The consolidation of First Congregational Church of Oak Park and First Presbyterian Church of Oak Park begs can be compared to a wedding.
First Congregational moved into its building at 848 Lake St. in 1874 and what was then known as the First Presbyterian Church of Oak Park moved into its building at 931 Lake St. in 1901. Living virtually across the street from each other, the two faith communities were neighbors for 73 years.
The two congregations eventually came to realize they had much in common. The Congregational Church had its doctrinal roots in the Protestant theology of Swiss reformer John Calvin, as did the Presbyterians which meant that both congregations fit nicely into the WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) world view that dominated the spiritual culture of Oak Park until the 1970s.
More important than doctrine, perhaps, both congregations shared a passion for outreach and mission. The history of what became First United Church indicates that the congregations discovered they were involved in many of the same kinds of mission — outreach to community and needs outside the walls of their church buildings, and that led to what might be called the “dating” stage of the relationship.
First Congregational c 1920 rebuilt after fire hit steeple. Credit: The Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest 
1988 First United after merger. Credit: The Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest 
First Presbyterian postcard c. 1910. Credit: The Historical Society of Oak Park and River Forest 
Madison Street Bible Church 1928 later renamed Calvary Memorial.
While many church mergers come about because of loss of membership, leading to financial challenges, First United was born out of a desire to do mission better.
Dave Hanson, now a retired lawyer, was a member of the Presbyterian Church at the time of the consolidation.
“The two congregations,” he said, “became increasingly involved in community outreach. “Fred Momenthy, the lead pastor of the Congregational church and Bill Killam, the lead pastor of the Presbyterian congregation, believed their two churches could be more efficient, and therefore more effective, if they had a less duplicative relationship.”
In 1973 the two faith communities created a Joint Exploration Committee, of which Hansen was a member, to look at three different options for common ministry, the most committed being complete consolidation, and in June of 1974 the committee unanimously recommended a complete merger.
First came a decision about the name — choose one of the existing names, a hyphenated name, or keeping their own names. The committee recommended a completely new name: First United Church of Oak Park.
The next hurdle was a challenging legal issue. Hanson explained that Illinois law makes merging two independent nonprofits complicated, but with some creative lawyering that obstacle was hurdled.
There’s a joke that when two people get married, the two become one — the question is, which one. The issue was resolved by a decision to be neither, or at the same time both: a third entity to be called First United Church, and the members would hold “dual citizenship,” i.e. they would simultaneously be members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ.
“Nobody wanted to give up their building, where they got married and had their kids baptized,” recalled Priscilla Sibley, a member of First United for the last half-century and part of the team planning the anniversary celebration on May 4.
Uniting was a process. The first step was to begin calling the buildings the North Center and the South Center. They would hold services at the North Center.
“By the end of the year most people were saying, ‘We don’t care, pick one,” said Sibley with a laugh. Getting used to each other took longer. “We had to figure out how to live together and we knew it couldn’t be a top-down decision.”
The North Center became the building in which the congregation worshiped and the South Center was used for mission which included a holistic health center, a senior drop-in center, a nursery school and a meeting place for a Boy Scout troop.
In 1979 the South Center was sold for $4.3 million to the Calvary Memorial congregation, whose building on Madison Street had been destroyed by fire.
Both partners in the newly formed congregation had a strong sense of mission before the “marriage” so, true to their values, funds from the sale were placed in a Special Mission Endowment Fund (SMEF), the money from which could only be used for mission projects.
Beyond Hunger, the food pantry, is a prime example. According to ProPublica, in 2024 the expenses were, coincidentally, $4.3 million.
When asked why the church “marriage” has not only survived but thrived, Sibley said simply, “We have a lot of grownups in the congregation.”