Big Woods Congregational Church

Collection

Identifier: RHC-RC-311

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Big Woods Congregational Church (BWCC) collection represents a modest portion of the historical records pertaining to the church’s establishment in 1835 and growth throughout the years. Types of records include church histories, membership and pastor lists, building renovations plans, land purchases, and Big Woods’ withdrawal from the United Church of Christ (UCC) and joining the National Association of Congregational Christ Churches (NACCC) in 1975. There are numerous church histories written by members, newspapers, and historians due to the church being established in the early settler period of Illinois. Care was taken to maintain the donor’s original order of the collection. The donor’s container lists can be found in the case file.

Dates

created: 1836-2006
Other: Majority of material found in 1920-1996
Other: Date acquired: 05/17/2011

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on access to the collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights in the collection are held by the Regional History Center; literary rights are dedicated to the public.

Biographical or Historical Information

In August of 1835, fourteen pioneers organized a “Church of Christ,” with the assistance of Presbyterian Rev. R.W. Gridley and Rev. N. C. Clark. The group met in the log cabin of Thompson Paxton; it was named the Church of Big and Little Woods because of the surrounding wooded areas. In 1824, twenty members organized as a Congregational Church, but it was not until 1850 that they were able to build a sanctuary. Members pledged abstinence from hard liquor and later became part of the Underground Railroad. Mission stipends from the Home Mission Society and the American Missionary Society allowed Big Woods Church to act as a base for establishing Congregational Churches in Aurora and West Chicago, as a regional base for the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), and as a training ground for Christian Endeavor. The Church also has an active Women’s Missionary Society that serves in Chicago, Aurora, and abroad. Pastors have included four professors, over a dozen students of Wheaton College, and student interns of North Central College and Seminary in Naperville. Big Woods also participates in local ecumenical missions in and around the surrounding community.

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