Church playing it cool

Church playing it cool
Elgin house of worship has nightclub feel, coffeehouse

That's because West Ridge Community Church in Elgin was built to look like a nightclub -- the House of Blues in particular, according to co-pastor Darren Sloniger.

The West Ridge Worship Team performs Feb. 25 as lyrics are projected on a screen.
(Al Podgorski/Sun-Times)

Worshippers take communion during
a service at West Ridge Community Church's new facility in Elgin.
(Al Podgorski/Sun-Times)

Last month, the nine-year-old congregation christened its new facility, which includes a full-fledged coffeehouse with uniformed baristas, muffins and even fresh paninis, and a dimly lit sanctuary in the shape of a piano, flanked by cafe tables, couches, and comfy chairs.

The stage, where on one recent Sunday morning a dozen musicians played everything from tribal rhythms on Irish bodhrans to U2-ish sounding praise songs, is swathed whimsically in earth-toned drapes. And throughout the service, the flickering light from a couple of dozen pillar candles on the stage and tiny tea lights on the cafe tables gave the sanctuary an almost romantic feel.

'Feel free to be authentic, to be real'
"We decided to start a church for people who don't like church, a church where people can feel free to be authentic, to be real, and that's an overriding theme of what we do," said Sloniger, 39. Whatever Sloniger and the rest of West Ridge are doing seems to be working. In the first week the new building on U.S. 20 was opened, attendance doubled from 300 to 600 and is growing weekly.

"For the past 14 years or so, I have traveled all over this country and been in a lot of church buildings . . . and this is the best church facility I've ever been in, period," said Gordon Venturella, a guest speaker who delivered a sermon titled, "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight."

"Architecture is important, and you've got that down," he said. "But the [goal] was really to build a community of people -- an extraordinary community of people that could experience the love of God through Christ in a way that very few other places could offer. So my prayer for you today . . . is continue to make this place a place where other people can come and see the mercy of Jesus. That's becoming more and more rare today."

Courtney Reed, 23, of Chicago, who started attending services at West Ridge last summer while the congregation met in a facility at Elgin Community College, said the new space makes a difference in her worship experience.

"The places I've really found my faith along my journey have been really aesthetic, and I'm a very aesthetic person. So, I think as much as I want to be resistant and all, 'No, I'm going to worship wherever,' I think it does make a difference, and it does make it more attractive," Reed said. "When the lights are down, there is that feeling of security, that you have a little more space to be yourself and do what you want to do, than when all the lights are on and everyone can see you."

Reed's boyfriend, Tim Tanner, 24, has attended weekly services at West Ridge for two years, since he was a student at Judson College. "Part of me wants the hip space and part of me is resistant, because, oh now it will be discovered," he said. "Because there's something cool here, everyone else is going to discover it."

If more and more people discover the Light Club, would the church somehow lose its cool?

"No, I mean, I guess I'd rather have them doing this than not," Tanner said. "Before we were in an old gym. I mean it was real gnarly. So I'd rather have these really neat clay colors and great drapes and a black ceiling. The lighting's great, and I do appreciate that."

Scot McKnight, a professor of biblical and theological studies at North Park University who for years has been tracking "emergent" churches such as West Ridge, said many of these new evangelical Christian churches are focused on the importance of sacred space.

'Come as you are'
"Space matters, and most people are not aware of the impact of space on what we do, what we think, how we think," said McKnight, author of The Jesus Creed. "So what they're doing is trying to create a space that permits different kinds of activities. Conversation, fellowship. It's leisurely.

"I applaud with all the intensity that I can give you for the young generation to think about building buildings for churches that can be used other than one day a week," McKnight said. "I think it's fantastic. Then it becomes a gift to the community."

That was precisely the idea of the Light Club and its adjoining Encounter Cafe, Sloniger said. The cafe is open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., and the church building is used every day for one activity or another, including a center for the arts that offers lessons from percussion and piano to guitar and drawing.

"We designed the building to give the cafe the best market window," Sloniger said. "We actually carved the cafe space out exactly like a Corner Bakery is carved out of a Maggianos. The cafe is like the front door. The biggest barriers for people to come to church is actually walking through the front door."

In the weeks leading up to the grand opening of West Ridge's new building, the church sent fliers inviting neighbors to come. One of the fliers said, simply: "Come as you are."