Important - COVID-19 Response

Sunday Service Schedule and Procedures
Please use your God-given judgment when deciding whether or not you are ready to return. Consider your own health and the health of anyone in your household as you make that decision. Whatever you do, do it in faith and in love, trusting in God and making your decision with a clear conscience. We understand if you choose to remain home at this time. Do not let this burden your conscience. Service recordings will continue to be available on YouTube for the foreseeable future. Individual Absolution and Communion continue to be available upon request for any who are not yet comfortable returning to church.  

Sunday Schedule

• 8:15am and 10:45am Worship Services  
• 9:30am Sunday School and Adult Bible Class
• There is no Bible Breakfast at this time

Before Each Service

• Enter through back doors from the parking lot.
• Please wear a mask upon entry until seated. Masks will be available at the door if needed. The CDC recommends wearing one when distancing is difficult. Even if you question a mask’s effectiveness, please consider others (their health and/or peace of mind) as being more significant than yourself (Php 2:3-4). “Love does not insist on its own way…” (1 Cor 13:5).
• Bulletins pre-distributed to each pew, containing the entire order of service.
• Families/individuals will sit in every third pew in order to keep distance.

During Each Service

• We will forego the sharing of the peace. 
• The Lord’s Supper will be distributed in continuous fashion. Pastor Raddatz will give direction before the service begins. 
• Before distribution Pastor and communion assistants will wash hands thoroughly. During distribution they will wear masks.

After Each Service

• Ushers will dismiss pews slowly. Please wear a mask until you are outside. 
• Offerings can be placed in the plate as you leave the nave.
• In the parsonage yard tables will be set up. If you would like, you are invited to enjoy one another’s company in the open air.

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Wednesday Evening Service Schedule and Procedures
Some of you, my dear brothers and sisters, however, have still been unable to gather with us. Due to underlying health conditions, age, or other reasons you have remained at home. You are seeking to care for your body in order that you might continue to love and serve your family and neighbors. You do not stay away from the Lord's house because you despise God's Word. On the contrary, you love God's Word and desire to gather with the communion of saints, but you feel that more precautions are necessary to do so.

In order to provide better for your physical and spiritual care, Trinity's Board of Elders, congregational President, and Pastor Raddatz have decided to offer a temporary third service, which, God willing, will be held every Wednesday at 7pm, beginning on July 8th continuing until Pastor indicates otherwise. The following is a sketch of this service:

• Service begins at 7pm each Wednesday.
  
• Service will be held in the nave without singing.
  
• Masks are required throughout, except when communion is distributed. Pastor Raddatz will wear a mask when communion is distributed.
  
• We will make an effort to maintain social distancing.
  
• Before distribution, Pastor will sanitize his hands and put on gloves. Pastor will
  commune families/individuals one at a time.
  
• Those desiring to attend will be asked to announce their intention to commune
  beforehand (either by phone, text, or email) so that Pastor Raddatz can be well-prepared for the Lord's Supper.

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Updates and news are also posted on Trinity's Facebook page.

Worship Audio/Video Links

Sunday, January 17, 2021
The Service of Prayer and Preaching
The Second Sunday after the Epiphany
The Lord of Gladness
Links: YouTube Video | Order of Service pdf or Word file

Sunday, January 10, 2021
Divine Service
The Baptism of Our Lord
Links: YouTube Video | Order of Service pdf or Word file

Visit our Media page to find previous services and Bible studies!

Welcome

Trinity Lutheran Church is a member of the Central Illinois District of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. As Lutherans, we in the LCMS share a strong belief in the Holy Scriptures as the inspired inerrant Word of God. It is by God's grace alone, through our faith worked in us by the Holy Spirit, that we believe in Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation.

Sunday Morning Worship Schedule
This is the normal Sunday Worship Schedule unless otherwise posted.
8:15 am – Worship
9:30 am – Bible Breakfast, Sunday School & Adult Bible Class
10:45 am – Worship

Announcements

Voter’s Assembly
Our regularly scheduled January Voter’s Assembly Meeting will be held on Sunday, January 24 at 9:30 a.m. All communicant members of the congregation, 18 years of age and older, are encouraged to attend. This is an excellent time to be brought up-to-date on what is going on here at Trinity. Earlier this week you received a mailing outlining proposed changes to Trinity’s “Constitution and Bylaws” as well as the “Duties and Responsibilities of the Church Council, Officers and Boards.” Please take time to review it before the Voter’s Assembly.

Annual Report
The deadline for reports to be included in the 2020 Annual Report is Sunday, February 28. The Church Council members, as well as secretaries and treasurers of the various boards, are asked to submit a report. If you are in doubt as to whether you should submit a report, please check with the church office.

Called to Glory
Let us pray. O God the Father, fountain and source of all blessings, we give thanks that You have kept our brothers and sisters in the faith and have now taken them to Yourself. Comfort us with Your holy Word, and give us strength that when our last hour comes we may peacefully fall asleep in You; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Additional information and obituaries can be found here.

• Millie Cordes - December 29, 2020
• Peter Wessler - November 27, 2020
• Mary Ellen Gronau - November 13, 2020
• Goldie F. Reeves - July 20, 2020

No Can Donations
We will no longer be accepting donations of aluminum cans. Thank you to all who donated in the past.

Library Greeting Cards
There is no charge for the greeting cards located in the library. With so many shutins and homebound members we encourage you to use the cards to brighten the day of one of these members.

Daily Devotions with the Pastor
**Pastor will not hold morning Devotions until further notice.**
Join Pastor for early morning devotions - 8:00am Matins - Monday through Thursday, unless otherwise noted. In Titus 3:14 Paul writes, "And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful" (emphasis mine). So, if you can be devoted to good works, then devotion is not only hearing God's Word, reading it on your own, or joining the pastor at the church for 8am Matins (but you could join me!). Devotion to God's Word is foundational for any kind of Christian devotional life, but devotion doesn't end with hearing the Word. Devotion encompasses all of life, and it also includes the "fruit" of our encounter with God's Word.

New Church Library
Check out our new library with new books for all ages. The library is located next to the pastor’s office. There are instructions on one of the shelves on how to check out
books and return them.

Shut-in of the Month
Some members cannot attend church and it is important that we remember them in our thoughts and especially our prayers. During the month please pray for them and send them a card.

Our shut-in of the month is:
Don & Marilyn Alexander
49 Olympia Fields Dr.
Pekin, IL 61554

We need a lot! Mostly your help!
We are in need of ushers, especially for the 10:45 service. If you are interested in helping out at this service please contact the church office.

We are also in need of drivers to pick up members who need a ride to church. Transportation should never be the reason for someone to miss worship. Call
the church office if you can help.

Greeters are needed too! If you can greet members as they enter the sanctuary please let us know.

We need Bible Breakfast helpers for the 4th Sunday of the month and when there is a 5th Sunday of the month. Please contact the church office at 346-1391 if you can help.

2021 Flower Chart
The flower chart for 2021 is up in the narthex. Simply sign your name by the date you wish to donate altar flowers. A form will be sent to you when your date is near. Dates are chosen on a first come first serve basis. Thank you to all those who provide flowers for God’s altar during the year.

Church Office Hours

Monday - Wednesday - 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Thursday- 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Friday - Office Closed

Living Each Day as a Steward -
Click to watch the 2012 Stewardship Video