College Church of the Nazarene University Avenue will host Heritage Sunday during its morning worship service at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 25. The service will celebrate the culmination of a 10-month renovation process and 75th anniversary of the founding of College Church of the Nazarene.

The Heritage Sunday celebration will include former senior pastors Dan Boone, president of Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee; Kendall Franklin, senior pastor of CrossRoads Church of the Nazarene in Chandler, Arizona; John C. Bowling, president of Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, and current senior pastor Mark R. Quanstrom, dean of the School of Theology at Olivet.

“College Church holds a significant historic place in the hearts of thousands of men and women across the country, and it is our privilege to welcome back these leaders to recognize their faithfulness to their calling and celebrate the thriving community that exists here today,” Quanstrom said. 

College Church of the Nazarene was first organized on August 18, 1940, meeting weekly in Olivet Nazarene College’s Miller Dining Hall. As the years passed, the congregation grew and moved to Howe Chapel on the lower level of the Burke Administration Building. In September 1954, a “Building Fund Sunday” was held. A ground-breaking ceremony was held for the church at its current University Avenue location on May 23, 1954. After much difficulty digging the basement due to the discovery of layers of limestone, blasting was needed to remove rock to create the basement space. The first Sunday service at the new location was November 13, 1955.

In 1960, the educational wing (now called the South Transept) was added, providing more classroom space as well as additional seating for the enlarging congregation. The Leist Chapel (now known as the North Transept) was added in 1965 to provide a more suitable location for small weddings. This phase of construction completed the cruciform design that can be seen today. The office complex, the Christian Life Center, and the space currently used as the café were completed in 1984.

Since then, the church has thrived in the community, organizing a major campaign to build a north campus in Bourbonnais, now known as GatheringPoint Church. In 2014, College Church was reorganized as College Church of the Nazarene University Avenue, reaffirming its relationship with Olivet Nazarene University and recommitting its mission to discipleship in the community and around the globe.

College Church is currently served by Quanstrom and a staff of 15 full- and part-time ministry leaders. The dynamic, growing congregation ministers to hundreds of families throughout Kankakee County. 

--College Church of the Nazarene University Avenue via NCN News submissions

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