Historic church in northwest suburban Elgin damaged in weekend storms

ELGIN, Ill. — A round of powerful storms late Friday night into early Saturday morning left behind a trail of damage in the west and northwest suburbs.

Some of the heaviest damage could be seen in northwest suburban Elgin, where fire officials say emergency calls started flooding in at around midnight Friday as the storm system moved in.

For the most part, the damage was mostly contained to the east side of the suburb.

One of the buildings damaged, however, was Elgin’s historic First United Methodist Church, in the 200 block of East Highland Avenue.

The intense winds, reaching 70 miles per hour, ripped the roof off the 100-year-old church building, leaving a large section of the it exposed to the elements. Water ended up getting inside the church, but the extent of the damage is unclear.

The church’s 10 a.m. Sunday service has been moved to Zoom and can be accessed via the church’s website. Additionally, an in-person prayer vigil will be held at noon Sunday at Rogers Park in Elgin, next to the church.

At the time the storm swept through, church officials said about 60 people were sleeping in the church’s basement shelter but were not injured. The damage also sparked some road closures in the area, as the roof was thrown onto the nearby roadway.

First United Methodist is 180 years old and has occupied its current building for the last 100 years. Its previous church building was damaged by a tornado in the spring of 1920.

While the damage is significant after this storm, the majority of the building seems to be OK. Public works crews began cleaning up the damage early Saturday morning

“A good majority of my church is here,” First United Methodist Pastor Felicia LaBoy said. “So that gives me hope and confidence. I believe that we are just so very grateful for our team here at the church.

“This is shocking, to say the least, but I give God thanks and praise that this building, that we’re still here.”

In addition to the church damage, the storms also brought down several power lines in Elgin, including some that fell on railroad tracks. Fire crews said they received at least 30 calls about fallen power lines.

Friday started off unseasonably warm, and conditions stayed comfortable throughout the day before severe weather threats ramped up around 11 p.m., sparking several watches and warnings in the area, including several Tornado Warnings.

For the most part, the storms brought damaging winds and some hail, with some areas seeing gusts as strong as 68 mph.