History of our Church

In 1926, the Ukrainian Bible Students in Cicero started a Sunday School for its English-speaking children. They arranged for brethren from around the area to teach the young people. For a number of years, the "Junior Bible Students Class" met in brethren's homes and several rented halls. The Ukrainian young people were soon joined by the children of the Polish brethren. The attendance varied from a dozen to as many as thirty.

Generally, the "Juniors" elected a chairman, secretary, and treasurer. The chairman conducted both the business and Sunday morning meetings, and often had to find an available substitute speaker when the one scheduled didn't come. The secretary's job, among others, was to remind the speakers of their appointments. The treasurer had the hardest job; he had to find two dollars each week for the rental of the hall!

By 1940, the class grew to about twenty-five, and the "Sunday School" graduated to an "ecclesia" with four deacons. In 1944, four brethren were elected elders and others came to the growing class. The meetings were held for many years in the basement "chapel" of Bill and Stella Urbaniak. After a few years, though, the increase in attendance required the rental of the Olympic Building for Sunday services. In 1945, the first annual May Convention was held.

This congregation has long stood for Christian liberty. Working together can be the best way to do the Lord's work, but it needs to be done voluntarily, and not by coercion from or bondage to an arbitrary central organization. The Ukrainian and Polish brethren who started this class did so in the face of opposition from the "Society Headquarters", and often the Cicero class has made the choice for liberty.

In 1950, in order to encourage the "free brethren" in the United States and Canada, the Cicero elders arranged for a week-long general convention in North Webster, Indiana. About 250 attended this first "Unity Convention". It provided a meeting place for a whole week for brethren who could not meet anywhere else. Old friendships were renewed, new ones made, and with the passage of time, the convention changed its name to the "Berean Christian Conference". Since 1961, it has been held in Grove City, Pennsylvania. For information on this year's conference, visit our Upcoming Events page.

By the mid-1950s, attendance had grown enough to cause the brethren to think about buying a church building to accommodate everyone's needs. The opportunity came in 1957, when a local congregation announced they would be building a new church. Negotiations with them resulted in the purchase of the church building located at 5930 West 28th Street, where the Berean Bible Students Church has been until 2001.

In 2006 we have about 110 attendees for Sunday Services.