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History
 River Forest United Methodist Church is the
result of the merger of five congregations over the past 129
years....River Forest, Austin, Maywood, Forest Park, and Melrose Park.
The names, locations, and structures change, but the
spirit remains the same.
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River Forest
In 1860 Frances Willard and Clara
Thatcher started a mission Sabbath School in the Little Red Schoolhouse
on Lake Street. In 1869, with the support of the Thatcher and the Odell
families, a Methodist Society developed. A preacher was appointed in
1870 to establish congregations in the villages of Oak Park, Austin and
Thatcher (now River Forest). Incorporated on February 14, 1871, the
first church building was built in 1874 on land donated by the Thatcher
family. The original 1874 tower bell still rings today. In 1912 this
church building was razed and a modified Prairie Style church, designed
by William Drummond was erected. The parsonage at 513 Thatcher was built
in 1927. In the 50's, numerous building changes took place, including
the redesign of the sanctuary, the addition of a new kitchen, Fellowship
Hall and Susanna Wesley Library. From 1964 to 1967 the original 1912
Drummond sanctuary windows were replaced with windows depicting biblical
scenes.
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Austin
Beginning in 1867, visiting
Methodist preachers gathered people for worship in the Austin
Schoolhouse at Lake and Central. Austin Methodist Episcopal Church was
incorporated December 1, 1870. With construction delayed for more than a
year due to the Chicago Fire, the congregation met in the Town Hall, but
the cornerstone for the church at Race and Central was finally laid on
July 20, 1872 and the church was dedicated September 7, 1873. The stone
church was taken down and a new church, accommodating 1,400 persons, was
dedicated June 10, 1900. In 1909 the church burned but was
reconstructed. By 1938 the church membership reached 2,500, the largest
in Chicago with a Sunday School membership of 1,659. However, urban and
population changes resulted in a shrinking membership and in 1973 the
congregation made the decision to merge with River Forest.
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Maywood
Shortly after the new village of
Maywood was formed in 1869, non-denominational services were held in the
depot of the Northwestern Train Station. In 1873, The First Methodist
Episcopal Church was built on donated land at the corner of 6th and
Pine. William Drummond was commissioned and a building in the shape of a
Maltese Cross was dedicated in September 1913. In 1954, a much needed
building addition was constructed to accommodate the 600 Sunday School
members. In the early 70's, Maywood experienced the same population
changes as Austin, and in 1973, during its 100th Anniversary
celebration, the congregation joined with Melrose Park to form Covenant
United Methodist Church.
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Forest Park
In 1872, Onward Mission, meeting
in a building at Marengo and Franklin, was started in the village of
Harlem (Forest Park) to teach the German immigrants settling there. The
Chicago German Conference chartered a congregation in 1897, and in 1900,
the church name was changed to Forest Park Methodist Chapel. Ground was
broken at the corner of Thomas and Adams for the Community Methodist
Episcopal Church, later renamed Wesley United Methodist, was dedicated
in 1919. The parsonage at 620 Hannah was purchased in 1920. On June 7,
1988, a fire caused by workers replacing the 70 year old roof, destroyed
the building. For the next five years, the congregation met in Field
Stevenson School. During that time, Wesley entered a two point charge
with Covenant United Methodist Church of Melrose Park, sharing a full
time pastor. Along with Covenant, the Forest Park congregation merged
with River Forest in 1993.
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Melrose Park
As early as 1879, the first
Swedish immigrants to this area found work in Oak Park and Forest Park
and formed a Methodist Society, meeting in homes until they acquired
land at the corner of 14th and Superior. The First Swedish Methodist
Episcopal Church, a small white frame building, was dedicated on
September 4, 1887. The building was enlarged and restyled in 1892, but
on Palm Sunday 1913, the day the mortgage was paid, it was demolished by
a tornado. A new brick building was dedicated later that year.
Eventually the Swedish conference merged and the church became known as
Melrose Park Methodist Church. Most of the church was razed in 1961 to
make room for a larger building to accommodate the growing membership.
In 1973, with the merger of Maywood, it became Covenant United Methodist
Church. From 1985 to 1993, having sold the church and parsonage to
Westlake Hospital, the congregation shared the facilities of the
reconstructed First Presbyterian Church of Melrose Park and a pastor
with Forest Park. In 1993 the congregation found a new home in River
Forest.
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River
Forest United Methodist Church