History of our Congregation

In 1958, when Sauk Village was springing up out of farm fields, a group of volunteers from Lansing, Illinois rented a small home to offer Sunday School classes to village residents. The students attending these Sunday School classes and their parents began to look for more ways to grow spiritually and connect with each other. This small group began to worship together. Eventually, the young congregation built what become known as “The Red Church” on 223rd St. As we hit the 1970’s, we were outgrowing that building, so we sold it to the Sauk Village Baptist Church. Emmanuel Church built a new building at our present location. The existing sanctuary was constructed in 1976, followed by the fellowship hall and education wing in 1991. 

Certainly, the development of our congregation is interwoven with the physical locations where we have worshiped together and served Sauk Village and surrounding communities. The heart of the church has never been the building, but instead the people. Throughout our history until the present, our church family draws together persons from diverse backgrounds, communities, and cultures.. We are a church family that not only worships together, but eats together, laughs together, camps together, fishes together, works together and serves together. 

And serve we do!

Serving children always has been and continues to be important to us. In the last decade, the Lord revealed additional ways our church family could serve our community through Our Daily Bread Food Pantry, Emmanuel Thrift Store, Women's Coffee Break, GEMS Girl's Club, Addiction Recovery Group, Women’s Codependency Support Group, and a variety of global ministries. 

In keeping with our name, Emmanuel – God with us, we long for everyone to experience the reality that God is deeply involved in their lives . . . whether they know it or not!