Good morning to you all. For those of you who may not already know, my name is Lynn Gilmore and I am here today to bring you some very good news. Later this year, in November, this church will be celebrating our 175th anniversary of service and worship to the people in this community and there are plans being made to hold celebrations of this occasion at various times during the year, culminating with a special afternoon service open to the community and sister congregations in November. I anticipate that it will be an interesting and informative time here at Immanuel until then and I will be making more appearances with news about the ongoing planning and upcoming events each month.
We have had three locations in the Mokena area for our church buildings in those 175 years, and we have incorporated items from each of those houses of worship into the present location. They represent not only the past but also are evidence of what the future held for those earlier parishioners and their families. I heard something just recently that has stayed with me as pretty good advice.
“Be the answer to your ancestor’s prayers.”
This weekend we have the opportunity to start the celebration in recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Immanuel Preschool program. There have been thousands of children that have attended the school and many, many teachers that have guided those children over those years. The school has and continues to provide a solid learning experience and learning base for the children’s futures along with the Christian values that we cherish. We are proud to have had this opportunity to serve these families.
Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church has been grown and sustained by the prayers of thousands of worshipers over the past 175 years and I pray that we continue to do so.
Thank you.