Trinity News
Joyce Moore is the December Minister of the Month
Joyce came to Trinity in 1967 and raised her family here. Over the years she has been involved in a wide range of ministries, including fellowship, circle, sewing and quilting. She started the annual butterfly release with the Sunday School students.
Joyce worked for many years at Lutheran Social Services of Illinois. She advocated for LSSI’s work at Trinity and volunteered working with children in Cabrini Green. Joyce has continued her dedication to LSSI’s work coordinating the Caring Tree here at Trinity every Christmas and Easter. Since the pandemic, we switched to purchasing gift cards and provide them for over 100 children each holiday.
When Joyce moved to Oakton Arms, she quickly became a leader and evangelist. Joyce never misses an opportunity for mid-week worship and always invites others to join us. She keeps tabs on other Trinity members who live there and keeps us informed about who needs pastoral care. She gathers a group to worship with us via livestream on Sunday mornings via.
Joyce’s commitment to doing God’s Work, even at age 93 is an inspiration to us all and reminder that we all have ways to serve.
Thank you, Joyce, for all you do for Trinity!!!
December WELCA Luncheon
At the beginning December, Trinity WELCA hosted its annual Christmas Luncheon. Food, fun, and entertainment was had by all! Thank you to Jeannie La Cerba from Lurvey's for showing how to make beautiful wreaths, and to the men who served and cleaned up afterwards!
Confirmation Class volunteers at Feed My Children
The Trinity Confirmation class along with Trinity members volunteered at Feed My Starving Children in Schaumburg. The meals will be sent to children in need around the world.
John Stoffregen is the November Minister of the Month
John and his wife, Diane Bermann, have been members of Trinity since 1983 and raised their two daughters here. Over the years, John has been involved at Trinity in countless ways, including assisting with confirmation and chaperoning youth events when his children were young. Currently, John changes the message on our outdoor sign, is a key part of lawn and garden crew, and helps set up for events. He is one of the leaders of the monthly Theatre and Theology group, as well as a part of the Wired Word. John sings in the choir and is also an usher.
John has a strong commitment to getting the word out about all that goes on at Trinity. He is our main contact with the local newspapers and distributes flyers for all our events far and wide. As part of his work with the Green Team, John was instrumental in coordinating the Plastic Bag Recycling Challenge here at Trinity. He reached out to many area businesses to collect their plastic, which not only helped us win a bench, but also helped our sister churches in their collections as well. He has been a tireless champion for ministries for young children, both the Trinity preschool in the past and the Little Blue Bear Bulgarian School today.
John is always thinking of better ways to do things and ways Trinity can be more visible in the community.
Thank you, John, for all you do for Trinity!!!
Fall Blanket Making
Thank you to all of the Crafters who helped make Lapghans this fall! Twenty blankets were made for members. The blankets were blessed during the November 3rd service.
Hal Goebbert is October's Minister of the Month
Hal has been a member of Trinity for all of his more than 87 years. He was baptized, confirmed, and married here and he raised his family in Des Plaines and at Trinity. Hal got involved with cleaning the church and eventually became the church custodian, complementing his work as a school custodian in District 207. He has probably done every job that needed doing here at Trinity: cleaning, painting, stripping and polishing floors, repairing anything and everything, moving furniture, purchasing supplies, opening and closing for special events and outside groups, shoveling snow, mowing the lawn, and more.
In recent years, Hal has continued his work here at Trinity, volunteering his time cleaning, setting up for various events, setting up and ushering for funerals, posting the hymn numbers, and changing the candles among other things. There is no doubt much else he does that none of us even know about. Hal has also worked with and mentored others, passing on his incredible work ethic and pride in keeping Trinity clean and well-maintained.
Thank you, Hal, for all you do for Trinity!!!
Trinity's Craft Fair
Thank you to all crafters, bakers, and volunteers for making the 2024 Craft Fair a success! We had over 300 attendees with over 40 vendors and Trinity sold handmade crafts, baked goods, and fair trade items.
God's Work Our Hands Sunday
Thank you to everyone who stayed after worship last Sunday to participate in our God’s Work, Our Hands service project. We put together 92 Blessing Bags for people in need. We encourage you to take a couple to keep in your car in case you run into people who could use them. The folks who went to Clean Up, Give Back ended up separating plastic bag donations. We learned that Clean Up, Give Back collects all the clean bubble wrap from the plastic donations and makes it available to the public for free. So, if you know anyone who needs bubble wrap, encourage them to contact Clean Up, Give Back and help steward God’s creation through reuse.
Recycling Challenge
Trinity Lutheran participated in the Des Plaines Faith Communities Plastic Recycling Challenge that ran from October 15, 2023 until April 14, 2024. This is yet another activity inspired by our neighbor Clean Up - Give Back with the plastic collections ultimately going to the manufacturer Trex.
During that period Trinity also created an internal goal to earn a free bench from Trex. As of March 4, 2024 Trinity surpassed the 1,000 lb threshold to receive the bench! Trinity reported collecting 1,316 lbs total! Our bench has arrived and we are deciding the perfect spot to place it.
Keep those plastic bags and other recyclables coming in if you find Trinity is a convenient drop off spot or you need assistance in getting an item to the right place.
Good News Garage
Good News Garage gave away its 80th car! We celebrated after worship on Sunday, May 5th with cake and fellowship. Good News Garage is the outreach program at Trinity that accepts donated vehicles which are repaired and cleaned, then given away to people in the community in need of a vehicle. The most recent recipients have included a mom with two young children, a disabled Marine vet, and a retired house painter who needed to return to work. If you would like more information about Good News Garage contact Frank Hauser at goodnewsgarage@trinitydesplaines.org. Thank you Frank and Pam for the wonderful work you have done!