Eight Oaks Community Church
However you got here, you're welcome.
Eight Oaks is a non-denominational community church serving the east side of Aurora since 2009. We teach the Bible plainly, take care of each other, and try to make it easy to walk in for the first time.
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Warm, candid wide shot — people greeting each other in the lobby on a Sunday morning, golden natural light.
Real photo with consent on file required before launch. Adults sign waivers; any minors require parental consent on file.
- Sundays at 10am
- East side of Aurora, IL
- Childcare birth–grade 5
- About 120 regular attenders
What we're about
Plain Bible teaching, real community, care that shows up.
Eight Oaks exists to be a small, normal-size church where people actually know each other — where you can ask hard questions about belief, where Sunday is something you look forward to, and where there's someone to call when life goes sideways. We are not a megachurch. We are not a denomination. We are about 120 regular attenders, four staff, a Sunday morning service, and the work of being a church together the rest of the week.
Read more about usVisiting us
What to expect
Candid photo — honest hospitality. Real photo with consent on file required before launch.
Honest hospitality
We make it easy to come, ask hard questions, and leave without pressure.
Candid photo — real teaching. Real photo with consent on file required before launch.
Real teaching
We open the Bible plainly. No celebrity worship, no entertainment culture.
Candid photo — care that shows up. Real photo with consent on file required before launch.
Care that shows up
We send meals, sit at hospital beds, and answer the phone when life goes sideways.
Community
Find your place
Warm portrait of James Holloway. Real photo with consent on file required before launch.
A welcome from James Holloway, Pastor (since 2014)
I spent nine years as a hospital chaplain before this. What stuck with me is that people mostly need someone who shows up — so that’s what we try to be.
Eight Oaks isn’t polished and we don’t pretend to be. We’re about 120 people who sing on Sunday, work through the Bible a chapter at a time, and try to answer the phone when someone’s having a hard week.
James Holloway
Pastor (since 2014)
Things people ask before visiting.
No. Most Sundays we have several first-time guests. There is no special welcome ceremony, no being asked to stand and introduce yourself. Walk in, take a seat anywhere, leave when service ends. If you want to talk afterward, people wearing 'First Visit' lanyards near the back are looking for you. If you'd rather just observe and slip out, that's also welcome.
Whatever you're comfortable in. Most people wear casual clothes — jeans, sneakers, a t-shirt or sweater. There is no dress code.
About 60 minutes total. We sing 4-5 songs together (lyrics on screens, no expectation that you sing), someone teaches from the Bible for 25-30 minutes, and we close with another song. Communion is shared on the first Sunday of the month — guests can take part or pass.
Yes. Eight Oaks Kids runs during the entire service for ages birth through 5th grade in a clean, secure, signed-in/signed-out space. Visitors are welcome to keep their children with them in the service if that's more comfortable.
No. We pass an offering bag during the service, but guests are not expected to give. Regular giving is online via the giving link in the footer; the bag is only there because that's how members choose to participate.
Bring them. Our monthly First Visit Class is specifically for new visitors with questions — about belief, doubt, things that have made church hard in the past, anything. The pastor is also available by appointment.
Ready to come visit?
Plan your first Sunday. We'll send everything you need.
We read every message and reply within 2 business days.