To all our Christian friends and dear brethren (Psalm 133:1),
Even though some of you are a long distance away from us, we still wanted to inform you of
our celebration and invite you to the special service of worship and thanks to our Triune God
in remembrance of His unspeakable goodness and mercy during the first 100 years of our
congregation's existence. This service will be held, God-willing, on
Sunday, April 22, at 4:00 p.m.
Pastor Lietz will preach the priceless Word of God for this joyful occasion, while the choir of
our sister congregation, Peace Ev. Lutheran Church in Oak Forest, will share an appropriate
choral rendition to the glory of Him who bought us with His holy, precious blood (I
Corinthians 6:20; I Peter 1:18-19).
The entire thankoffering for this special worship service has been designated by Trinity's
voters' assembly to help our Nigerian brethren. As you may have heard, Nigeria, as a
country, and particularly the areas where most of our sister congregations are located, are in
great turmoil. This reality brought about the cancellation of the trip to Nigeria by Pastors
Lietz and Mensing originally planned for this past January. St. Paul's, Kula, has been
specially affected by warring factions within the town itself, making it necessary for many of
the members there, including Pastor Wariboko and his family, to flee the village because of
the imminent grave danger. Some in the community, though by God's grace none of St.
Paul's members, have died as the result of the violence there, and many have not been able
to go to their jobs because of the havoc perpetrated by thugs and terrorists. Just recently a
fire swept through parts of Kula in the middle of the night, destroying forty houses, three of
which were the homes of St. Paul's members, who escaped the fire with only the clothes on
their backs. If any of you, as our sister congregations or as individuals, desire to contribute
toward the relief our Nigerian brethren, please address any checks to Trinity Ev. Lutheran
Church (with "Nigerian Needs" noted on the memo line of your check). Our treasurer will
then send the entire thankoffering to Nigeria via Western Union.
As the theme for our 100th Anniversary, we have chosen the words of I Samuel 7, verse 12:
"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us" and Psalm 115, verse 1: "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name give glory for Thy mercy and for Thy truth's sake!" It is indeed "of
the Lord's mercies" (Lamentations 3:22) that our congregation, at this time in its long history,
is an orthodox congregation in fellowship with and a member of an orthodox church body,
the Concordia Lutheran Conference. We are profoundly grateful to our God for His
undeserved and unearned goodness (Psalm 136:1) toward us during these ten decades of
grace!
Ephesians 5:20
Cordially,
The Rev. Robert J. Lietz, Pastor
