The Village Presbyterian Church
THE HISTORY OF TVPC
Our history begins in 1892 when a group of local christians who had been meeting in the railroad station, took bold and courageous steps to form The Hope Union Church of Shermerville. A member by the name of George Kiest donated a lot at Church Street and Chpel Court where our first church building was erected. Originally, the congregation was heavily influenced by German speaking farmers from the area.
There were difficulties in the early years, and for the first 25 years, the church's size and vitality was somewhat dependent on itinerant preachers from Moody Bible Institure in Chicago. During the first 30 years, the membership did not increase as there was little money in the area and there was a succession of 42 ministers until 1922. In that year, the church funds were reduced to 35 cents, and the membership voted to become part of the Prebyterian denomination, in order to bring stability and support to the church. This was the same year that the Village of Shermerville changed it's name to Northbrook, and the Hope Union Church of Shermerville was renamed Northbrook Presbyterian Church.
There were other buildings throughout the years, but a giant step in the pilgrimage of our congregation took place over 50 years ago when the Village Presbyterian Church built a sanctuary (our present Narthex) at our current Shermer Road site. The Village Presbyterian Church officially opened its doors on May 12, 1949 in order to have a facility which could reach every home in Northbrook. Later on, as the church grew, the congregation built its present sanctuary as well as the education wing of the church.
Another great step of faith occurred in 2000, when the TVPC church family made another courageous decision to expand and renovte the current building. This renovation campaign, entitled Building on Faith, identified long-term needs for TVPC which focused on enhancing three areas: safety, accessibility, and program space.