College Church

College Church is an historic church in Wheaton, Illinois founded in 1861 by the abolitionist and first president of Wheaton College Jonathan Blanchard. College Church is located across two city blocks facing the Wheaton College campus. Dr. Josh Moody currently holds the position of Senior Pastor of College Church.

The Church owns a Georgian revival building that faces the college campus on Washington Street.

College Church, founded as The First Church of Christ in Wheaton, was organized in 1861 by Jonathan Blanchard (Wheaton) in 1861. The church first met on the campus of Wheaton College as "The First Church of Christ in Wheaton." Blanchard wanted the church to be known for its opposition to slavery, secret societies, and alcohol use.

The church was first affiliated with the Congregational Association of Illinois. Jonathan Blanchard's involvement as the first president of Wheaton College and as the founder of College Church caused the two institutions to share statements of faith and facilities. The church suffered divisions over doctrine and affiliation during the years after its founding, leading to the creation of what are now First Presbyterian Church in Wheaton and Wheaton Bible Church. After a reorganization in 1878 the church was renamed the College Church of Christ. It only gained its current name, College Church in 1963, in an effort to distinguish itself from the Church of Christ denomination, which has a rather different theology.

Although it is not formally associated with Wheaton College, College Church has long been closely associated with the college and drawn large numbers of students and members of the faculty to its services. Pastoral leadership throughout its history is as follows:

The church expanded rapidly during the years that R. Kent Hughes led the church as senior pastor, with the church growing in membership and facility size. In 2000, the church dedicated the new Commons building, a 55,000 square feet (5,100 m²) addition to the church campus. The building cost $7.5 million.

By 1990, the burgeoning congregations of College Church, Wheaton Bible Church, and St. John Lutheran Church, all located close together led to serious traffic and parking problems. For the church, the solution was to dig "an underground tunnel from the existing complex to the new building which they placed across the street."

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