OUR STORY · OUR FAITH · OUR PEOPLE
Who We Are
A community rooted in Scripture, committed to family, and alive with the Spirit. We've been right here in Channahon for over 60 years — and everyone is welcome here.
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Prayer meeting in Westerveld Feed Store
was held to seek God’s will in
establishing a church in Channahon
March 3, 1963, First Baptist Church of Channahon
was officially constituted with Frank Brookman
as pastor and 65 charter members
Charles Owens
becomes
senior pastor
In April 1968, the church agrees to
build an auditorium
and the first service
in the new building was January 19, 1969
Billy Buchanan baptizes 56 converts
in his first full year of ministry at FBC.
Gale Harper accepts the call as senior pastor
upon Billy Buchanan’s retirement.
Randy Dempsey
becomes senior pastor
Randy Blan believes God called him
to start a flagship church
in Channahon, IL.
FBC purchases property on
Eames St. in Channahon
to build a new church building.
Families of Faith Christian Academy is started
as a ministry of First Baptist Church.
First Baptist Church of Channahon was led to change
their name to Families of Faith Church. The church
and school move into phase 1 & 2 of the Eames St. campus.
Construction on the sanctuary
and church offices
was completed and the church moved
into the completed facilities.
John Cichy becomes
lead pastor of
Families of Faith Church.
Mission
Families of Faith is a Biblically-based church that loves God and His people. We seek God's will through worship and prayer, while boldly proclaiming the Gospel to everyone.
Vision
Committed to helping people have a personal, growing relationship with God, we stand together, accountable to God — as we work to encourage and strengthen one another.
Values
We provide teaching, fellowship, and ministries to meet the needs of local families. We work to create an atmosphere of acceptance through love, compassion, and awareness.
AS A CHURCH BUILT ON THE BIBLE
What We Believe
The Bible
The Bible, both Old and New Testaments, is the inspired Word of God — fully complete and without error. We believe it contains all that is necessary to lead people to salvation and to live a righteous life, and that it is the ultimate authority in all matters of faith and Christian living.
Eternal Life
People are eternal beings. We will spend eternity after this life either with God in eternal happiness, or without Him. We believe that through faith in Jesus, we are granted an eternity with God in heaven.
The Church
The word "church" originally meant "gathering." We believe the church is not a building or a denomination — it is the believers themselves who make up the church. Every person who trusts Jesus is part of His church.
Jesus
Jesus is the divine Son of God, the only sacrifice for our sin, and our guarantee of God's never-changing love for us. We believe that He died, rose again, and is now seated at the right hand of God. One day Jesus will return to earth to receive those who believe in Him.
The Holy Spirit
God the Father still speaks to His children today through His Holy Spirit, who always agrees with God's Word. We believe the Holy Spirit uses the truths in the Bible to speak to the hearts of God's children and lead them into His will for their lives.
Meet Our Pastors
Pastor John Cichy
Lead Pastor
Lead Pastor, John Cichy, has been with us since 2020. He served as our Youth Pastor and taught Jr. High and High School Bible classes at our academy.
He is passionate about seeing people grow in their relationship with Christ.
Pastor John, his wife Candice, their son John Jr., and daughters Mickie June and Judah Paige very much look forward to the future God has planned.
Pastor Michael Kratochvil
Associate Pastor
Michael, Amy and their children Abigail Grace and Frank William have been members of Families of Faith since 2014.
Michael initially started off preaching and guiding men struggling with addictions at Morning Star Mission.
Then in 2016 he began pastoral discipleship under the mentorship of our beloved Pastor Clark.
In 2021 after Pastor Clark went home to be with our Lord, Michael started leading our Midweek Connection service on Thursdays.
He and his wife Amy can also be found Sunday mornings teaching one of our children’s ministry classes.
