Sycamore firefighter Bill Reynolds will go into surgery at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford today to stitch up his leg that was injured in a Feb. 9 church fire.

Reynolds said surgeons will work on his calf that “blew out” when debris from the St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, 327 S. Main St., Sycamore, fell on his leg.

Doctors cut slits from his knee to his ankle on both sides of his left leg to relieve swelling and allow circulation to his lower leg.

Reynolds said his doctors are expecting a full recovery, and he may return to work in August at the earliest.

“It’s kind of a bummer,” Reynolds said. “I’m itching to get back.”

Reynolds returned home Feb. 27 and attended service at St. John the following Sunday.

“I wanted to surprise them,” he said. “I felt with all the support from the congregation while I was in the hospital – I wanted to somehow repay them and let them know I’m OK.”

The congregation decided to relocate the church instead of rebuilding on the former site.

The church had been in need of finding more space before the fire, the Rev. Donald Phelps said.

Congregation members thought there was not enough space for parking and expansion of the building at the old facility, Phelps said.

“Now may be the time to look elsewhere,” Phelps said. “We’ve seen tremendous growth in the past five or six years; we realized we were going to be landlocked.”

Services have been held at Johnson Controls, 1709 Bethany Road, after the first services after the fire were held at Sycamore High School, located on Spartan Trail.

Senior members of the congregation will meet Monday night to select a committee to find a new location and look into building options.

The church has the ability to build a larger church if it chooses, Phelps said. The size and construction of the new church will depend in part on financing of the project.

The church is awaiting the final settlement from the insurance company, Phelps said. He said he expects to receive less than the more than $4 million value of damages from the church’s total loss.

Some of the difference will be made up with donations the church has received from the community and other congregations, Phelps said.

“We have a long road ahead of us,” Phelps said, “but I think we’ll be all right. We’ll deal with it.”