Day of Pentecost: Red as the color of fire is used on this day when we remember the tongues of fire descended on the crowd in Jerusalem. In contrast to the color of scarlet, Pentecost’s red is a bright color

Trinity
United
Lutheran
Church

Our Vision

Throughout this past year, many of you have been a part of a process through which we sought to identify our vision for the future. I am grateful for your participation and your wisdom. Based on your input, we are proposing, at our January Congregational Meeting the following Vision Statement which we submit for your approval:

"Trinity United Lutheran Church will be a welcoming faith community where all are invited to experience the transforming love of God through Jesus Christ."

What a powerful statement this is! To me it contains three critical statements which help identify who we are and what we wish to be:

Statement #1: "A Welcoming Faith Community" First and foremost, we are a people of faith. Our reason for being is to give witness to and to celebrate our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are a community of people whose relationships to each other and to Christ exist beyond the walls of our church building. And we are a welcoming people, which means that we seek to be intentional in reaching out into our community.

Statement #2: "Where All Are Invited" We have the privilege of serving in a multicultural community. We seek to embrace the rich diversity that exists within our neighborhood. We welcome the gifts that diverse people have to share with us. We intend to explore ways to communicate within our community that all are welcome.

Statement #3: "To Experience the Transforming Love of God through Christ Jesus" We acknowledge that there are many ways to experience Christ. We seek to offer opportunities for members to know Christ through a variety of experiences: worship, learning, fellowship, service, prayer, etc. The goal of each is to guide us in an experience that transforms us, to make us faithful to the example Christ has set before us. We further acknowledge that all of this possible only through God's loving grace extended to all which seek to save us through Jesus Christ.

Our Mission

Guided by this vision of who we will be, we then understand what mission is to be in this time and place:

"In the name of Jesus, our mission is to:

• Share the Good News with all people;
• Become disciples of Christ; and
• Serve others and do justice.
  

Each of these three points are guided by Christ's own words as recorded in scriptures. We follow the example of Jesus who, "...went about all the cities and villages...proclaiming the good news of the kingdom..." (Matthew 9:35) We follow the command of Jesus who told his disciples to, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy spirit..." (Matthew 28:19) And when Jesus asks, "Do you love me?" (John 21:15), he makes clear to us that the way to show our love is to "feed my sheep." And elsewhere he makes clear the way to serve Christ is to serve others, "...just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." (Matthew 25:40).

Dynamics of Our Ministry

The Trinity Church council and other leaders of our congregation, after careful study and prayerful consideration, identified then the following dynamics of our future ministry:

• Christ centered and Spirit led
• Inspired by the Scriptures
  
• Mission focused and organized to grow
• Committed to our urban and global communities
• Multicultural and multi generational
• Compassionate
• Artistic and Creative
• Technological
• Interdependent and intra-dependent
• Small group ministries
• Stewardship

Moving Forward

What do we need now in order to move forward? Members and leaders of Trinity identified the following:

• We need the commitment of all members to support our vision and mission.
• We need to continue to organize around our mission
• We need to explore ways to expand our resources (staff, volunteers, funding, etc.).
• We need to seek ways to get our message out
• We need to design overall programming that meets the needs of our members and our community.

History

Formed in 1993 as a merger of three Lutheran Congregations :

• Trinity Lutheran Church
• Chapel of the Cross Lutheran Church
• Lord of Life Lutheran Church.

Trinity Lutheran Church : A small group of Swedish people who felt the need for divine worship appealed to Dr. M.C. Ranseen of Chicago, then the acting president of the Illinois Conference of the Augustana Synod, to come to Waukegan to conduct a worship service. The two laymen instrumental in making the invitation were J.E. Johnson and Bernard Nelson. Dr. Ranseen accepted the invitation and conducted a service in the home of J.E. Johnson in the late Fall of 1889 or in the Spring of 1890.

From this little seed a strong congregation was to grow. On June 2, 1892 Trinity congregation was organized with 23 adults and 13 children. Mr. G.K. Stark, student pastor, was then serving the congregation. Later he returned as an ordained pastor and during his ministry the church building at Oak and Liberty, Waukegan, was dedicated in 1899.

In 1952 the sanctuary at our current location was dedicated and Larson Hall, was dedicated and included the statue of Thorwaldsen's Christ which had graced the altar of the old Trinity.The educational wing that has the classrooms and offices was built and dedicated in 1962.

In 1993, Chapel of the Cross, Lord of Life and Trinity merged into one church, making us Trinity United Lutheran Church.

Chapel of the Cross Lutheran Church : Chapel of the Cross was established in 1966 as a congregation of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. It later was one of the congregations that broke away from LCMS to form the American Evangelical Lutheran Church in December of 1976. It then became part of the ELCA in 1987 when the LCA, ALC and AELC merged together.

Chapel of the Cross was located at 2031 Dugdale Road in North Chicago. Following the merger of Chapel of the Cross, Lord of Life and Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Churches in 1993, that site was leased by Northern Illinois Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse (NICASA). In 1998, Trinity United Lutheran Church sold the property to NICASA.

At the time of the sale, the Trinity United Lutheran Church Council agreed that the 30 ft. steel cross that graced the entrance to the Chapel site should be relocated to Trinity. The cross was removed in the Fall of 1998 and installed at the Trinity site in April of 1999.

Lord of Life Lutheran Church : The first Pastor, the Reverend Paul H. Lechner began work in gathering a congregation under the program of American Missions on August 29, 1962. He was assisted by Miss Helen Polege. The first worship service was held on Oct. 21, 1962 and the first Sunday School October 28. The congregation was formally organized and declared an official congregation of the American Lutheran Church on Jan. 10, 1963. The first church council was elected and a pastoral call issued to Pastor Lechner. He accepted this call and was installed by Pastor Herman Jorgenson, North Chicago Conference chairman on Feb. 10, 1963.

The first unit consisting of a worship and parish education unit, was dedicated to the Glory of the Triune God on June 23, 1963, with Dr. E. A. Nelson, guest preacher.

In 1993, Chapel of the Cross, Lord of Life and Trinity merged into one church, making us Trinity United Lutheran Church..

ARCHIVE ROOM CREATED
Due to the hard work of our summer project assistants, a new area has been created to store our historical documents. Over 100 years of accumulated items; pictures, bulletins, annual reports, and membership records now have a new home in the archives. We also have two display cases of historical items. The archives are located upstairs in the room to the west of the washrooms.
Due to the fragile nature of the items contained in the archives, the room will be kept locked. However, if you any interest in viewing these items, we would be happy to let you in. Just call the church office.
Now that we have a new home for our records we are looking for a team of four individuals who would be willing to first organize the materials and then maintain the files. If you have an interest in things of a historical nature, then this might be the right ministry function for you. If interested, please speak to Pastor Kelly.