When we look at our neighborhood, while we find it to be rather diverse, especially economically, we also find that the majority (64-69%) of the elementary school children in the four schools within a mile of our church building come from low income families (Source: https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).

Most of the households in our community have young children present, with many households being multigenerational. We are located in a community that is increasingly become more Hispanic, many being new to American in pursuit of their dream of a better life. There is an abundance of rental-occupied residences in our community. Within the last three years, we have seen the development of a forty-eight unit affordable housing unit directly across the street from us.

Earlier this year, we made the decision that we truly needed to become a different church. In the midst of a community that is changing, we know that we must become multigenerational and multicultural in our approach to ministry. We have just completed a thorough planning process that led us to develop thirty-one actions, many of which will help us become multigenerational and multicultural. Among these are Upgrading our
Rec Room; Hosting a School’s Out Block Party (June 12); Hosting an Outdoor Christmas Event; Spanish Bible Studies; Bilingual Worship Services; Installing a new commercial grade basketball goal for our parking lot; Providing a Blessing Box by Larkin Avenue (outdoor food pantry); Hosting Outdoor Community Concerts (Our
first – A Concert and A Cookout on June 11). There are twenty-three other actions as well!

You’ll note that on June 12 we are hosting what we anticipate being our largest ever block party. It is a SCHOOL’S OUT BLOCK PARTY! We plan to focus on, among several things, people having a safe and fun summer. We are in the process of receiving donations for door prizes for a huge drawing, as well as smaller prizes to be used with our games. We’ll post our plans on our Facebook page (facebook.com/emmanuelchurchofelgin). You can stay posted as we have our plans firmly in place. We are currently updating our website, emmanuelchurchofelgin.net, since it currently is in real need of updating. Anything that you might be able to donate would be greatly appreciated, by our church and community. We will be providing a program to those who attend our block party and it will show those who have been so kind as to make a donation.