Members of a Lake View church are donating a portion of the recent sale of their historic place of worship to several local social-justice organizations, the church announced Wednesday.
After selling its more than 100-year-old church building in September for nearly $3 million, the congregation of the Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ voted to give $270,000 to 19 nonprofit social-service organizations that serve the Chicago area.
Recipients of the funds include the North Side Housing and Supportive Services, Lake View Pantry and Faith In Place, the church said. The monetary amount of the grants differ from one another as each was tailored toward what each organization said it needed.
“The coronavirus pandemic and the economic recession have made their work more difficult and stressed their shrinking budgets,” pastor Ann-Louise Haak said. “They need the money now, and we know it will quickly be put to good use.”
The news comes one year after the congregation decided to put its historic sanctuary on the market.
With attendance dwindling, the church’s 48 members voted last November to continue to practice as a community of faith but sell the large property that far exceeded their needs, Haak said. The property, which also is the home of TimeLine Theater, includes a full performance auditorium with a green room and costume room, a two-story gymnasium and a sanctuary that seats up to 500 people. There’s also a two-flat apartment building connected to it.
The property received a serious offer from a motivated buyer shortly after the church signed with a Realtor in March, Haak said. It sold in September for $2.85 million to Chabad of East Lakeview, a local nonprofit Jewish community, Haak said.
“It took about three months, which was not what we were expecting at all,” Haak said. “And so our cart definitely is in front of our horse because we thought we had 12 to 18 months to sort of get things sorted out... and instead, things just moved really quickly.”
For now, services will continue on what Haak playfully calls the “Zoom Sanctuary.”
“In a way, there couldn’t be a better time to be without a building than this season where you can’t safely gather in a building even if you have one,” Haak said. “We will definitely have some sort of physical space in the future, but I feel like we will probably continue to have some kind of hybrid worship experience where there’s an option to be in-person but there’s also the ability for folks to join in online.”
