Welcome to Christ Presbyterian Church! We’re a local church body that loves Jesus Christ, believes the gospel, and values the centrality of God’s Word. We long to see Chicagoland full of vibrant followers of Jesus Christ, and we hope that you’ll join us in worship, discipleship, and service to Christ as we pursue that mission.
Denomination and Theology
Christ Presbyterian Church belongs to the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), and is part of the group of Chicagoland churches that make up the Chicago Metro Presbytery (CMP). Our church follows in the footsteps of the historically reformed Christian faith; we value both the tradition and creeds of the church, and also fresh and thoughtful engagement with our culture today through the gospel of Jesus Christ. CPC is governed by a session of elders, which is made up of our senior pastor, Rev. Jon Nielson, our two associate pastors, Caleb and Brian, as well as five ruling elders from the congregation. Our deacons are leaders from the congregation who serve the church by overseeing the building and grounds, finances, and general care of the congregation.
History
Nearly forty years ago, Christ Presbyterian Church began its journey as a local church. In 1984, a small group of men and women in Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates began a home-based Bible study. Faced with a lack of Gospel-centered, theologically reformed churches in the northwest suburbs, these men and women met to encourage one another in the faith, study the Word of God and its application to their lives, and foster a community of believers that would be able to grow over time.
Led by Paul Taylor, now a missionary in the Philippines, the group began to form the vision of a new church in the Schaumburg area. Jim Phillis served as the first pastor (1984-1987), but it was under the leadership of the following pastor, Tom Perucci (1988-1994) that Spring Valley Presbyterian Church, as it was then called, moved from an informal gathering to a formal church. The congregation “particularized” as a PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) congregation in 1993. Shortly following this particularization, Paul Winters was called as senior pastor (1994-2011), and faithfully shepherded Spring Valley for 16 years, fostering continuing growth and maturity in the church body, and developing an ever-strengthening ministry focus on expositional preaching and intentional discipleship.
In 1999, after 15 years of meeting in a variety of facilities (from recreation centers to banquet rooms to local schools), the church purchased a plot of land in Roselle and built a permanent church building, just two miles from the center of Schaumburg. This building - located at 903 E. Nerge Road in Roselle - still serves as the home of CPC’s “North Campus.”
Between 2011 and 2017, Spring Valley was led by several different interim and full-time pastors, until in 2017, the church called Jon Nielson as senior pastor. Jon, his wife Jeanne, and their three (now 4) daughters moved back to their hometown Chicagoland, and Jon continues to serve joyfully and diligently in preaching, shepherding, leadership, and prayer as senior pastor of CPC Wheaton (the church name was changed from "Spring Valley Presbyterian Church" to "Christ Presbyterian Church" in 2019.
In 2019, spurred on by new levels of growth in numbers, CPC launched a second meeting location in Wheaton. Over the past three years, the Wheaton location has grown and flourished by God's grace. CPC Wheaton became its own particularized church in January 2024, with CPC Roselle also becoming its own PCA church - both churches seeking to serve members in their own local communities.
New ministry staff team members have been added along the way. In recent years, in addition to administrative, music, and children’s ministry staff, Brian Martin and Caleb Odell have joined the staff in full-time pastoral roles.
Today, Christ Presbyterian Church of Wheaton continues to grow and flourish, by God's grace. The leadership of CPC gives thanks to the Lord for the church’s growing impact on its members and community, and looks forward to seeing how He will use the church in the coming years, for His Kingdom and for His glory.
Distinctives
Here at CPC, we place great value on the centrality of the gospel of Jesus Christ, Word-centered expository preaching, vibrant and thoughtful corporate worship, liturgy and historic creeds of the faith, the celebration of the sacraments (Lord’s Supper and Baptism), family ministry and discipleship, and care for one another in the body of Christ. CPC members generally commit to regular attendance at the Sunday corporate worship service, involvement in one of our geographically-based “Community Groups,” regular support of the church through giving and prayer, and often some areas of service in the church. CPC’s congregation is generationally and economically diverse, and we deeply value the unity that we share in the gospel, which binds together followers of Christ from different generations, ethnic backgrounds, and socioeconomic situations. We love striving together to be a friendly and hospitable place; you’ll be greeted warmly here, and we love welcoming new faces into our community. Membership for people who want to make CPC their church home, we encourage them to consider joining us as members. The membership process will involve an interview with one or more of our elders, as well as some conversations and meetings to learn more about life at CPC. For more information about pursuing membership at CPC, please contact Pastor Jon.