Rev. John Hannah, a South Side pastor, is spending $26 million on a new megachurch on the South Side neighborhood of Grand Crossing.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel was in attendance on Sept. 26 for the groundbreaking of Hannah’s newest church. The church is being built at 7600 S. Greenwood Ave., blocks away from Hannah’s other church, New Life Covenant Church, 1021 E. 78th St., with money raised by his 19,000-member congregation. Hannah will also spend $4 million on a daycare center for children ages 5 and younger, according to a Sept. 26 DNAinfo report.

“When you first said $26 million, I thought that was a lot of money,” said Jasmine Williams, a Grand Crossing resident. “Then I thought, ‘He wouldn’t be building a church that big if he didn’t have the money or if he couldn’t afford it.”

Williams, a 29-year-old case manager for Employment and Employer Services, said it is a good idea to build a megachurch in Grand Crossing because it could bring positive energy and create opportunities for a low-income area. Grand Crossing, a South Side neighborhood, had a median household income of $34,773 in 2012, according to the American Community Survey.

“I could imagine it bringing some positive things to the community,” Williams said. “People may move closer to be near the church. You can put something nice in the community, and it can spread out and create other opportunities. It’s a $26 million church. That’s a lot of members. Maybe they will need a cafe or something and people will have smoothies after church.”

Mechelle Harrison, 29-year-old  Englewood resident, said she is not in favor of the new church. She said a church of that size does not need to be in Grand Crossing.  

“I don’t think [the church] needs to be that big,” Harrison said. “I think it [will] take up a lot of unnecessary space that could be used for something functional, maybe providing a job or two, [like] a grocery store.”

Although Harrison disagrees with the placement and cost of the church, she said the $4 million dollar daycare Hannah is building should bring jobs to the area. Williams also said the daycare is a great idea not only because of the opportunities it will provide for the community, but for the children as well.

“[The daycare] could be a resource for the community in general because when you have something like that, you have people who live in the community who will bring their kids to the daycare, even if they are not affiliated with the church,” Williams said.

Harrison said the daycare could help the working South Side residents who have young children.

“I believe that it can help the community,” Harrison said. “It can help the working parents that need a safe environment for their kids, and hopefully it could provide jobs. [The church] is going to need someone that can watch the kids.

Monica Bobbitt, a junior radio major, said she grew up attending small churches on the West Side and that the idea of a church that big is unfathomable to her. Bobbitt said the money Hannah is spending could be used to feed the hungry or help the homeless.

“I understand that he’s trying to accommodate a lot of people in his congregation,” Bobbitt said. “I still feel like that’s too much money. It could be put to better use.”

Williams said she does not see a downside to the megachurch being built in Grand Crossing, but instead sees it as a safe haven for youth in the community.

“I hope that it touches the community [and that] it’s a place that youth can come and receive resources, with it being so big,” Williams said. “I hope it’s a place where young people can go, where homeless people can go, people who need help the most can go and find some type of help.”

Although Harrison said she does not agree with the location of Hannah’s new church being built in Grand Crossing, she said she thinks the church is about saving souls and whether it is by servicing a large congregation or feeding the homeless, it is still helping South Side communities. Harrison said it is difficult to judge positivity.

“Salvation is needed,” Harrison said. “If he feels the need for it to be $26 million, then OK, it’s his money, and he’s going to spend it the way he wants to.”