Willow Creek prepares for debut of new Crystal Lake church campus

CRYSTAL LAKE – Volunteers and staff at Willow Creek Community Church of Crystal Lake are putting the finishing touches on a 193,000-square-foot campus along Main Street.

More than 150 volunteers have contributed a combined 10,000-plus hours of work into the building, and the church is on target to meet its grand opening dates of Oct. 21 and 22.

Volunteer Julee Swingel said the church is fortunate to have so many people in the building trades donate their time to the project. She estimated that there have been three volunteer plumbers, two or three volunteer electricians, four volunteer roofers and countless others who have “filled in the gaps” over the past 15 months.

“There was work done every Saturday, and over the last four months, they’ve been doing a weeknight and Saturday,” Swingel said. “They’ve done a lot of sacrificial giving of their time.”

Willow Creek Crystal Lake executive pastor Dave Smith said it’s been overwhelming to see all of the volunteer efforts convert the former Oak Industries building and 25-acre campus into a church.

“It just shows the overall engagement of our church,” Smith said. “This vision isn’t just owned by staff or our leaders – it’s owned by the entire core of our church.”

Smith noted that the church’s large congregation brought together people from all different career backgrounds for the massive project.

“It’s bringing different skills and passions to the table. Some are more teaching, caring and hospitality, while some have those building skills,” he said. “It’s a huge blessing to us.”

As part of the church’s transition into the new location, an Eagle Scout tracked the dismantling of a play area that is being put back together this week in the new children’s area. The Scout took the structure apart, tagged every piece and set it out to be reassembled by volunteer trades workers, Swingel said. The Eagle Scout also raised some money to hire the original builder of the structure to rebuild it for the new church location.

Smith said all of the work is reflecting the heart of God.

“Jesus came to the world to serve, not to be served,” he said. “That’s the underlying foundation of this facility and this community.”

The new space is at 100 S. Main St. Church leaders said the layout maximizes connectivity and has been specifically designed to foster community. More than 4,000 attendees call Willow Creek Crystal Lake their church home.

The new auditorium has room for 1,100 people, and may seat up to 1,500 if a second level of seating is added later on.

Willow Creek Crystal Lake will host a grand opening party and services at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 21, as well as 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Oct. 22.

After a service with music and an inspirational message by lead pastor Marcus Bieschke, festivities will include Touch-a-Truck experiences, kids’ inflatables, lawn games, a live broadcast from Star 105.5 and two giant walls covered in Country Donuts.

Willow Creek has other locations in Huntley, Lincolnshire, South Barrington, West Chicago, Northfield and Chicago.

In 2015, Outreach Magazine put the membership of the church at 25,743 in 2013, making it the third-largest church in the country.