Our History
Summit Bible Church had its origin in 1890 when a Sunday School was organized by the Lyons & Riverside Township Sunday School Association as a way of reaching the growing and flourishing community of Summit. The Sunday School met in a public school building until political opposition forced them to move out. This led them to meet in various places until 1895 when Moses Wentworth (nephew of former Chicago Mayor John Wentworth) donated a large tract of land for the construction of a building. On Easter Sunday, April 14, 1895, the Wentworth Chapel was dedicated on the corner of Hunt and Douglas Avenue.
On December 20, 1905, the First Congregational Church of LaGrange felt led and voted to take over the support of the work in Summit. As the Sunday School grew, Superintendent Mr. C.D. Knies and other leaders prayed and planned for an organized church to be planted in Summit. Mr. Knies did not live to see this accomplished. He was called from this life in June 1910. Mr. G.H. McKay was then appointed to take over the leadership of the work. With the help of his leadership and the prayers of its future members, a church would exist seven years later as The Summit Congregational Church, registered on May 27, 1917 with 35 members.
Years of steady growth followed, and in 1919 the Wentworth Chapel was moved to the rear of the lot and a new auditorium was erected. In 1922, Rev. J. Roy Stephenson, a young recent graduate of the Moody Bible Institute, was called as the new pastor of the church. Rev. Stephenson would go on to serve 38 years at the church. Under his direction the church grew to over 200 members and more than 450 Sunday School attenders. This led to the church outgrowing three separate buildings with the final building being our current facility, dedicated on November 22, 1953.
Yet the years of blessing did not continue uninterrupted. Due to vacancies in the pastorate, urban decline, and cultural change in Summit, the church’s membership and health declined. Under the leadership of Rev. David J. Bauer, who assumed the pastorate in 1988, the church was brought back to the health and fruitfulness that it once knew. The church grew under the leadership of Dave and his wife, Dolores, with emphasis on a younger generation and the Spanish speaking ministry of a Christian & Missionary Alliance church serving and holding services in the same building during his pastorate. This laid the foundation for the Spanish ministry that we have today.
Pastor Bauer would serve faithfully until January of 2005, when the leadership would be passed to Rev. Lee Selin, as the new pastor in a combination of Installation and merge of the Clearing Bible Church into Summit Bible Church. This merge allowed the CMA church to eventually purchase the Clearing Bible Church building and parsonage, near Midway Airport. The merge also facilitated SBC joining IFCA International, a fellowship of like minded Bible churches. Pastor Selin would serve as pastor until his sudden death in April 2011. Since then, with the help of the church planting and revitalization ministry Midwest Church Extension, SBC has brought in various pastors to minister at the church. Since 2023, Juan Gil has been serving as Resident-Minister and preaching in both the Spanish and English services, as part of the residency program of Midwest Church Extension.