Reprinted with permission from Pioneer Press as published in the June 27th issues of "Lake Forester" and "Highland Park News"

LUTHERAN CHURCHES MERGE

BY KENNETH L R. PATCHEN
STAFF WRITER

Redeemer Lutheran Church of Highland Park and Faith Lutheran Church of Lake Forest plan to merge into one congregation by the end of this year.

The 600 members of the joint congregation intend “to more effectively bring Christ to the North Shore” under a new name, North Shore Ministries, said the Rev. Mark Schulz.

A written announcement of the merger stated: “We are grateful and encouraged God provides this opportunity to improve our outreach to the North Shore.”

The merger announcement has followed the May retirement of Rev. Jerald Lindemann from Redeemer Lutheran Church. Schulz will serve as pastor for the combined congregation.

Schulz said both congregations bring strong participation and mutually beneficial resources to their union.

“In our general area, I would say we are doing well,” said Schulz. “We really see this as a platform for growth and expansion of the congregation.”

Discussions about a possible merger started with casual conversations more than a year ago between Lindemann and Schulz about Lindemann’s upcoming retirement.

“We talked about what would be best in the future,” Schulz said.

Their concerns were not only for the two congregations and the church but also for their ministry along the North Shore. The talk evolved to the point of need for a more formal inquiry.

Brad Thomas, a member of the Merger Committee, said, “We put together a task force to evaluate its feasibility.”

“I think there was already some familiarity at both congregations. The pastors got along very well and recognized this made sense.

Early in the process, the committee determined merger was a more fruitful focus than discussion of alternatives such as facility sharing. Three subcommittees focused on legal, transition and school issues. The committee also considered constitutional and management issues.

“We evaluated this to see if, indeed, this was what we wanted to do,” said Thomas.

The proposal to merge was accepted unanimously by each congregation.

“There was some concern about what would change, but, all in all, it was a very positive process,” he said.

Faith Lutheran Church has a Christian preschool and Redeemer Lutheran sponsors The Ark: Early Christian School for children two to seven years old. Redeemer has excess capacity in its school program as well as a desire to expand.

“We both compliment one another,” Thomas said. “We'll keep the two campuses.”

Community reaction has been positive, Schulz said. People have asked about the merger and understand the benefits when explained.

Schulz said Redeemer Lutheran Church of Highland Park, founded in 1891, was instrumental in the founding of the Lake Forest congregation. Pastors from Highland Park, and Waukegan, served the church members for many years before Faith Lutheran was formally created in 1954.

“It’s an interesting reversal,” he said.

Both churches are affiliated with the Lutheran Church- Missouri Synod. In Lake County, the 10 Lutheran Churches have approximately 5,000 members.

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