Methodist Church in Geneva celebrating 185 years of worship with weekend of community events

United Methodist Church of Geneva will celebrate 185 years of worship in Geneva and 150 years at its current location with a weekend packed full of community events from Sept. 27 to 29.

On Friday, Sept. 27, the church will host an evening of homecoming and history from 5 to 7:30 p.m. with several historic exhibits and videos around the church. The church invited all living past clergy members and their families to the event and will host a program with the former pastors at 6 p.m., followed by a snapshot of the church’s history and a proclamation from Mayor Kevin Burns.

Pastor Rob Hamilton has been with the church for seven years. He said during the church’s long history, while the methods have changed, the values of compassion, generosity and serving others have stayed the same.

Hamilton said they used to offer a Third Tuesday Supper, where once a month the church would have a free community meal that would serve upward of 500 people. When the pandemic put large gatherings on hold, the church began a partnership with Meals on Wheels to provide supper to about 500 people a week as a distribution site.

“That value of making sure that not only were people’s bellies fed, but their need for companionship was met, we just found a new way,” Hamilton said. “We’ve found a way to even level up from 500 a month to 500 a week. The method of meeting those needs seems to always change and we’ve always been a people who serve people.”

The church will host a community block party and open house from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, featuring food trucks, a bounce house, a bags tournament, face painting, a scavenger hunt, a photo booth and more.

The weekend events will end with a celebration service and reception from 9 a.m. to noon Sunday, Sept. 29. Bishop Daniel Schwerin will be a special guest at the Sunday service.

All of the weekend events are open to the public and community members from all religious backgrounds are invited to attend.

United Methodist steering committee member Chuck Howlett has been with the church for 27 years. In preparation for the anniversary weekend, he interviewed dozens of longtime church members about their memories in the church community throughout the years and logged them for their records.

“The golden thread that runs through all of them is that the people in this church are family,” Howlett said. “Whether it’s 1945, 1975 or today, they talk about the families. When something was happening with one of the families, other community members or church members would bring a casserole or something to acknowledge it.”

While a population boom in the 1980s and ‘90s led to crowds of 600 to 900 people each weekend, Hamilton said every congregation saw a decline in attendance during the pandemic, but they have rebounded well since that time. He said they see attendance of about 200 people a weekend and that number is steadily increasing.

Howlett said they have about 20 members who have been with the church for more than 50 years and at least five members who have been with the church for more than 70 years.

“I think it’s how you care for people,” Hamilton said. “I think we’re really about people. We’re proud of our building and our organ and our windows, but at the end of the day, I think we all know deep inside it’s about the connections and the relationships.”

The music program has been one of the church’s strong suits throughout the years that brings people to the church. Scott Stevenson is the director of ministry and leads the band and choir and even composes original songs for services.

Hamilton said they are blessed with a wildly talented music director who can compose music that the congregation really appreciates.

The church has been partnering with Hesed House in Aurora, Lazarus House, CASA Kane County and other organizations for decades, giving hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours of hands-on support.

“It’s just a really generous church,” Hamilton said. “Where there is a need, we want to meet it.”

Hamilton said in the past 40 years the church has donated almost $5 million to local organizations and charities. He said his plan was to pose a challenge to church members to donate $185,000 for the 185th anniversary, but in adding up the donations so far this year, he found they already are approaching $190,000 in donations.

Howlett said they expect a big turnout over the weekend and hope to see about 500 community members. He said even if some people aren’t coming from a religious perspective, it will be a great opportunity for those interested in Geneva’s history to learn about the community’s history and have some fun. The church also has invited several community leaders and local organizations to the weekend’s events.

“For us here in Geneva, we want to make sure that anyone is welcome,” Hamilton said. “We’ve really taken a strong stance making sure that everyone is welcome here, especially those marginalized – the LGBTQ community and people of color and such. I think those are some of the things that have helped keep us vital.”

Hamilton said the church and the Geneva community are connected through shared values of supporting the community, helping those in need and working toward sustainability and beautification, whether they share the same faith.

“A lot of those things hold us together as common values that aren’t necessarily limited to religious expression,” Hamilton said. “I think it’s easy to champion each other in those shared pursuits even though we might have different motivations for doing them. I think, in that way, we’re able to see how we better our community together.”

For more information, visit the church’s website at genevaumc.org or contact Hamilton at rob@genevaumc.org