In 1975, the congregation decided to expand the church by building a 130-seat nave and sanctuary immediately adjacent and joined to the existing building. At that time, two acres were sold to help finance the construction. The new space was dedicated in 1976.

In 1982, St. Paul’s Church was one of the first churches in the Chicago Diocese to implement the “Search and Call” process. When Marion Mailey was called as their rector in 1983, she became the first female rector in the Diocese of Chicago.

In 1983, a Columbarium was built immediately to the north of the building. Its beautiful garden setting provided a contemplative environment for remembering loved ones.

At the annual parish meeting in 1983, church members decided to petition the Bishop for parish status. This was granted at the Annual Diocesan Convention in 1983.

As the church continued to grow, further expansion was needed. In 1996, the congregation began work on a 3,000 sq. ft. parish hall and kitchen, as well as an administration wing. Once again, the addition was contiguous to the existing facilities.

In 2007, we began our Little Cherubs Preschool, which served young children until 2014.

The St. Paul Diaper Bank Partnership, begun in 2009, was one of the first diaper banks in the country and our blueprint was widely put to use in other communities. In 2014, having grown into a major operation, it spun off as its own 501(C)(3) and is now known as the Diaper Bank of Northern Illinois.

For a number of years, we partnered with Transitional Living Services to create Betts’ Place using property and buildings that had been bequeathed to St. Paul’s to house veterans who were working toward transitioning into civilian life. When the needs of TLS outgrew Betts’ Place, the property was sold.

After a period of prayerful discernment, the focus of our outreach has been related to the issue of hunger in our community. Beginning in 2015, we have sponsored seven (7) Mobile Food Pantries. We found this to be a worthwhile ministry as we served 100 to 150 families with each truck.

As needs shifted, we discerned that we would focus our ministry toward the children in our community. We made the decision to direct our support to the Food for Thought food pantry in our local high schools. Food for Thought discretely provides food to high school students who experience food insecurity in their homes.

Outreach to high school students inspired our application for grant money to provide scholarships to First Generation college students. We were awarded a generous grant which we have allocated toward supporting students entering McHenry County College.

In 2020 we sold our original church building to relieve us from mortgage debt and free up our resources to devote to ministry. We are currently sharing worship space with the First United Methodist Church in McHenry. We provide a strong base from which to build our church as we continue to seek ways to reach out to those around us and draw them to the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is all part of our growing understanding of what God is calling us to do and who God is calling us to be in this time and this place. We don’t want to just come to church…we want to BE the church! If this sounds like something you’d like to explore, come check us out.