A Skokie Church Built on a Century of Mission
On the 8200 block of Kenton Avenue in Skokie, between Oakton Street and Main Street and between Skokie Boulevard and Crawford Avenue, Central United Methodist Church has gathered neighbors for worship, fellowship, and service since 1923. The congregation describes itself as multigenerational and multicultural, and welcomes everyone regardless of age, race, ethnicity, status, gender, or sexual orientation. Its motto, "Keeping God Central in Hearts, Minds and Lives," shapes both Sunday worship and the work that flows from it across the village and beyond.
From Niles Center Community Church to the Present Sanctuary
The congregation began in 1923 as Niles Center Community Church, sharing a storeroom in the Bronx Building on Dempster Street. Within a few years the young church needed a home of its own and found one in a most unusual building: a 4,000-square-foot log cabin constructed that same year by Dr. Melville Little, a physician who hired Finnish carpenters and patterned the design after the buildings of their homeland. The logs were white cedar, long and straight, harvested and shipped down from Phelps in the north woods of Wisconsin, and thirty-six tons of granite were placed in the foundation. The huge Great Room fireplace was built with cobblestones recycled from Chicago's old streets as modern pavements were laid; the fireplace alone cost $5,000, and the total cost of the Log Cabin reached $45,000.
The community purchased the cabin in late 1930 for $18,000 and changed its name to Central United Methodist Church. For more than two decades the Log Cabin served as sanctuary, parsonage, and Sunday school space. Ministers' families lived in three rooms on the first floor, and Northwestern University and Garrett Seminary students occupied the upper floor, paying part of their rent by firing up the furnace in winter and cutting grass in summer. The congregation grew with the Village of Skokie, and in February 1953 the last service was held in the cabin. The current sanctuary building opened the next Sunday, and the Education Building followed in 1957.
The sanctuary's antique-styled Nativity Window over the altar was the first stained glass in the church and remains a focal point for visitors, depicting the gift of God's love through the birth of the Christ child. Above the entry, the Resurrection Window, lit in jewel tones, greets worshippers as they walk in. The sanctuary is heated, air-conditioned, and accessible, served by a full-sized elevator.
Sunday Worship at 10:30
Worship is held every Sunday at 10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary, in person and online. Communion is celebrated at every service. The gathering is built for all ages; children are welcome to take part as ushers, communion servers, and readers alongside the adults. Services are livestreamed on the church's YouTube channel, where past services are archived for those joining from home.
The hour before worship is set aside for study. At 9:00 a.m., Sunday School classes for young people and an Adult Study group gather, currently through Zoom. A separate Adult Bible Study using the "Seasons of the Spirit - Adult" study guide meets at 9:30 a.m. over Zoom, and sermon recordings remain accessible online.
Music Rooted in the Philippines and Skokie
Music is a defining strength of the congregation. The Chancel Choir rehearses on Sunday mornings from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. and on Thursday evenings, and welcomes singers of all experience as a non-audition group. Its director, Millete Silverio, has shaped that ministry since 1997, accompanying choirs, soloists, and instrumentalists on piano and organ and arranging musical offerings that often move the congregation to tears. Silverio began studying piano at age three, performed as a soloist with the University of the Philippines Symphony Orchestra in sixth grade, and toured Europe with the world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers, bringing home top awards in choral competition. In the Philippines she was resident pianist for Repertory Philippines, the country's premier theater company, and played keyboards for a well-known rock band before moving to the United States.
The Chancel Choir is joined at various points by a Children's Choir and guest artists; Central also hosts concert series that have featured musicians performing American and Filipino repertoire. Congregational singing pulls everyone in - traditional hymns, contemporary praise songs, and global music reflecting the diversity of the people in the pews.
Children, Youth, and a Half-Century of Boy Scouts
Young people are woven into the life of the church. Sunday School meets weekly, and the nursery is staffed during worship by Ellen Mittman, who has held that role since 2001 and holds certificates in infant and preschool care. Children and youth serve at the church in many ways, from flipping pancakes with the Boy Scouts to planting trees and flowers, decorating for holidays, and sharing their talents in worship services.
The Youth Group meets twice a month on Sunday evenings from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. in the Log Cabin for activities and fellowship. Boy Scout Troop 72 has made the Log Cabin's balcony its headquarters since 1955; the troop meets every Wednesday from September through June, 7:30 to 9:00 p.m., and has been sponsored by Central UMC for more than half a century.
Adult Study and Fellowship Around the Log Cabin
Beyond Sunday morning, Adult Bible Study gathers via Zoom on Sunday mornings, and a virtual book club meets on the last Wednesday of each month to discuss titles drawn from the intersection of faith and inner life. United Methodist Women meet throughout the year, and the fellowship calendar includes a monthly Ladies Night Out in the Log Cabin with dinner and a movie, a monthly Men's Dinner and Movie Night, and monthly Canasta in the Log Cabin as well.
Tai Chi gathers in the Log Cabin and on Zoom on Tuesday mornings from 9:00 to 9:45 a.m., offering a slower-paced entry into the week. Office hours are Wednesday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Serving Skokie and Beyond
Central's Mission Committee keeps the congregation connected to the wider community. Members serve as volunteers with the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Donations are collected on the first Sunday of each month for the Niles Township Food Pantry. Gifts and supplies go to Kids Above All. Several members write letters of encouragement to prisoners through a prison ministry correspondence program. Ornaments of Joy purchases Christmas gifts for organizations such as Howard Area Community Center and contributes funds to the Village of Skokie for gift cards for local families in need.
The congregation's largest annual mission effort is Promise of the Rainbow, a program of the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church, where each band of the rainbow represents a project - local, national, or international - that serves those in need. Members also support the University Christian Ministry at Northwestern University, serving on the UCM Board, contributing to the ministry, preparing students a Sunday dinner on occasion, and joining them for an Easter morning sunrise service on Lake Michigan. Congregations have also participated in environmental cleanup and developed resilient social and emotional supports for children in the wider community.
The Log Cabin Today
What began as a private home survives as one of the most distinctive buildings in Skokie. The Log Cabin is still used for classes, meetings, youth group activities, and Boy Scout Troop 72's weekly gatherings. The huge Great Room fireplace, built with cobblestones recycled from Chicago's old streets when modern pavement was laid, still anchors the space. The balcony overlooking the Great Room, once a vantage point for musicians performing at dances, later a choir loft and Sunday school classroom, has been the home base for Troop 72 for decades.
Sharing the Building
Beyond its own ministries, Central extends hospitality through long-term partner relationships. Jesus-Love UMC, St. James Philippine Independent Church, Grace Assyrian Church, the Heineman Piano Studio, and The Concert Opera of Greater Chicago all use Central's facilities alongside the church's own programs. The Log Cabin, Fellowship Hall, and recently updated lower-level rooms of the Education Building are also available for rental for social functions and musical presentations, with reduced rates for church members.
Visiting Central
The church is located at 8237 Kenton Avenue in Skokie. Visitors enter through easy-opening doors; the sanctuary and lower-level education rooms are accessible by a full-sized elevator, and a family washroom is available. The building is air-conditioned. People of every background are welcomed at the door.
Central is led by Rev. Timothy J. Biel, Jr., who was appointed to the church on June 1, 2018, and has been preaching in the Northern Illinois Conference since 1993. He earned degrees from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary at Northwestern University and North Central College and focuses on spiritual formation and congregational development. He is supported by Choir Director Millete Silverio, Church Administrators Doris Bloom and Marides Haidari, and Nursery Attendant Ellen Mittman.
Worship is the starting point: Sundays at 10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary or on the livestream. From there the life of the church radiates outward, through choir music, Sunday School, food pantry collections, the Boy Scouts in the Log Cabin, and a steady promise to keep God central in hearts, minds, and lives.