The Orchard — Church Directory

Quick Facts

Pastor — the shepherd God holds accountable Brad Wetherell (Senior Pastor, The Orchard; on staff since 2011, succeeded Colin Smith)

Founded Unknown

Denomination EFCA

Service Times Check website for Arlington Heights campus times

Men's Ministry No

Kids Ministry Yes

Website www.theorchard.church

Pastor Credentials Verify

10-Point Theological Scorecard

Christology

Is Jesus the only way? (John 14:6)

EFCA Statement of Faith — Trinitarian, orthodox Christology affirmed.

Strong

Scripture

Inerrancy affirmed? Final authority?

EFCA Statement of Faith affirms inerrancy of Scripture.

Strong

Men's Discipleship

Intentional formation for men?

Men's ministry exists at Arlington Heights campus; not featured on About page.

Caution

Soteriology

Faith alone? How is salvation presented?

EFCA — sola fide, substitutionary atonement.

Strong

Gender / Biblical Design

Biblical manhood and womanhood by God's design — patriarchal, complementarian, egalitarian, or affirming gender ideology?

EFCA polity restricts the office of elder/pastor to qualified men (complementarian); Colin Smith's legacy at The Orchard is classically complementarian.

Strong

Leadership Structure

Male elders/pastors? Accountability?

Multi-campus under Senior Pastor Brad Wetherell (on staff since 2011, succeeded Colin Smith); plurality of elders at each campus. Campus pastor 'Brad' at Arlington Heights is Brad Wetherell.

Strong

Preaching Style

Expository or topical/therapeutic?

Expository sermon teaching confirmed on site; LIFE Groups, multi-site model (6 locations: Arlington Heights, Barrington, Itasca, Marengo, North Shore, Vernon Hills).

Strong

Mission Clarity

Great Commission central?

Global missions initiatives visible alongside local ministries.

Strong

Cultural Alignment

DEI/CRT language? Social justice crowding out gospel?

Gospel-Coalition-adjacent — engages culture from Reformed-evangelical posture; no overt woke markers.

Caution

Accountability Structure

Denominational home, elder plurality, or external network — is the pastor answerable to anyone?

EFCA affiliation confirmed on fetched content.

Strong

Assessment

The Orchard is a well-established EFCA multi-site church with six congregations in greater Chicago. Arlington Heights campus pastor Brad holds degrees from Taylor University, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. EFCA affiliation ensures inerrancy commitment and evangelical orthodoxy. Solid seminary pedigree for pastoral leadership.

#chicago#illinois#national#efca

Sources & Evidence

Enrichment Notes

Rating upgraded yellow → green on confirmed EFCA affiliation + named senior pastor + OpenTheBible expository lineage.

These are the URLs consulted to arrive at this church's scoring. Score-note claims are synthesized from homepage content, denominational directories, and public statements of faith at the time of review. Church websites change frequently; we're progressively adding Internet Archive snapshots to prevent link rot.

[1] Archived snapshot web.archive.org/web/20260408225830/https://theorchard.chu…
↳ Snapshot of theorchard.church (live link)
[2] Live source churches.efca.org

Transparency note: MOOP ratings are researcher judgments about publicly available theological and ecclesial evidence. They are not infallible. If a church's public posture has changed since our review, or if we've mis-read evidence, tell us — we publish corrections.