Pastor Jill Walker to Re-Open Former Lovington Church Sunday

Pastor Jill Walker to re-open former Lovington church Sunday For the JG-TC

LOVINGTON -- With much excitement and energy, Pastor Jill Walker will re-open the doors Sunday of The Revival Church of Lovington -- a church she once led for more than 20 years. Walker and her husband Mike bought the building last October for $10,000. An open house is planned from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday with a healing and deliverance service at 6 p.m. The Walkers also lead the Mattoon Revival Church located at 2520 Shelby Ave. The road they traveled to regain ownership of the Lovington church wasn't an easy one, but Walker said she harbors no ill feelings about what transpired with the church -- that she once agreed to give away -- and bought back. Jill Walker Ministries (JWM) first took ownership of the Lovington church in May of 1989 and began services that June. She said they paid $15,000 for the building. She led that congregation until May of 2010 when she decided she wanted to search for a church closer to their home in Mattoon. When closing the doors in 2010, she said she along with the church board decided to give the building away, completely furnished, to another denomination. She said she had communicated her wishes to the overseer of that group for the building to remain a house of worship. Walker said she didn't get that part of the deal in writing. Years later, in September of 2015, Walker said she was disappointed to learn from a former congregation member, while visiting an area pumpkin patch, that her previous church had been sold -- empty of any furnishings. She was told the new buyer was going to turn the church into a restaurant and bar. A colleague gave her the name and number of the new buyer, who confirmed his intentions, she said. Walker said the building is rich in history as it was built in 1915. It was a Catholic Church until 1988, she said. It became her goal to rescue the church and preserve its history. Her first step was to contact personnel at the courthouse in Sullivan to find that the property sold for $5,000. After praying about the issue, she said she decided to offer $10,000 for the building, a request that was at first denied. Several days after she made the offer, the man called her while she was on vacation. She said he decided he wanted to sell it and use the funds to pay off his home. The Walkers now have invested more than $79,000 to renovate and furnish the church. It is now complete with upgrades including improvements to the stained glass windows, pews, a sound system, a piano, drums, a new kitchen and bathroom, and a nursery. Pastor Walker enhances her services with a music ministry as she is a seasoned musician playing the piano, guitar, drums, flute and clarinet as well as vocals. She is joined by her daughter Abby, who plays the violin and sings. "If I had not went to the pumpkin patch that day, then I probably would have never gotten it back," she said. Walker is ordained by the Evangelical Church Alliance and has a degree in theology from the International College of Excellence, she said. Mike Walker is a vice president of construction for Colcon of Sullivan and also serves as assistant pastor for their Revival Church in Mattoon. The couple plans to continue their morning worship service at 10 a.m. at the Mattoon site. They reside in Mattoon and have five children; two are still at home. Both churches are more than 100 years old, and a granite memorial will be placed in the front yard of the Lovington location telling the history of the church and honoring its 100 years of existence.