A pastor from Texas is attempting to start a church in Oak Park, and he wants to hold the first service this September in the Lake Theatre.
Don’t worry, Chuck Colegrove’s Free Church isn’t trying to buy up the iconic, 76-year-old movie house, like a different church is trying to do with Chicago’s Portage Theater. Rather, he wants to rent a couple of screens out on Sunday morning, before the first matinee, to gather up his future parishioners.
“Our goal is to meet in the Lake Theatre,” said Colegrove, 41. “We’ve had a couple of conversations with them and so far we just haven’t come to anything concrete. We’d love to be there and are trying to figure out a way to make it work because it is a real landmark.”
They’d like to use theater No. 7, and its 280 seats, for about two hours in the morning. Then a few more theaters might be rented for child activities during adult services.
But the arrangement appears to be going nowhere. While the parties have had a couple of conversations, it would be exceedingly difficult to make work, as the first show starts at 11:30 a.m., said Shirley Johnson, co-owner of its parent company, Classic Cinemas.
Classic Cinemas does have a lease deal with a church at the York Theatre in Elmhurst, she said. But that location has 10 screens, which are of much more varying size.
Johnson has agreed to meet with Colegrove, but she said the chances of inking a deal are slim.
“He sounds like a very nice man, and, yes, it would be lovely to have the Lake,” she said. “But we’re a movie theater, so that’s my first priority.”
Colegrove said they’re committed to Oak Park and are looking at the former Vineyard Church at 705 Jackson Blvd. as another possibility.
The pastor hails from Houston, which he left with his wife and four sons earlier this year to move to Illinois. He was previously head of the Grace Church in Texas, had an itch to plant a church near Chicago, and settled on Oak Park after falling in love with the community.
He describes the “Free Church” as non-denominational with a focus on music and the use of video during masses. Colegrove wants to try and liven up services and attract younger people who are bored with worship.
“We’re introducing this to people who thought church was outdated and all about singing songs that are slow and sung out of a book that’s been sitting in a church pew for 30 years,” he said. “That’s not the kind of church we’re talking about. We’re talking about one that’s alive and exciting.”
They have a goal of raising $137,000 for equipment and startup costs in time for the first service on Sept. 9, and have already made it to about $43,000 of that goal. Grace Church supplied the pastor with funds to be able to relocate to Oak Park and work full-time planting the church in the coming months, he said.
If they move effortlessly through the early stages, Colegrove said they hope to be able to buy a permanent facility in Oak Park in the next three to five years.