Scripture, Prayer, and Fellowship on Hawthorne Boulevard
Glen Ellyn Covenant Church meets at 277 Hawthorne Boulevard in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, in a brick building where a long-running preschool shares the hallways with worship, classrooms, and a coffee bar called Higher Grounds. The congregation's tagline names what it is about: Scripture, Prayer, Fellowship. From those three priorities the church has organized its life around a threefold vision: Grow, Gather, and Go, and has built a year-round rhythm of programming that reaches from nursery through high school and into the lives of young adults, parents, and seniors.
The church is a member congregation of the Evangelical Covenant Church, a historic Swedish-rooted body of believers that is now thoroughly multi-ethnic and intergenerational. Pastor Jeff Root, a three-time graduate of Wheaton College and an ordained minister in the ECC, has served as senior pastor since 2011. He is joined on staff by Associate Pastor of Congregational Life Dawn Holt Lauber, Worship Leader Drew Elliot, Director of Student Ministry Joseph Sawyer, Director of Children's Ministry Elissa Schauer, Director of The Ark Preschool Holly Pelsor, and Financial and Facilities Manager Karen Shultz.
What a Sunday Morning Looks Like
The church gathers for worship every Sunday at 9:30 AM. Full services are recorded live and posted on the church's YouTube channel, so those who cannot be present in the sanctuary can join virtually from home. The musical style is intentionally blended: Pastor Drew Elliot leads a team that draws on music considered both traditional and contemporary, with room for the congregation to express love, praise, lament, confession, and thanksgiving. The worship arts ministry welcomes vocal and instrumental musicians who would like to serve on the team.
Children are welcomed from the very first visit. First-time families are asked to enter on the west side of the building, near the playground, and head to the Children's Check-In Desk just to the left of the entrance. A greeter will help with check-in, answer questions, and walk children to their classrooms. Year-round programming during the worship hour includes nursery care for ages 0 to 2, preschool classes for ages 3 to 5 (Pre-K), and elementary classes for kindergarten through fifth grade. During the school year (September through May) the children's ministry also offers a Sunday school hour from 11 AM to noon.
For adults, the Sunday school hour at 11 AM runs from September through May in Munson Hall, just after worship. Each fall the Adult Sunday School series takes a single theme and walks it through the autumn. The 2026 series, "Stewarding Our Story for the Glory of God," has brought in Wheaton College Old Testament professor Dr. Aubrey Buster, Kristin Sveen teaching on creativity through the Psalms of Lament, Daniel Sveen and Tom McAndrews from the finance team on money and mission, Mary Crickmore and Bradley Lauber on care of God's creation, Sarah Anderson and Barb Martin on prayer, and Kurt Tillman telling the congregation's own story.
After the service, the church practices a Swedish tradition it calls Fika: a moment to slow down, drink coffee, and be with friends over a pastry or sweet. Coffee is brewed at a station in Higher Grounds, and a coffee host from the Front Door Ministry helps engage visitors during the post-church hour.
Growing Through the Word
The commitment to Scripture shows up well beyond Sunday morning. The church has set a goal for every regular attender to read through the entire Bible on their own within three years, and has made this practical by offering several reading plans: a one-year plan, a two-year plan, and a three-year plan, plus a digital one-year plan through the Read Scripture app. There is a separate New Testament plan for students and a set of children's plans that walk through the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and the book of Proverbs.
Midweek Bible study is built into the life of the church in three flavors. The Men's Intergenerational Evening Bible Study meets every Wednesday from 6 to 7 PM during the school year in the Atrium, currently working through the book of Acts. The Women's Bible Study, called WOW (Walking With God), meets every other week on two tracks: Monday evenings at Pastor Dawn's home (6:45 PM fellowship, 7 PM study) and Tuesday mornings at the church in Higher Grounds (9:15 AM drop-off with coffee, 9:30 AM study begins). Childcare is provided on the Tuesday morning track. A separate Thursday morning women's Bible study meets online over Zoom each week to study the Gospel of John. A book club gathers in members' homes each month, and a small-group ministry, equipped with Right Now Media access and short studies written by Pastor Dawn on Philippians and 1 John, gives people a way to gather in homes around Scripture.
Prayer is built into the week as well. A prayer group meets Mondays from 7 to 8 PM on Zoom, and another meets Wednesdays from 10 to 11 AM in person in the church library. Both are open to anyone who wants to pray for the needs of the congregation and the world.
Gathering Across Generations
The fellowship priority is most visible in the calendar of midweek and evening programming. For children in kindergarten through fifth grade, Kids Midweek meets most Wednesdays from 6 to 7:30 PM, an evening of games, singing, a Bible story, and a craft or activity. The fall season includes Trunk or Treat and a Chili Cook-Off at Fall Fest, the Easter season brings an Easter Egg Hunt and Pancake Breakfast, and the summer closes with a Summer Family Fun Fest.
Middle school students, grades 6 to 8, gather for Jr League on Tuesdays from 7 to 8:30 PM, September through May. Each night follows the same rhythm: game, worship, message, and small groups. The high school version, Hi League, meets on Thursdays from 7 to 8:30 PM with the same four-part rhythm but teaching tailored to the questions and challenges of ninth through twelfth graders. Both groups welcome students who have grown up in church and those who are just beginning to explore faith. Sunday mornings, students in grades 6 to 12 sit together during the worship service, and from September through April a Sunday school class meets at 11 AM separately for middle schoolers and for high schoolers.
Moms of preschoolers and school-age children meet every other Tuesday from 9:30 to 11 AM in Higher Grounds for Moms Together, a time of conversation and encouragement currently working through the book Flourishing in Motherhood. Childcare is provided. The women's ministry also hosts seasonal gatherings such as Friendsgiving, Shine Like Stars, a Galentine's Party, and a Spring Tea that is open to females ages 5 to 95. The men's ministry hosts a Men's Pancake Breakfast in the Family Life Center, an outing to a Wheaton College football game, and a Men's Prayer Breakfast at Egglectic. A Young Adult Supper Club meets the first Monday of each month in different homes.
The church also reaches into the surrounding community through a regular pastoral presence at Covenant Living of Windsor, a nearby senior living community. Pastors from Glen Ellyn Covenant Church host Windsor Lunch with Pastors on the first and third Thursdays of each month from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM in the bistro, where residents bring their own lunch and enjoy conversation with the pastors.
Going in Service
The Go priority shows up in service. The church has organized a Front Door Ministry that makes Sunday morning hospitality a shared responsibility, with named roles for ushers, coffee hosts, communion prep and set-up, door greeters at the east and west entrances, connectors who help direct first-time families, and a parking lot attendant ministry that the church is building toward. Congregants can also step into teaching, small-group leadership, the worship team, the children's ministries, the preschool, or short-term service projects.
One of the church's recurring mission efforts is a Feed My Starving Children pack event, where volunteers from Glen Ellyn Covenant Church sign up for a session to hand-pack meals that are donated to food partners around the world. Within its own neighborhood, the church is committed to setting up sleeping mats for the homeless and to running a community garden in a way that is good for the environment, framing these as part of the same mission as sharing the good news of reconciliation with God through Jesus.
The Ark Preschool
Sharing the church building is The Ark Preschool, a half-day early childhood program for the wider Glen Ellyn community. The preschool is led by Holly Pelsor, a graduate of Benedictine University with more than a decade of experience in early childhood education, and is staffed separately from the church. The preschool hosts a play-based program with its own calendar and registration information, and it functions as a long-standing point of connection between the church and families who may not yet attend Glen Ellyn Covenant Church themselves.
What the Church Believes
As a member congregation of the Evangelical Covenant Church, Glen Ellyn Covenant Church affirms six core affirmations. The church holds to the centrality of the Word of God, understood first as Jesus Christ who "became flesh and dwelt among us," and secondarily as the Old and New Testaments, read in community with other believers under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It affirms the necessity of new birth, with baptism by dipping or immersion as the sign and symbol of that new birth. It embraces the whole mission of the church, holding that salvation involves bodies and the earth and not only souls and spirit. It views the church as a fellowship of believers who confess faith in Jesus Christ, commit themselves to one another, and submit to no authority other than Christ. It teaches a conscious dependence on the Holy Spirit, who is the link that enables believers to access God, hear the Word, receive grace, and love one another. And it practices the reality of freedom in Christ, holding to the saying, "In essentials, unity. In doubtful things, liberty. In all things, charity," which in practice means making room for differences on non-essential matters such as the mode and timing of baptism.
The church states its purpose plainly: "In response to the call of God and in the unity of the Spirit, our purpose as a church family is to make known the good news of saving faith in Jesus Christ, to enable our congregation to live and grow under his Lordship, and to reach out with the gospel to our community and the world, in partnership with the Evangelical Covenant Church and its Central Conference."
Leadership and Pastoral Care
The pastoral team reflects a mix of long tenure and new energy. Senior Pastor Jeff Root, who holds a B.A. in Business and Economics, an M.A. in Biblical Studies, and an M.A. in Evangelism and Leadership, all from Wheaton College, has served the church since 2011. He and his wife Jori grew up in Wheaton and now live there with their three children, Everly, Kysa, and Casey. Associate Pastor Dawn Holt Lauber, who holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford and a Master of Divinity from North Park Theological Seminary, joined the staff in February 2023 and is passionate about intergenerational ministry. Worship Leader Drew Elliot joined in October 2023 and also serves as Director of Recording Arts at Hope College in Michigan and as adjunct faculty there. Joseph Sawyer became Director of Student Ministry in August 2023, bringing experience from camp ministry at HoneyRock and a love of Chicago sports and Billy Joel. Elissa Schauer, who holds an M.A. in Biblical Studies from Wheaton College and a background in children's curriculum writing, joined as Director of Children's Ministry in August 2025.
The lay leadership of the church is organized around a Leadership Team chaired by Jay Carstenbrock, with Katie Johnson overseeing Care Ministries, Roger Lautz overseeing Property and Equipment, and Julie Munson overseeing Servant Resources. Congregants in need of pastoral care can submit a request to the church, and prayer requests can be directed to Jayne Bischoff.
Practical Information
The church office is reachable at 630-469-5405 and at office.admin@gecovenant.org. Giving is available online, and a sermon archive that reaches back to mid-2024 is available online, with audio recordings of recent messages from Pastor Root and Pastor Dawn arranged in series. A live stream of the Sunday service is available on the church's YouTube channel. The church building sits at 277 Hawthorne Blvd in Glen Ellyn, with children's programming entered through the west side of the building near the playground. Members and newcomers alike can get connected through a Newcomers Cohort Dinner series hosted in homes several times a year.