Our History

We trace our historic roots to the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation and its seventeenth-century doctrinal statements, the Westminster Standards. It has been the history of our congregation and denomination to proclaim the truths that were rediscovered in the Reformation to our community, nation, and world.

In 1962, when Hanover Park, IL was a frontier border, the western edge of Chicagoland, a Christian evangelist with a burden for winning souls for Christ drove past this new village and declared, “there needs to be a church here.” That same burden—to bring Christ to our community and serve Him in this place—carries on to the present day.

The story of God’s building of an Orthodox Presbyterian Church in the Northwest suburbs of Chicago is ultimately a story of God’s grace—free, sovereign, electing, and unmerited grace. Thus, it was altogether appropriate that the small nucleus of community families who gathered regularly for Bible study and Sunday worship as a village church should soon come to be known as Grace Chapel in 1963 when they first affiliated with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (“OPC”), and Grace Presbyterian Church in 1967 when it became a particular congregation of the OPC’s Presbytery of the Midwest.

Affiliation with the OPC came through leadership provided by the late Rev. George Marston and the congregation of Bethel OPC, Wheaton, IL. Several families from the original group of families remain active in the Church to this day. Grace OPC was finally organized as a congregation of the OPC in 1967, shortly after calling the Rev. James Bosgraf to be its first Pastor. Under Pastor Bosgraf’s ministry, a pattern of Christian hospitality was established at Grace Church, along with a vigorous commitment to the teaching and nurture of its children through Sunday school and the Westminster Standards. The congregation’s commitment to the extension of Christ’s Kingdom through planting churches in other communities was demonstrated over the years as it assisted in the establishment of new OPC congregations in Chicago, Grayslake and Springfield, Illinois, as well as Janesville and Madison, Wisconsin.

In addition to local residents of Hanover Park, Grace Church draws members from many other surrounding communities, including Bartlett, Barrington, Batavia, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Chicago, Des Plaines, Elgin, Elk Grove, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, Roselle, Schaumburg, Streamwood, Wheaton and Winfield. Those joining the church have come to Grace through a variety of means, including personal evangelism, outreach initiatives, and a variety of Christian ministries. Grace Church is Presbyterian and Reformed. This means we strive to proclaim the Whole Counsel of God. We seek to transform men, women and children through the proclamation of God’s Word. God has blessed His means of grace to our spiritual benefit. We exude confidence that He is always faithful. The purchase and construction of our current church building and place of worship in Hanover Park is just one of many testimonies to God’s faithfulness in meeting the needs of our congregation.

For more information about the history of the OPC denomination, please see www.opc.org