Trinity News

April Minister of the Month: Laurie Malmberg

Laurie came to Sunday School here at Trinity as a child and joined when she married Rich in 1973. Her children and grandchildren all remain active members.

Laurie was an instrumental part of Trinity’s resurrection in 2018-19 and recently completed six years on our Congregation Council, including two years each as Vice-President and President. She has organized our Community Picnic for the last several years and is part of the leadership team for Bingo. She is Co-chair of our Anniversary Planning team and has been very busy planning for the upcoming kickoff brunch.

Laurie is passionate about evangelism and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. She has helped design postcards and flyers to promote our holiday worship and activities hereat Trinity. She has organized the bags we distribute to visitors and decorates the welcome desk in the narthex. She teaches Sunday School and a variety of children’s ministries over the years, including Trinity’s Preschool. Somehow, she still finds time to participate in crafting and Bible study.

Thank you, Laurie, for all you do for Trinity!!!

Green Team Presents: Sustainable Household Items

Thank you to those who came after services to check out the free sustainable household goods presented by the Green Team!

FMSC Packing Event

Thank you to the volunteers who attended the packing event at Feed My Starving Children. During our session, 217 boxes of food were packed to feed 128 children a daily meal for a year!

Good News Garage Delivers Bikes #6 and #7

Good News Garage delivered two bicycles last week to a recently settled Colombian family to help with transportation needs. Great work, GNG!

Good News Garage Delivers 82nd Vehicle!

Good News Garage delivered its 82nd vehicle last week to a gentleman who has been unhoused off an on for the past few years and will be using the vehicle for his work in home healthcare and to help local churches deliver food to food pantries.

Welcome New Members!

On Sunday, March 16th we welcomed fourteen new members into the Trinity Family!

Mardi Gras Pancake Breakfast

Thanks to all who attended our Mardi Gras Pancake Breakfast! It was a wonderful time with tasty pancakes and delightful fellowship.

A big thank you to Pattie, Bob, and Jeremy Frey for making the delicious pancakes and sausage, setting up the toppings, and for organizing this wonderful event.

Thank you to Laurie Malmberg for helping out in the kitchen, Jill Goebbert for making the cakes, Cathy Williams for running the 50/50 raffle, and again to Pattie Frey for the creative kids activities.

Welcome Pack Delivery

Thank you to the members that donated items for our Exodus Welcome Pack! The pack was delivered on Saturday, March 1st to a grateful young woman from Afghanistan. We hope to be offering her some ongoing support as she transitions to Chicago so we will keep you updated on what may be needed in the future.

-Emily Olivos and Diane Bermann

Good News Garage Delivers Complete Toolset to Mechanic

Last week, Good News Garage blesses a man with the possibility of earning a good living for his family. Amir wants to be a car mechanic again like he was before when he lived in Turkey. There he was a trained Toyota and Mercedes Benz mechanic. Moving to America meant leaving ALL his tools and equipment there and only bringing his family to Chicago.

Here in Chicago, Amir was waiting for his last piece of paperwork to be processed so that he could apply for any kind of job. Now that he has a set of mechanical tools, he can apply for work as an auto mechanic instead. Amir lives near his two brothers and with his brother-in-law, all three are working as body men at an auto collision repair shop. His father is in the construction business, all of them came to Amir’s apartment to welcome us and see the new tools.

Blanket Blessing

A huge thank you to the Trinity Crafters and to all who donated Blankets for our January Blanket Drive. The blankets were blessed on February 16th during Sunday worship. The Crafting ladies made 21 Fleece blankets and another 12 were donated by church members. The blankets will go to the American Legion in Des Plaines and from there they will be given to Veterans in need.

Frank Hauser is the February Minister of the Month

Frank lives out his faith on a daily basis, always on the lookout for people in need, always listening for where God may be calling him to use whatever he can to help those who need a helping hand.

An auto mechanic by trade, Frank started Good News Garage here at Trinity in 2011, after hearing about a similar program in New England. Over the years, the program has repaired and given away more than 80 cars to people in need. The program has been featured in the Daily Herald, Journal Topics, Living Lutheran, and on WGN. The recipients of cars over the years includes ingle mothers, people with disabilities, veterans, recent immigrants, and refugees among others. Recently, Frank has expanded the program to include bicycles.

In addition to car donations, Frank has used the Garage to mentor and teach. Just this month, the Garage gifted a set of extra tools to an aspiring mechanic.

In addition to his work with Good News Garage, Frank has served on the Congregation Council and was the chair of the Call Committee that called Pastor Linda to Trinity.

Frank and Pam have both been generous with their time, talent, and treasure here at Trinity over the years. Frank’s deep faith and generosity are an inspiration to everyone who knows him.

Thank you, Frank, for all that you do for Trinity!

2025 Council Installation

The 2025 Church Council was installed on Sunday, February 2nd during worship. From left to right: Pattie Frey (Secretary), Judy Schirmer, Krissy Goebbert (Vice President), Kathy Minerva, Shirley Luttrell (President), Paul Sammarco, Nancy Webber, Scott Stephens, Mike Scholzel (Treasurer)

2025 Annual Meeting Re-cap

Thank you to everyone who came out for our Congregational Meeting. We passed a balanced budget of $272,733.56 and elected Pattie Frey, Krissy Goebbert, Shirley Luttrell, Paul Sammarco, Judy Schirmer, and Scott Stephens.

Pastor Linda read the story of Lazarus from John 11 as a way of thinking about Trinity’s near-death experience. She discussed plans for our upcoming Anniversary celebrations, which will begin with a kick-off brunch on May 18th. Save the Date postcards are going out soon. She also explained that Council has been considering various capital projects around the church – maintenance issues and enhancements and improvements that will support the next chapter of our ministry. The Council has enlisted the services of an outside consulting firm to help us prioritize those projects and consider how to fund them. All members of the congregation will have the opportunity to give input in a survey later this spring.

Following the meeting, the new Congregation Council met to elect officers: President – Shirley Luttrell, Vice-President – Krissy Goebbert, Secretary – Pattie Frey. They also voted to appoint Mike Scholzel as Treasurer.

Congratulations to our Cook-off winners Jill Goebbert for her Beef Chili and Jackie West for her Spinach Vegetable Soup (her grandmother’s recipe)! A big thank you to all those who shared their recipes with us at the Chili/Soup Cook-off and those who added our side items. All of the dishes were delicious and it was hard to choose a winner. Start preparing for next year as our winner will be going up against some new cooks.

January's Minister of the Month is Beverly Johnson

Beverly has been active here at Trinity in many different ways. She has taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School and has been the mainstay of various women’s ministries, including Naomi Circle and the monthly women’s breakfast.

As leader of our Women of the ELCA, Beverly has been in charge of coordinating the annual Christmas and Spring luncheons for many years. With little fanfare, she arranges for catering and entertainment, and recruits volunteers to help with all the various aspects of these wonderful events.

Beverly has also been a pillar of the Altar Guild for decades and has recently been contributing her wisdom and experience to putting together an Altar Guild handbook. She is part of our crafting group and a regular at Wednesday morning Bible Study. She is a great friend and support, going out of her way to offer rides to members who no longer drive.

Beverly is very generous, sharing her time, talent, and treasure with us here at Trinity.

Thank you, Beverly, for all you do for Trinity!!!

Joy to the World! A Beautiful Christmas Season at Trinity

Intergenerational Christmas Pageant

Christmas Eve Worship

Welcome Pack Delivered for Exodus

Thank you to all members who donated items to build an Exodus Word Service Welcome Pack! Volunteers from Trinity and Christ Church U.C.C. delivered the pack to a family of seven from Syria on December 11th. We look forward to building another Welcome Pack together soon!

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!

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