Faith United Methodist Church

Faith United Methodist Church began in 1855 in Hoosier Grove, Illinois, about six  miles east of Elgin. It was mainly a German speaking congregation and they met primarily in private homes. Services were conducted in German and these church record books were also in the old German script until about 1915 or so. Because of the German, it was difficult for us to find people to translate these records. We apologize for any errors. The German continued until the time of World War I and by 1914-1915, except for two services, English was used.

After a few years in Hoosier Grove the church moved to several different locations in Elgin and in 1893 built and occupied the building at the corner of Highland Ave. and Center St. where it remained until it dissolved.

Over the years, as the result of church unions, this church has had different names. First it was called the First Church of Evangelical Association or ,in German, Ersta Evangelische Kirche. Then it was the First Evangelical Church from 1922 to 1946. From 1946 to 1968 it was called the First Evangelical United Brethren Church and finally Faith United Methodist Church. So if your ancestors belonged to a church with any of these names, they might be included in these records.

A series of four books have been indexed from 1872 to about 1982. A fifth book has not been located. The first four books that are indexed here are located at the Cornerstone United Methodist Church in Plato Center