​Trinity Lutheran Church Receives National Technology Grant

Trinity Lutheran Church of Lombard takes reaching out to the surrounding community pretty seriously. That’s no surprise as the Lutheran church sitting on the northeast corner of Roosevelt and Meyers Roads has been serving Lombard and the surrounding area since 1860. In any given week, Trinity broadcasts a Sunday church service, Wednesday evening Bible study, and a Wednesday morning school chapel service online – a relatively new practice in Trinity’s 161-year-old history. Trinity’s livestream efforts began out of necessity, but the church, and its preschool through 8th grade school, is “upping its online game,” thanks in part to a National Development Grant from the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

“Our dedication to serving our neighbors hasn’t changed over the years,” explained Trinity’s pastor, Rev. Steve Wagner, who has been with the congregation since March 2015. “But the ways in which we do so have changed dramatically.”

The upheaval of 2020 forced many churches to rethink how they conduct ministry. In Trinity’s case, the traditional Lutheran church found its sanctuary shut down under the orders of Illinois’ governor.

On March 22, 2020, Trinity Lutheran Church broadcast its first ever livestreamed church service over the congregation’s website at TrinityLombard.org and the @TrinityLombard Facebook account.

“We didn’t know what we were doing, but we had to try,” explained Lori Solyom, the member who now heads Trinity’s livestream team. “It was kind of surreal, Pastor Wagner preaching to an empty sanctuary, our organist playing hymns that no one was present to sing, and me behind the camera.”

The church was careful to keep the number of those present under a count of ten each week to avoid violating the state mandate that shut down houses of worship across Illinois.

“The first broadcasts were pretty raw,” admitted Solyom. “Then we were gifted with a livestream camera by the Lutheran Church Extension Fund. That switch to the right type of equipment helped us realize we could do this.”

Trinity received an Esther 4:14 Grant, named after the Hebrew queen whose unusual ascent in the ancient courts of Persia allow her to save her people from impending genocide.

“There is no doubt that these are unusual times,” remarked Wagner. “Over the last twenty months people worldwide face isolation, career displacement and their own mortality. The church is here to bring real relief and help.”

Trinity is using new technologies and communication techniques to proclaim the Good News of Jesus at a time when churches and their members are dealing with the economic distress brought about by the Covid pandemic.

While Trinity initially set out to serve its own members but providing worship and Bible study to a congregation on lockdown, regular online attendance at the Lombard, Illinois, church has expanded across the country. Sunday’s regular online participants include viewers from South Dakota, Arizona, Minnesota, Florida, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, Washington, Oklahoma, and Texas.

The church now faces the challenge of determining the best mix of online and in-person offerings for the community, both local and via the internet.

Wagner realizes that It will an ongoing process, one that Trinity is eager to undertake, but he shared that, “We are grateful for the synodical support and encouragement received through this grant, and thank the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod for making it possible.”

“We’re just beginning to resume some semblance of what once passed for normal,” observed Solyom, adding that in-person Bible classes have returned to the church on Sunday and Wednesday mornings and online meetings are now hybrid mixes of in-person and online participation. “But we’re never going back – livestreaming is here to stay.”

Trinity Lutheran Church is located at 1165 South Westmore-Meyers Road, on the northeast corner of Roosevelt and Westmore-Meyers Roads in Lombard, Illinois, where it has operated Trinity Lutheran School since 1860. Learn more about Trinity Lutheran Church and School at TrinityLombard.org.