Community Corner
Living Grace Community Church Dedicates Building
Living Grace Community Church, formerly Cary Grove Evangelical Free Church, celebrated their new home.
On Sunday, Feb. 27, Living Grace Community Church held a dedication service and open house to celebrate the completion of their new building at 1500 Silver Lake Road in Cary.
The facility includes a large, multi-purpose room where services are held, classrooms for Sunday school, and office facilities for the church staff.
Work on the building began in November of 2009; Jan. 2 of this year marked the first day of attendance at the new building. Over the past three years of the building campaign, the church raised 1.5 million dollars to fund the building process. “In this economy,” Pastor Donald Erickson said, “That figure is a God thing.”
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Erickson introduced the history of the church, beginning with its' first planting in 1959. He mentioned that the church had been “looking for land for 20 years,” and were able to move forward when Betty Knack agreed to sell her property.
In honor of her, two doors from her family’s farm are displayed on a wall with pictures commemorating the church’s history.
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After the church had the land, they had to get permission from the Village Board to annex the property into Cary and to start building. The Village Board was extremely helpful in the process and voted unanimously in favor of the church’s proposals. “We are deeply grateful for all of the help and all of the support from the village,” Erickson said.
Dr. Bill Hamel, President of the Evangelical Free Church of America, recorded a personal video message for Living Grace, saying, “you’re all about the future and serving your community.”
Following a presentation of the keys, Dr. Rick Thompson, superintendent of the Great Lakes district, spoke to the congregation after presenting Pastor Erickson with a bottle of glue. “Every church has glue,” he said, “When you come into this building I hope that you’ll think about glue, the great glue of God’s love.”
Pastor Erikson closed the service with a prayer and benediction. “This day is the result of many people coming together,” he said. “It is the start of things to come.”
Living Grace Community Church was formerly known as Cary Grove Evangelical Free Church. They remain a member of the Evangelical Free Church of America.
Living Grace meets for Sunday Services at 8:00 and 10:45am weekly. For more information, visit their website at www.livinggraceonline.org
