Wesley United Methodist Church, Naperville: History

Home
Announcements
Schedules
Staff
Programs
History
Sermons
Methodist Links

Wesley United Methodist Church
A Reconciling Congregation
21 East Franklin Avenue, Naperville, Illinois, USA 60540

History
As the oldest church in Naperville, Wesley United Methodist Church was founded as a circuit church in 1832. In the early days of the Methodist Church in America, particularly in frontier areas like Naperville, one pastor would be assigned to a "circuit"--a set of churches that he served by riding between them on horseback. By 1831, Stephen Beggs was assigned the "Chicago District". When he left his home in Plainfield to visit Naperville he spent the night with Captain Naper. Our congregation was born one Sunday morning in 1832 when 20 people met in a nearby cabin. At our founding, we were probably just known as "the Methodist Church" or "the Methodist meeting". We know that the church has existed as an uninterupted entity in our town since 1832 as we have a roll of Pastors assigned to the congregation since the beginning. The stirrup in the logo used on these pages reflects our heritage as a circuit church.

Church building, 1850; facing Franklin Avenue

Eventually the church became the First Methodist Episcopal Church, which is the name on our cornerstone when our present sanctuary was built in 1925. The first church building was completed in 1850. Methodists in Naperville had their struggles but by 1894 there were 86 members with two churches, one in Warrenville and one in Naperville.

The Women's Home Missionary Society was started in 1880 which joined the already established Women's Foreign Missionary Society and the Ladies Aid Society. In 1939 the three organizations were combined to form the Women's Society of Christian Service. Over the years the women's organizations were a very important part of the church. They often held church suppers to help pay off the various mortgages of the churches.

Church building and parsonage, 1897; facing Franklin Avenue

In 1897, a new larger building was built to accommodate the growing congregation. And grow they did. Study programs were "informative and impressive". Parents organized and sponsored such youth groups as Queen Esthers, King's Heralds, Sundard Bearers and Little Standard Bearers. In this way all ages were made aware of mission field promises. There was once even a Sunday School Orchestra.

During the next twenty years the church continued to grow and prosper and once again outgrew its home. And in 1925 construction was started on a new building. If you look at our present building you can still see signs of the church as it appeared in 1925.

1953 saw the start of what was to become the United Methodist Men's Fellowship. They would soon become a critical part of the rebirth of the church.

Mahalia Jackson

On November 26, 1955 fire swept through the north wing of the church. Every member of the church and members of surrounding churches united to help Wesley that day. The fire was put out after severe damage to the building, but the spirit of the church was never extinguished. Within a month after the fire, plans were drawn up to not only rebuild the sactuary but also to add a $95,000 three story church school addition. The congregation pulled together and raised the money to rebuild. Among the fund-raising activities was a concert given by Mahalia Jackson at North Central College's Field House--pretty progressive for a small Illinois town in the mid-50's! Our current sanctuary is a result of the reconstruction in 1956.

When the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged to become the United Methodist Church in 1968, Naperville's First Methodist Church and the First Evangelical United Brethren Church across the street both had to choose new names. First EUB chose to become Community United Methodist Church and we picked Wesley United Methodist Church to honor the founder of Methodism. In 1972 as a result of the unification, the Women's Society changed their name to United Methodist Women.

In the last thirty years, Wesley continued to be instrumental in initiating and supporting outreach ministries in Naperville, including the Ecumenical Adult Day Care Center, CROP Walk, Fox Valley Habitat for Humanity, PADS and Kids Day Out. Wesley continues its long tradition of being a friendly, caring congregation with a "small town" heart.

At our Sesquicentennial celebration in 1982, we published a book covering the 150 history of the congregation. As time allows, we will scan and publish online the entire contents of this history, as well as the entire roll of pastors dating back to 1832.

Although we are proud of our heritage, Wesley United Methodist Church looks to the future and we still strive to to bring the words and the love of Jesus Christ to Naperville just as a Methodist circuit rider did in 1832.

Site created by the Wesley Webspinner, Ray Trygstad