If this is the first time you’ve been to this web site, you’re probably wondering what this is all about. Is it a new church in Streator?

No, it’s not. It’s a new way of looking at the Church in Streator.

So why did we decide to do this? There’s a definite need.

When church attendance was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, generations of people were involved in church life and, well, why change what was working? Seemingly, nothing needed to change. Community organizations were flourishing, as well. It didn’t hurt matters that Streator’s economy was booming.

But here we are, over a half century later, and most congregations have seen a steep decline in attendance and membership. Over twenty congregations in Streator have closed their doors in the last two generations.

A quick look at data from La Salle County shows an alarming trend, as well. In 2000, 62.5% of residents claimed a religious affiliation. By 2010, that number had fallen to 47%. In 2020, it was 39.3%. And those numbers are all pre-pandemic.

There are many reasons for this, but one of them is that the traditional Midwestern rural model is leaving a couple generations behind.

Our question is this: what if younger people began to associate Christianity with Jesus? With the Son of God being our focus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life?

And what if the world saw God’s people not divided over worship styles or church polity, rather uniting to make a difference in their lives and in their community?

A NEW (OLD) MODEL

If we’re going to reverse this trend and boost our congregations and parishes, we’re going to have to work together. True ambassadors of Christ are called to more than a few hours a week of Christian service that only happens inside a dedicated building.

But this is not a personal, guilt-you-into-helping call. This is a call to all believers in the Streator area to live a life on mission for Jesus, reaching out to raise up a new generation of leaders and disciplemakers, and in doing so, make a positive impact on our community, our state, our nation, and our world.

Ultimately, positive life-change is what rejuvenates and gives life to organizations, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do by bringing Jesus-followers together in Streator.

As it turns out, we must admit that this concept isn’t so novel. It’s all throughout the New Testament.

One example comes from the Gospel of John, chapter 17 (NIV). Jesus is getting ready to be brutally tortured and crucified. He begins praying to the Father. He prays for his disciples. Then he says this:

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — I in them and you in me — so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

That’s pretty serious stuff. Later on, after the resurrection, the Holy Spirit is given to the early church at Pentecost. Here’s what ensued at the end of Acts 2 (NRSV):

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people. And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.”

Paul the Apostle, formerly known as a persecutor of Jesus’ followers, had a conversion. He was filled with the Spirit and became a missionary and church-planter. Later he wrote a letter to the church at Ephesus, to all the believers there, and probably a network of house-churches that passed the letter around.

Paul begins talking about how these believers need to group together. He commands them to be unified, and makes a case for how and why. This is from Ephesians 4 (NASB).

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

So we get a pretty clear picture from these writings that the Church is supposed to be unified.

Let’s join together to be the Church.