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Christ Church is an American non-denominational church located in the the western suburbs of Chicago. Currently led by Senior Pastor, Rev. Dr. Daniel Meyer, Christ Church of Oak Brook was founded in 1965 by Rev. Arthur and Gladys DeKruyter in Oak Brook, Illinois. Today, the church offers six weekend worship services with an average attendance of 4,000 per weekend, the congregation has continuously grown since it's founding in a local middle school's gymnasium. The church has over 10 ministries that offer a variety of services, classes, group, and support throughout the week. Christ Church Esplanade, the first multisite branch, will be launched on February 4, 2018.

A Church for the Community
In the mid-1960’s, the Village of Oak Brook, Illinois, was in the news. Paul Butler, head of the Butler Paper and Aviation companies, had conceived a dream for an ideal village. What had been polo fields and raw fox hunting country just north of Hinsdale was to become one of the most desirable places to work, live, and play. Butler wanted Oak Brook to be a community geared to professional and business leaders, “AAA” business corporations, major sporting events, and one of the nation’s largest shopping centers.

As building began, some community leaders sensed the need for a spiritual center amidst the growing village. They approached Arthur DeKruyter, a 38-year-old pastor in Western Springs, and asked him to become the first pastor of "Christ Church of Oak Brook". Eventually, Arthur and his wife Gladys decided to move to Oak Brook, and begin holding meetings in their basement with the hope of starting a “church for the community.”

The families of Henry Van Baalen, Robert Wieringa, Leonard Crest, Herbert Dykema, and Julius Butler were the first five to pledge their support to the start of Christ Church, and were quickly joined by many others.

On Easter Sunday, April 18, 1965, official worship services of “Christ Church of Oak Brook” begun. Eight weeks after that first service, professional musicians were employed to develop a Music Ministry for the weekly services now being held in the gymnasium of Butler School. When the congregation grew to a membership of 45 households in September 1966, a second pastor joined the staff, with primary responsibilities for the Christian Education Ministry.

In January 1968, with a membership of just 82 family units, the congregation pledged $217,000 – some of them taking out second mortgages on their homes – for the purpose of constructing a million dollar church building on the 8.7 acre site which Paul Butler donated to the church at the corner of York Road and 31st Street. By Palm Sunday 1970, the Sanctuary and the first educational unit of a visionary master plan designed for a 3,000 member church was completed and the congregation moved in.

Miracle on 31st Street
To some, that vision seemed irrationally ambitious, but the founders set a goal of having a life-changing impact on the surrounding community and world. They etched it on the cornerstone of the new Sanctuary, a quote from Jesus Christ, commissioning his disciples to go “Into All the World” as read in Mark 16:15. Upon moving from the school gym to the new Sanctuary, average attendance increased from 450 to 1,000. In 1972, a second morning service was implemented, and a third in 1985.

The early decades of Christ Church also had many challenges. American society was fragmented by struggles over civil rights, the Vietnam War, and the generation gap. Rev. DeKruyter was nearly deposed by a cadre of John Birch Society members who felt that the pastor of Christ Church ought to take a more vociferous position on political matters. Ethical lapses in a few staff members created crises, both visible and invisible.

Christ Church took its place in church history among the pioneers of the modern mega-church and media ministry movements. It became widely known for its choral, youth, singles, and conference ministries. It launched community ministries such as the Executives Breakfast Club and Love Christian Clearinghouse.

Transition of Leadership
In January 1997, a changing of the seasons was marked. The church’s founding couple – Arthur and Gladys DeKruyter – were honored at a retirement celebration recognizing their 32 years of service to Christ Church and beyond. They continued to be active members of the church’s life, until each of their passings – Gladys in April 2007 and Arthur in January 2011.

After a two-year national search, the Board of Trustees and congregation extended a call to the Rev. Daniel and Amy Meyer to leave their home in Rancho Santa Fe, California, and come lead Christ Church into its "Second Season". When he began his service here in March of 1997, Dan was 38 years old – the same age Dr. DeKruyter had been when he joined Christ Church.

The first five years of this new era saw some turbulence as the new pastor and congregation struggled with a variety of change-related issues. Both the pastor and the people persevered, learned, and grew together and by 2003, the church had moved into a fruitful “second season.” A wide range of strategic initiatives were implemented that enabled the church to renew its intergenerational character and expand its outreach to the world.

The Second Season
Over the next decades, the church rallied around a renewed focus on the ministries of worship, spiritual growth, and service central to its mission and consistent with its historic “six pillars.”

The Worship Ministry was enhanced by the addition of new contemporary services to complement the church’s classic/traditional ones (1998–Sunday Night; 2001–1HC; 2009–2HC; 2011–Saturday night). Improvements to the pipe organ were made, the choral ministry was enhanced, and a variety of modern ensembles introduced. Christ Church’s concerts and children’s musicals came to draw standing room only crowds. In 2012, the weekend schedule was reorganized to relieve congestion, yield balanced attendance across four morning services, and introduce children more frequently to intergenerational worship.

The Spiritual Growth Ministries of the church underwent similar redevelopment with new emphasis at all ages on taking STEPs on an intentional journey of discipleship. Congregants were provided with new resources for gaining "Sight for the Pathway", "Training for the Soul", "Equipment for Life", and "Partners for the Journey". A mentor-based confirmation process was instituted for youth and an increase in volunteer help provided for nurturing faith at home. New spiritual formation resources were introduced through an expanded bookstore and online tools. The member assimilation process was improved. Small groups were multiplied. Midsize communities were created and some disbanded. The church continued to offer a robust array of classes and courses for both large and small audience. While its Singles’ Ministry receded, its Women’s Ministries and Men’s Bible Study Fellowship became among the largest in the Western Suburbs.

The "Second Season" of Christ Church also saw the renewal of the church’s passion for service to the spiritual and material needs of the world and the doubling of its financial investment in this direction. It established a clearer mission strategy and communications effort, greatly expanded its short-term mission program, founded the Spirit Village Alternative Christmas Market, and joined with other leading churches to form a Chicago-area Global Missions Consortium. In addition to extending the reach of the gospel, Christ Church partnered effectively with major mission agencies to respond with compassionate generosity to the needs of hundreds of thousands of people afflicted by natural disasters, AIDS, malnutrition, lack of clean water, and illiteracy.

At the same time it was working around the world, Christ Church also rededicated itself to being a blessing to people in the Western Suburban and Greater Chicago community. The church founded a myriad of support groups and the ASK ministry that has blessed so many dealing with eldercare needs. It ramped up its hospitality ministries, launched the CommUNITY ministry (aimed at building bridges between people of different races and cultures), and began an outreach to Muslim neighbors. Through ministries like the Clothing and Canned Food Drives, the Food Pantry and Project Serve, Loving Neighbors and the Military Ministry, Inner City Impact and the Roosevelt Road and Africa Initiatives (among others), Christ Church strived to be the proof of their belief that God is love.

Take Root Initiative (2016 - )
In 2016, the church mounted a stewardship and ministry development campaign called Take Root designed to: The $41M in commitments and expected gifts generated by the "Take Root" campaign was the largest amount raised in a two-year effort by any church of our size in the America.
 * Root the congregation more deeply in Christ, for the sake of others
 * Grow the capacity of the Oak Brook campus
 * Extend flourishing to tens of thousands of people in the years to come, including by establishing new branches of the church in additional communities.

New Contemporary Worship Space
The Contemporary Worship services began to grow to the point where there were more people than seats available on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. The leadership of the church saw a need to increase the building's capacity to house the growing expression of worship. Construction began on April 30, 2017 as Christ Church held a Ground Breaking Ceremony to commemorate the start of the new building project. The first service in the new contemporary worship space is expected to be held in November 2018.

Six Pillars
Throughout the years, Christ Church has based its ministries and development to what Dr. DeKruyter came to call the “Six Pillars of Ministry”.
 * 1) Strong preaching and teaching
 * 2) First-rate worship music
 * 3) Effective children and youth ministries
 * 4) State-of-the-art communications
 * 5) Competent caregiving
 * 6) Outreaching mission to a needy world.

Global and Domestic Missions
Christ Church also developed an expansive range of global mission partnerships, playing a strategic role as an early investor in such significant ministries as Lawndale Community Church (Chicago), Fuller Seminary (the largest in the world), St. Petersburg Theological Academy (Russia), Prison Fellowship, Samaritan’s Purse, Stephen’s Children (Cairo), and India Gospel League among many others. Currently, Christ Church has over 80 mission partners both nationally and globally.

Christ Church Esplanade
As part of the Take Root Initiative, Christ Church had a desire to reach more people in the Western Suburbs of Chicago who have not found a church home. The initial goal was to find a local church with a decreasing congregation population to come alongside and partner together in ministry in their current location. After a long search with many conversations with churches and businesses in the area, the search committee landed on an opportunity to launch the first multisite branch of Christ Church at the Esplanade Lakes in Downers Grove, IL. The first service in the new multisite branch is scheduled for Super Bowl Sunday, February 4, 2018. Eric Camfield, the former Grow Ministry Pastor at Christ Church, was named the first Campus Pastor of Christ Church Esplanade.

Before services began, a group of 180 members of Christ Church committed to joining the Founding Core of Christ Church Esplanade and be a core member and volunteer in the congregation in Downers Grove for the first two years.