Our History

 

Our Saviour’s United Methodist Church, affectionately known as OSUMC, began as a small group, a house church. In November, 1957, a dozen gathered together in Hoffman Estates in establishing interest for a Methodist Church. An organizational meeting was held on March 16, 1958 and eighty-five young adults aged in their 30's became charter members. Having no building or land of our own, we began to meet for worship and study in schools and public buildings.

 

On October, 1958 the congregation voted to purchase a five-acre site on the south side of Golf road, just east of Basswood in Hoffman Estates. This is now the site of Portillo’s Restaurant and House of Bride's. It took two years to construct the building and the first service was held on Christmas Eve, 1960 which included 275 members for the church service and 186 for Sunday School. Even so, the church was expanding and the numbers of children growing, so we still had to use the halls and gymnasium of Twinbrook School on Sunday mornings. For our tenth anniversary in 1967, we added an education wing to the church building.

 

One special characteristic of OSUMC is our interest and support of missions. Our first youth mission trip in July of 1977 was to work on an Indian reservation in Farmington, New Mexico. Each year since we have done something similar. One year we even sent 50 youth and adults to Monterrey, Mexico. But most years we have worked in the Midwest from Ohio, to Michigan, to Appalachia. We have helped refurbish homes for the needy, built out buildings, repaired roofs, painted churches, poured concrete walkways for a camp, put up drywall, installed doors, built porches and had a great time doing it. The youth earn money for their mission project by selling parking places for the annual Schaumburg community festival of Septemberfest. Now junior high students have their own mission projects as do our adults.

 

In 1968 we officially became Our Saviour's United Methodist Church. Up until that time we were simply Our Saviour's Methodist Church. But in 1968 the Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church joined together to form the United Methodist Church.

 

By 1986 we had out-grown our church building on Golf Road. So we sold the land and bought the property (7.9 acres) at our current site, located at the corner of Schaumburg and Plum Grove Roads in Schaumburg. During the construction of our current building we met in Conant High School. During the months there, the church grew some more! We began services in our new location on Easter of 1990. Since that time the membership has grown and OSUMC has continued to evolve. 

 

We trust that just as God has guided us in the past, so God will guide us into the future.

 

So we go forward with joy and confidence. Thanks be to God!