill and Knoxville in 1957. It was there that Senior Pastor Bruce Dunn began expanding the church’s ministry using mass media. Grace’s ra dio ministry was inaugurated in 1951,

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Peoria three times in their married life. They always return to Grace Presbyterian, finding that the size of the church family fits their needs. “There are just so many things to get involved in,” Ann said. “We’re church for all generations, working together,” Grindinger said. “We’re not just young people, not just middle aged, not just elderly. We have all different ages here and we like it like that.” Senior Pastor Zach Rogers just ar rived at Grace Presbyterian in April, but understanding the past gives him hope for the future. “My prayer for our church is that we would be an increasing blessing to the city of Peoria for another 150 years,” he said. RICHWOODS CHRISTIAN CHURCH Richwoods Christian Church, 8115 N. Knoxville Ave., also saw dramatic increases in attendance after moving to a new, larger facility. “The church really rocketed” after pulling up stakes from a building on Terra Vista Drive, said lead Pastor Chad Manbeck. The neighborhood church had a capacity of about 300 and poor visibility. Since 2010, Richwoods has

and a television outreach took to the airwaves in 1974. “(Dr. Dunn) is kind of a legendary figure around here,” said Greg Grindinger, adult ministry pastor at Grace Presbyterian. “A lot of churches have TV ministries now but he was ahead of his time in many ways.” Grace Alive still airs at 10 a.m. Sunday mornings on HOI ABC 25.2, and on radio at 9 a.m. on WBNH 88.5 FM. The church, an affiliate of the Presby terian Church in America (PCA), moved to its current suburban location in 2010 after outgrowing the Knoxville facil ity (now occupied by St. Paul Baptist Church). Average attendance at Sunday morning services is now about 1,200, Grindinger said. Viewed as a small business, Grace Presbyterian could be a significant employer. From the senior pastor to the children’s needs coordinator to the campus outreach resource director, Grace Presbyterian lists more than 30 employees on its website. “While Grace is a larger church, the pastoral staff make a very intention al effort to keep it feeling like a small church,” making sure everyone has “a community to get plugged into,” said Ben Learned, a 23-year-old member. Ann White and her husband, Steve, have moved away from and back to

58 OCTOBER 2023 PEORIA MAGAZINE