The First Church of God of Joliet, Illinois began around1905 in the home of Mr. John Tront on South Chicago Street in Joliet. At this home, five faithful families met together each week for worship, prayer and the study of God’s word.
Some of these dear believers became acquainted with the Church of God and its teachings while living in their homeland of Germany. It was out of their desire to plant a non-denominational congregation that recognized the truth that God only had one church made up of all true believers world-wide regardless of denominational labels, and who earnestly loved and submitted to the beloved Lord Jesus and His inspired word.
They were captivated by the vision that ‘The Church’ is neither a denomination nor a human institution, but rather the living body of Christ whose biblical name, ‘Church of God,’ was derived not from any one member of the Trinity such as the Father, Son or Holy Spirit, but rather bore the name which stands for entire unified Deity: God. Thus ‘Church of God’ is the official title gives no less than 11 times to the Lord’s people is the sacred New Testament.
Therefore, this dedicated band of believers began working and praying that God would open the way for them to have a church in the City of Joliet. God rewarded the faithful efforts of these humble Christians, and eventually a beautiful brick building was built on South Raynor Avenue that remains today.
The founding members of the Church of God in Joliet were all Germans, and for some time the services were all conducted in that native language.
However, it was not long till God began adding other families to their little band. They longed to have a minister who teach them the precious truths they had come to know and love and their first official minister was Miss Lydie Meyer who came from the missionary home of the Church of God in Chicago, Illinois.
Services were conducted each Sunday afternoon. Under the faithful leadership of this spirit-filled missionary, the work made progressed. As time passed, and the congregation grew sufficiently that they needed a much larger facility in which to worship.
At this point in the church’s development they met in various locations: the German Baptist Church, the First Christian Church and finally a hall on North Chicago Street in downtown Joliet.
By this time the desire for a building of their own was becoming very strong indeed, so on September 3, 1922, it was decided that they would finally build. Their new facility was joyfully and happily dedicated on the following January 1 – what an exciting way to begin the New Year! In this location the church made rapid progress under the able leadership of their beloved pastor, Rev. John Kane. He was very successful in his labors and the church gained in numbers and influence in the community.
Then in the early ’60 the congregation added on an educational wing and fellowship hall to the original structure. By 1977, the church was looking for a youth pastor and that is when Rev. Carl Wagner entered the picture.
At the time Pastor Maurice Overturf, a college friend of Reverend Wagner’s was leading the church and just as Carl was graduating he contacted him to see if he was interested in joining him in the work in Joliet.
Pastor Wagner had a 3 month internship to complete and it was decided that the young man, age 26 at the time, would come on a temporary basis and at the conclusion of the 3 months if either party felt that the arrangement were not to their liking then either party could conclude the matter – needless to say, Pastor Wagner is still involved with the congregation today.
In 1980, Pastor Overturf had the opportunity of retuning to his home congregation to lead that church as pastor. For 8 months Pastor Carl served as interim pastor followed by his being installed as the official senior pastor.
A little while later it was determined that the congregation would be best served by relocating. The Raynor Street facility was sold to Christian Faith Center Church and the congregation relocated to a temporary facility in the Country Creek Shopping Center on Laraway Road in New Lenox.
After five years, we purchased our present facility at 1805 E. Laraway Rd, Joliet, IL and have removed rooms, remodeled and updated the building to its present status including adding a solar panel electric system to the building.
Presently our future is very bright, with a fully paid 10-acre plot of land located on Manhattan Road between Manhattan and Elwood on which we plan to build a new edifice to the Glory of God! One thing is for sure, the last chapter in the history of the Church of God in Joliet hasn’t been written. We invite you to come and be a part of that story.