One of the largest religious groups at Illinois State University has begun work on a $3.7 million overhaul of its building near the heart of campus, with hopes of better serving students in crisis and drawing in others — with a little help from a new coffee shop.
In need of more space, Encounter campus ministry acquired the former Campus Religious Center at 210 W. Mulberry St., previously home to several different religious groups. Construction has started on what will be a major remodel. When finished next summer, Encounter’s building on Mulberry also will be home to a new Lab Coffee shop and Truth in Love Counseling offices.
One side of the current 1960s-era building will be demolished, with plans for a 3,500-square-foot addition facing Mulberry Street with plenty of windows.
“That’s meant to be a front door to the campus,” said Robbie Osenga, who was in Encounter in college and is now leading the real estate and construction and design parts of the project. “The main goal is that we wanted to increase visibility and functionality to the whole campus and the community.”
Encounter has been mulling a new space for years. The group acquired the Mulberry property two years ago, trading its former home on Normal Avenue to some of the Mulberry owners. It was a complex deal: Ultimately five boards of directors had to sign off on the transaction.
“Which only the Lord could do something like that,” said Encounter director Ben Miller.
The Lab Coffee shop — open to everyone — is aimed at “wanting everyone to be welcome,” Miller said. Today, some students may see an Encounter worship service as a space for them, he said. Others may not.
“It feels very black and white,” Miller said. “We wanted to create a space that’s a little more gray. How can we create a space that’s for everybody, that the values of community and belonging are held high? And there’s a further invitation to other things we do if they’d like to take those invitations.”
It follows a trend of partners co-locating on the same site.
Easterseals did it with the Bloomington-Normal YMCA. The new Farmhouse child care center in east Bloomington will have an Ivy Rehab for Kids satellite clinic. Another Lab Coffee location is inside Red Raccoon Games in downtown Bloomington.
“One thing we all learned during COVID in particular is how much we need each other, and we need community,” Osenga said. “Most students who come and live in the dorms across the street come independently, and they’re looking for a place to be known and that feels safe for them. And so there was an opportunity to have a physical environment — a coffee shop — that everyone knows it’s an open door.”
Currently, Encounter hosts weekly worship service Tuesday nights at Capen Auditorium on ISU’s campus, as university schedules allow. But when finished, Encounter will have the option to do it in the new building instead. The coffee shop space can be converted into a roughly 300-person worship space.
One of the goals of the new space is to better serve students in crisis, said Miller. Around 125 students meet weekly with Encounter staff, Miller said, and sometimes they raise significant issues such as suicidal thoughts or an eating disorder.
“It becomes pretty clear in that moment that we are good people for them to be talking to, but they should also be talking to someone who has some training and knows how to help take steps forward with that,” said Miller.
To meet that need, Truth in Love Counseling, a Christian therapy practice based in Bloomington, will place three full-time counselors in its portion of the Mulberry Street building. There also will be a new room for six to eight students doing a two-year internship focused on vocational ministry.
Encounter formed in 1967 as the Christian Collegians. It’s now defined as a parachurch ministry, serving as a bridge between college students and local churches. Its 16 staff members (including interns) serve students from ISU, Illinois Wesleyan University, and Heartland Community College.
The building project required a capital fundraising campaign, led largely by former Encounter student Catherine Poffenbarger. So far, $2.7 million has been raised toward the $3.7 million total cost, including contributions from Eastview Christian Church and Second Presbyterian Church’s Heart of Christ Fund. They hope to be debt-free by the time the building opens next June, Poffenbarger said.
“It’s been a lot of meetings we’ve all had, some very faithful donors that came out early that really got the ball rolling. And all of a sudden the ball was flying down the hill faster than we could catch it,” she said.
Encounter leaders had a clear vision for the project. That doesn't make it easy.
“The hardest part was just stepping out and believing that God would meet us on the other side of, not just the design process, but the fundraising process, the partnership process … And it shouldn’t be hard. I'm the one who often will stand on stage and proclaim, ‘Have faith,’” Osenga said. “And I'll be honest: This has really been testing mine, and we’re just super grateful to be here because God's proven really faithful in these steps.”
