(815) 758-0691 | Worship every Sunday @ 10 a.m.
(815) 758-0691 | Worship every Sunday @ 10 a.m.
Learn more about our church, history and team.
We are a progressive Christian church with a commitment to ensuring that all are welcome. We are an Open and Affirming church believing that the essential and unconditional love of God is offered to all. We invite you to bring your whole self here: your whole gay or straight self; your whole male, female, or non-binary self here; your whole young or old self here; your own black or white or brown self here; your whole Democrat, Republican, or Independent self here. We invite you to allow God to embrace your whole self and your full identity and bless it.
We believe that while the church or a pastor or the Bible might be good sources of wisdom that you also are a source of wisdom, Your lived experiences matter and give you agency as a child of God and an shaper of your own moral compass. We don’t hold to any doctrine or dogma as a test of your faith – but invite you to engage fully in the shaping and reshaping of a faith lived under the caring, loving, and watchful eye of what we refer to as a still-speaking God. We believe every generation is called to make the faith its own – and every member is invited to be an active participant in the creation of a faith that matters and remains relevant in today’s world.
We believe that Jesus uniquely embodied the love of God. We see his life and his words as a pathway to right relationship with God, with each other, and with all of creation. We believe as his disciples we, too, are called to embody God’s love to all.
As a part of the United Church of Christ’s Open and Affirming Coalition, we take great pride in saying no matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here. This means we are open to and affirming of the life choices you make in order to walk your sacred pathway. Our pastor is a trained LGBTQ ally, having attended workshops at Northern Illinois University and having now spend decades as an ally and advocate for the human rights of all. You can bring your whole self here to worship with us – and have it seen by God and embraced by our family in faith.
We are a committed Just Peace Church. This means we are of the belief that peace between peoples and communities and nations is not only possible, but preferable. It means that we are devoted not just to the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice. Rather than apply just war theories and look to rationalize the use of military force to settle disputes, we look for the pathways to finding peace through justice. We believe this is a critical element of the Christian faith and practice, and work hard to teach, to advocate for, and to envision pathways to peace in our hearts, our homes, our communities, our nation, and our world.
We are called to embody God’s love for all –
By living an active faith in service to others.
It is our express intent and desire to take all the love we feel from God and when we are with each other and transform the world by embodying that. We want to see each person as beloved. We want to have every encounter with another to end with them knowing that they are a person of worth and value – and that God and we accept them on their journey just the way they are.
We also want to activate our love in service to the needs of others. We believe that love for another cannot tolerate or accept the conditions that contribute to their unjust suffering. Whether the cause of their suffering be racism, homophobia, xenophobia, white supremacy, poverty, malnutrition, absence of health care, unkindness, abuse, mental illness, bullying, war, climate change or so many other sources of pain – we want to see the suffering, note the cause of it, and be active agents in creating a just world for all. We believe this is a matter of faith and people who are called to embody love must be active agents of transformation for the common good and the beloved community.
Our vision is to work until see a just world for all built through love for one another.
We see a better world is possible.
We see a future worth devoting our lives, time, and talent to create.
We see all persons living with dignity and respect.
We see human rights guaranteed to all.
We see children fed, nourished, sheltered, educated, and loved.
We see peace.
We see Earth restored.
We see people of all faiths and no faith working together for the common good.
We see governments dedicated to protecting the most vulnerable among us and no longer scapegoating the poor and the jobless and the houseless and the immigrant and the refugee as the cause of our pain.
We see communities restored and schools fully funded and healthcare accessible to and affordable for all.
We see all of this through the lens of Jesus – the embodiment of God’s love here on Earth.
Welcome to First Congregational UCC in DeKalb, Illinois. Know that above all we believe you are a beloved child of God. We invite you to bring your whole self into the spaces we create. We seek authentic encounters with our sacred. We believe that you are uniquely gifted and are created to be fully who you are to represent the full and diverse array of God’s faces here on Earth. No matter who you are, or where you are on life’s journey, you are welcome here.
Pastor John
We were formed as a church in 1854 when 8 worshippers banded together and wrote a covenant that read, in part, that we will receive all as equal in Christ “…irrespective of Color or condition in life,” and the we promise to “…watch over all with Christian fidelity and tenderness.”
Throughout our history we have worked to expand that circle of welcome to all, voting two decades ago to become an Open and Affirming church, amending our Constitution to read, in part: “We welcome into the full life and ministry of this church people of any race, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, nationality, ethnicity, marital status, economic status, or physical or mental condition.”
We are and have been active agents in the struggle for justice and peace, putting our faith into action for the sake of racial justice, environmental justice, women’s rights and dignity, LGBTQ+ rights and dignity, and so much more.
While our first church was built, and still stands, at the corner of 2nd street and Grove here in DeKalb, a new and larger sanctuary was needed completed on our 100th anniversary in 1954. It is this place we call home today on 1st Street, right across from the Clinton Rosette Middle School.
The Rev. Dr. John C. Dorhauer
John has served churches in Mayview and Lebanon, MO, has worked on Conference Staff with the Missouri Mid-South Conference and the Southwest Conference, and served two terms as the President of the United Church of Christ.
John as a Bachelors degree in Philosophy, a Masters in Divinity, a Doctoral Degree in White Privilege studies, and honorary Doctoral Degrees from Heidelberg College, Elmhurst University, and Chicago Theological Seminary.
John has a clear passion for justice offered through the lens of love. He has been married to his beloved Mimi for 40 years. They have three children, one daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren – all of whom they adore.
