Elvin Villanueva quickly realized his new church would offer hope to people on the same streets he once roamed as a gang member, cocaine user and survivor of overdoses and homelessness.

He and his wife, Roxana, planted Beyond Church in Elgin, Illinois, with a clear passion: God called the couple to start a church for those near to them but far from God.

“Everybody wants the nations, but nobody wants their neighbors,” Villanueva said. “We believe the church and bride of Christ should reach beyond the four walls.”

So they started the Beyond Church in the summer of 2020 so that people far from God could find a personal and organic relationship with the Father. The church started in the Villanueva’s yard during the pandemic, when neighbors could see them worshiping, singing and hearing the preaching of God’s word.

“Little by little, he was building who we were as a church,” Villanueva said. “Why should we be inside the four walls? Let’s be out there.”

Church that attracts people to Christ gains momentum as city transforms

Elvin explained that Elgin is an old city about 30 minutes from downtown Chicago. He said that the city of more than 100,000 people has made progress since the 1980s in overcoming a history of gangs, drugs and other social struggles.

For a time, the city prompted people to tell him, ‘I’m going to call you, but I’m not going to come visit you,’ he explained. Now the city has condos, casinos, a different identity and a much-improved situation.

Beyond Church is giving back to the community to keep the transformation spreading. 

They partnered with another Converge congregation, R Church, so God’s people shine like the noonday sun in the city. The two groups have worked together to clean up trash, build relationships with people without homes and share food and resources with needy families.

Xenia Delgado committed to Beyond Church’s vision to transform lives through a relationship with Christ, hearing from God and growing and learning together.

“We want to be that church that attracts people to Christ,” she said. “That really gets my heart pumping. I’m super excited to jump in.”

Catholics, witchcraft practitioners and many others find help for their needs

The church attracts a range of people from Elgin’s society, which is quite diverse. There are Venezuelans with a background in Santeria, Colombians, Puerto Ricans, Asians and people from many other places.

Some of the Villanuevas’ neighbors have Catholic backgrounds, while others view the world through the lens of witchcraft. Some who attend the church are Gen Z or millennials who don’t like religion, yet they appreciate Beyond Church.

“When they come to our church, they say, ‘You guys are different,’” Villanueva said. “They don’t feel like the church is scared of their tattoos.”

Beyond Church can be different in others’ eyes, he said, because the church cares about their wants and needs and their life experiences. That heart to help is a consistent motivator for Beyond Church. 

 

When they come to our church, they say, ‘You guys are different.’ They don’t feel like the church is scared of their tattoos.

Elvin Villanueva

For example, the church recently volunteered in parts of town where homeless people live under a bridge. They went to build relationships and share testimonies about how God has changed lives, including Villanueva’s.

“I have a passion for going out there and evangelizing and laying hands” on people in tent cities or under bridges, he said.

The church plans to keep building relationships with people who find themselves in the hard times that Villanueva once endured. He joined a gang when he was 12 years old and spent years on the streets, using cocaine, overdosing and even being homeless for months.

When Christ changed his life and saved him from his sins, one of his earliest acts was calling everyone he’d wronged and apologizing. That opened people’s hearts to Christ because, he said, they told him only God could change someone like him.

He agrees and has confidence the gospel can renovate anyone’s heart, mind and life. Villanueva said the church embraces dirty or uncomfortable ministry since Jesus said the church is like sheep among wolves. 

Nevertheless, Delgado said people have come to worship or discipleship experiences and have been changed since the church started three years ago. Because of the church, she said many people know what God’s word says about their family, relationships, jobs or other life situations.

“They see that they are able to tackle daily situations in a different way because Christ is working through them,” she said.

Delgado added the church is fulfilling Christ’s will by loving people where they are and helping them find a new way forward into the Lord’s will.

“We love them with the love of Christ,” she said. “We want to help out in any way we can.”

When the Scriptures come alive, people encounter Christ, not a franchise

Creating a church that engages people with that spirit comes down to a simple truth: Villanueva wants Beyond Church to reach out as the hands and feet of Christ, not an organization.

Such a perspective formed in Villanueva decades ago as spiritual leadership surprised his father in Puerto Rico. Villanueva’s father worked as a carpenter but found a Bible at a time when the Catholic Church didn’t allow Scripture reading by anyone except priests.

When Villanueva’s father opened the Scriptures, the page turned to Psalm 150, leading the carpenter and many others to begin praising the Lord in song, Villanueva explained. 

“They felt something different; the word of God came alive,” Villanueva said. 

The group left the Catholic Church at some point, but Villanueva’s dad continued helping people read the word from home to home, as the early church did in Acts. People were healed and transformed as they learned to pray, worship and love God.

After that, his dad started building houses of worship for churches and discipling people through the Scriptures. Eventually, someone qualified to be a pastor would rise from that church, and his dad would go and repeat the adventure.

“Close to 25 churches have risen up from that Bible,” Villanueva said, referring to the original Bible his father once found.

Now, in his preaching and leading through Beyond Church, Villanueva lifts high the name of Christ, the name that is above every name.

“I want to give them an opportunity to have an encounter with Christ instead of having an encounter with a franchise,” Villanueva added. “When we preach to them and say this is who I used to be and this is what Christ has done, they see a purpose, and they can say there is hope for me.”

Converge’s 10 districts have committed to deploying 312 church planters before 2026. Read more inspiring church planting stories and learn about the goal to send out 312 church planters in five years.