The number of vacant churches in Oak Park has gone from two to one as a new congregation has moved into the former Parkview Presbyterian Church on the corner of Oak Park Avenue and Jackson Boulevard.
Crews and congregants of Casa De Restauración Familiar, an evangelical Christian church under the Ebenezer ministry, are preparing to open doors for services in church’s new Oak Park home as of this weekend. The opening coincides with the church’s 12th anniversary. The church’s pastor, the Rev. Luis Choc, did not respond to interview requests.
The church has roughly 150 members and formerly leased a church in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood of Chicago, said Miriam Cruz, worship leader and church member.
The Ebenezer ministry was started in Guatemala. Casa De Restauración Familiar services are currently only held in Spanish, but the church plans to begin having additional English-speaking services likely by next year.
Church leadership had been looking to purchase a church of their own for two years prior to buying the former Parkview Church space. They found the Oak Park spot with the help of a real estate agent and faith, Cruz said. “We prayed. We prayed a lot,” Cruz told Wednesday Journal. “And finally, we were able to find it.”
The move is fairly convenient for the congregation, despite having only on-street parking. The former Parkview Church is only about a 10-minute drive from the space Casa De Restauración Familiar leased in Chicago.
“Most of our congregation lives in the north side and we have a few members who live in the south side, so for them, it’s a little bit closer. And for the people who live in the north, it’s payback time,” Cruz joked.
The building has undergone some minor remodeling and major deep cleaning to convert it from the Parkview Church to Casa De Restauración Familiar. Pews have been removed in favor of chairs, the walls have fresh paint, the chapel has new carpet, and the altar was extended. Most of the work has been done by members of the church.
“We’re really happy because we thought that a lot of members were not going to follow us to this location. And everybody’s on board,” said Cruz.
The neighborhood has welcomed Casa De Restauración Familiar, Cruz said, although some Oak Parkers can get a little emotional seeing parts of the former Parkview Church dissembled, especially the pews. Mostly, she said, they are happy to see the church put back into use.
Parkview closed at the end of October 2021, after serving the Oak Park area for 161 years, and was unoccupied until its purchase by Casa De Restauración Familiar. The Parkview church building and that of the former New Spirit Community Church, on Scoville Avenue, were the basis of a proactive zoning change by the Village of Oak Park, which opened up the vacant churches, and any that may come to be vacant, in residential districts to several secular uses.
With Casa De Restauración Familiar, the church building will remain a house of worship rather than becoming a small performance venue, an art gallery or residential apartments.
Casa De Restauración Familiar opens Friday for a private service for church members only. Saturday and Sunday services are open to the public and the church will serve meals after. Church leadership has invited congregations of the same ministry in other states to join in worship. Services are a vibrant affair with dancing and bright colors, according to Cruz.
When asked if people in the area are welcome to check out Casa De Restauración Familiar services, Cruz replied with an enthusiastic, “Of course! Definitely.”