Church Moving Into Old Circuit City

November 7, 2010

By Nikki Arseneau, Correspondent, Southtown Star Newspaper

The pastor of Solutions Church likes to dream big, and he has taken a giant leap of faith to prove it. Danny Dodge is moving his church, which currently meets at Lincoln-Way East High School in Frankfort, into the former Circuit City building in Matteson. "This building fits the vision of where we feel God wants us to go," Dodge said.  Dodge said he felt called to bring the nondenominational, Bible-based church to the south suburbs long before he stumbled upon the space. "Being from the Chicago area - I deemed (our church home) to be somewhere between U.S. 30 and Manhattan-Monee Road," Dodge said. "We could be 20 minutes from every type of person." So when Dodge came across the empty red-and-white Circuit City building for sale this spring, he started envisioning the possibility of having his two-year-old church meet in the 31,000-square-foot space.

"I saw the maroon plug, and I literally pulled out my business card and held it up in the air. Our colors are maroon, gray and white, and I made a phone call," he said. After negotiating for several weeks with a broker, Dodge found out on Good Friday his offer was accepted. "I cried and bawled my eyes out, and I was emotionally thankful," Dodge said. "It really was a good Friday." 

Again, he's thinking big. He dreams of the day the building can host job training workshops, after-school programs for children and events for single parents. The village of Matteson granted a special use permit and said it "welcomes" the church to the community. "In addition to offering various programs and community outreach, we believe they will have a significant contribution to Matteson and the neighboring communities," village administrator Brian Mitchel said. It has taken about six months for the building to be revamped, and the first service in the new space should be in the next few weeks. "Our desire is to do good," Dodge said. "We want to make a difference regionally."