A Church Chartered in 1953 on Winthrop Avenue
Westminster Presbyterian Church of Joliet is a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregation that gathers at 1015 Winthrop Avenue in Joliet, Illinois. The congregation was chartered on December 27, 1953, during an evening worship service at Taft Elementary School, which stood just east of the current property at the corner of Ingalls and Oregon Avenues. The church marked its seventieth anniversary with the PC(USA) in December 2023.
The congregation took shape in the years before that charter Sunday. Rosalind (Roz) Pence Pohl and other women and men of the new church raised money by preparing and serving dinners for the Joliet Business and Professional Women organization, which met in the social hall of Central Presbyterian Church of Joliet at Richards Street and First Avenue. That earlier Central property is now part of the Jacob Henry Mansion Estate, a National Historic Landmark.
That dinner-table origin still sits lightly behind the life of the church, where potluck-style meals and a long-running men's chili cookoff keep members around the same room week after week. The church at 1015 Winthrop Avenue continues to serve a neighborhood west of downtown Joliet.
A Matthew 25 Calling: Vitality, Racism, Poverty
Westminster Presbyterian identifies as a Matthew 25 church within the PC(USA), a denomination-wide commitment that asks congregations to act on three fronts at once.
The first is building congregational vitality, which the church describes as challenging people and congregations to deepen their faith and get actively and joyfully engaged with their community and the world. The second is dismantling structural racism by advocating and acting to break down the systems, practices, and thinking that underlie discrimination, bias, prejudice, and oppression of people of color. The third is eradicating systemic poverty by working to change laws, policies, plans, and structures that perpetuate the economic exploitation of people who are poor.
Two phrases the congregation uses to describe itself capture the spirit of that calling. The first is "Grounded in Christ, Rooted in Gospel, Singing to the Lord." The second is "Living and growing in the Holy Spirit." Together they point to a worship life that takes music seriously and a faith that is lived out beyond Sunday morning.
Sunday Mornings at 10:00, and a Spanish Congregation at Noon
Sunday worship is held at 10:00 am Central Time. Anyone who cannot be present in the sanctuary is invited to follow the service through a livestream on the church's Facebook page, with the order of worship published in a weekly bulletin and a parish newsletter called the West-Pres Weekly. Both documents are posted online and can be printed for home use.
The building hosts a second congregation on Sundays. Iglesia Cristiana Nueva Esperanza shares the Westminster sanctuary for its Spanish-language worship service at 12:00 pm. The two congregations share a roof but keep distinct worship rhythms.
Music has a clear place in the Westminster service. The choir and handbell choir lead a cantata on Palm Sunday, and the Christmas cantata is a recurring part of the Advent season. A Pentecost worship service with a shared lunch follows the Pentecost Sunday liturgy.
The Building as a Community Hub
Beyond Sunday morning, the Winthrop Avenue building is a working piece of the surrounding neighborhood. The church is a registered polling place for elections, hosts community blood drives, and welcomes NAMI Will-Grundy (the local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness) to use the building for board meetings, volunteer meetings, and Connection and Family Support Groups.
Westminster supports the St. John Lutheran Church Food Pantry by dedicating the first Sunday of each month to a special offering that goes directly to that pantry. The Men's Fellowship chapter of the church turns that generosity into a public event each year with a chili cookoff and silent auction that benefits the food pantry and other missions. Neighborhood connections also take the form of a community pig roast and a Trunk or Treat for area families.
A Little Free Library stands on the church grounds, open to anyone who wants to take a book or leave one. It is one of the quietest expressions of the church's outward-facing posture.
Lenten Rhythms, Cantatas, and the Men's Chili Cookoff
Westminster follows the traditional Christian calendar with attention. Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Palm Sunday, and Easter Sunday each carry their own services. Palm Sunday brings the choir and bell cantata, followed by a brunch hosted by the Board of Deacons. The Advent season closes with a Christmas cantata and another Deacons-hosted brunch. Pentecost Sunday combines worship with a shared meal.
The Board of Deacons is one of the visible lay-leadership groups in the church. The Men's Fellowship is another, and its annual chili cookoff and silent auction is one of the most photographed events in the church's photo album collection, alongside the Trunk or Treat, the neighborhood pig roast, and the seasonal cantatas.
Giving, the Chimes Newsletter, and Staying Connected
Westminster is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 36-2654365), listed with GuideStar. Online giving is handled through the Presbyterian Mission Exchange, a service of the Presbyterian Foundation, using Vanco as the secure processing partner. Gifts can be one-time or recurring on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual basis, and the church accepts memorials and special offerings with a note in the Notes section of the giving form. Online giving is available on the church's Donate page.
Other giving options include bill payment through one's own bank, donations of appreciated securities (with paperwork supplied by the church for both the financial advisor and the Presbyterian Foundation), Qualified Charitable Distributions from an IRA, Donor Advised Fund gifts, and legacy gifts by naming the church as a beneficiary on life insurance, an annuity, or in a will. The church notes that none of this is intended as tax or financial advice and recommends consulting with personal advisors.
The Chimes newsletter, available as a printable PDF, carries parish news and announcements. A Google Calendar embed on the church's calendar page shows the upcoming schedule, and seasonal gatherings are featured on the Events and Special Days page.
Finding Westminster Presbyterian
The church stands at 1015 Winthrop Avenue in Joliet, Illinois. The office number is 815.725.6687 and the office email is office@westpresjoliet.org. The congregation maintains a presence on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Visitors can join in person on Sunday mornings, follow the livestream from home, or reach out through the church office during the week.